Is it advisable for a 25 year old to transfer some of their OA( OA above 20k) into SA to aid in reaching 1M65 when they are buying a bto flat 5 room (price 350k & no grants) in 4 to 5 years time?

Only if you're willing to pay your mortgage in cash, pay a higher monthly per month, and cm get the loan of 350k from HDB or the bank.

I would prefer cashflow over a slight bump in returns. So I personally wouldn't.

I'm 34 and only maxed out my SA after the housing is settled.

Speaking from personal experience (got our resale in July last year), we did ours in this sequence:

• Check housing budget and overall cash buffer combined with le-spouse/fiance

• Decide on choice of housing (BTO/Resale/EC/Condo - these were the options we were exploring then)

• Signed the OTP for resale with keys scheduled to be collected in 5 months (mutual agreement)

• Got the HDB housing grants via CPF

• THEN got both of us to transfer all the OA to SA.

• Service the downpayment and bank loan with cash.

One can argue the "opportunity cost" lost in not transferring OA to SA from as young as 25 but I didn't know what was our final housing choice then. So although I'm a proponent of maxing SA as young as possible, I think common sense must reign. A bird in hand is better than 2 in the bush. If you are getting married soon, please make sure you are not financially stressed and do it in the right sequence.

Liquidity is very important for a stress-free living. Good sleep is better than any returns.