If you could only choose one: max out CPF top ups yearly or invest the same amount into S&P500/ETFs?

I would imvest the same amount into ETFs as I want liquidity. This is to give myself an option to retire between 55 to 65. At the same time, I put my investments at higher risk which CPF doesn't have the option.

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I would say go back to the reason why you invest. I have shared with you my reasons.

If you hit your FRS, you can consider to invest the rest, as long as you know what you are doing, and do your due dilligence.

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Putting it into CPF-RA is good, but it locks your money away, so need to take that into consideration.

Depends on risk app

Honestly, I've thought about this a lot and I'm going with ETFs over CPF top-ups — at least for now.

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Not because CPF is bad. It's genuinely good. But my goal is financial freedom at 45, not 65. And that one difference changes everything.

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If I max CPF now, that money is locked until 55-65. So even if I hit my FIRE number at 45, I still can't touch it. I'd need to survive entirely on non-CPF assets anyway — so why lock the money up in the first place?

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Every dollar going into CPF is one less dollar compounding in the market during the most important decade of my journey. CPF's 2.5-4% is not bad, but it's not going to get me to $1.5M by 45. ETFs give me growth and liquidity — I can sell, pause, adjust based on where I'm at.

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My plan is actually to top up CPF Life intentionally around 65 using money I've already grown through ETFs. Because at that stage, a guaranteed annuity makes total sense as a safety net. But I want to decide when and how much — not have the decision made for me in my 30s.

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Still a work in progress and I'm figuring it out as I go, but that's the direction I'm heading.