SRS or CPF for tax rebates?

SRS first for me. I'd rather have more control over the outcomes of when I can receive this money, and in ultra desperate scenarios I can still withdraw SRS monies early albeit with a penalty but I can't do anything with CPF at all.

I'll also use SRS monies in a more aggressive portfolio an potentially earn a higher expected return as compared to CPF rates which may also drop in the future.

All RSTU monies to CPF is set aside specifically for CPF Life and I expect CPF Life payouts to be pushed back by the time I'm of the relevant age in 30-40 years.​​​

Hi anon,

I personally contribute to CPF SA first for that 4%. I would like to hit FRS faster so that the compounding effect is greater.

I'd leave SRS for after I have done my CPF SA RSTU. Since SRS has a 'soft' cap of $400K, this is easily reached in 20 years if I maximize my contribution of $15.3K every year and have the funds grow at a modest 2.5% for that period of time. If I started early (I'm in my 30s), then by contributions alone, I would exceed $400K by 62 and would have to pay tax upon withdrawals. This sort of defeats the purpose of SRS for me if it were the case.

Of course, if the $400K soft cap changes, then my strategy changes. I won't want my SRS monies to grow too fast due to the cap. It is possible that upon my withdrawals, I pay more tax than I saved previously. I'd leave fast growing investments such as equities in liquid cash form.