What accounts should i open or close for someone serving NS?

Hi Japheth,

Personally, I would recommend just using Jumpstart. The fall below fee is not worth it, even if it may only be $2. The interest rate offered by OCBC 360/Multiplier are very low either way, assuming that you don't satisfy other categories like insurance/loans and $2k.

Jumpstart makes everything fuss-free because there are 0 fees involved and gives 0.4% interest for doing nothing.

As Zhe Liang mentioned, you could set a budget for yourself and only transfer out that amount into your spending account every month. Then keep the rest of your savings in Singlife to maximise the your interest earnings.

If you don't already have a DBS account, it could be worthwhile opening a DBS Multiplier account just so that it's easier for you to withdraw cash from ATMs when you need it - SCB has relatively few ATMs in Singapore compared to DBS/POSB. There's no need to worry about fall-below fee for DBS Mutliplier yet because it is waived if this is your first account with DBS.

Hope this helps!

Regards,

thefrugalstudent

If you want a straightforward bank account that works, then you may consider Standard Chartered JumpStart account. That should save you the pain of all the various terms and conditions.

In case you are looking for a guide on how to manage your cashflow and to create a monthly budget that works, here is a guide: How to create a Monthly Budget

Finally, you should also look into your cashflow to determine how much liquidity in the short term. Generally, you may have too much money sitting in the bank if it exceeds more than six times your monthly expenses. Accordingly, your money could be working harder for you and to hedge against inflation.

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