What is a decent amount to have in a bank at around 19 years old?

This is individual. no correct one answer. but it is excellent that you askbthst question.

you need emergency funds and should have/create no debts.

when you have funds for investing then, think longterm and buy passive ETFs (SP500, MSCI world) as buy & hold strategy (ultra longterm)​​​

Instead of looking at how much to have, look at how much income is coming in

If you have low income and high expenses, then your decent amount in the bank will not be decent eventually.

Look more at how you can have more income or spend less.
I write cool stuff about personal finance and money-saving hacks here.

Before answering your question, I hope you do the below 2 things,
1. Create 2 banks accounts : CIMB (1% interest rate - your saving account), posb /dbs saving account. (1. Act as your current account so that is your limit of your spending. 2.so that u can start using SAYS as soon as you start NS - details... Go Google or I believe others mentioned about it.

2. What do you plan to do after NS? Work? Travel? University? If you are going university, to what extent are your parents sponsoring you? Do u have scholarship?? This details can help you plan for how much money do you need to have in your bank account at the end of NS and the start of your university.

So you have your end goal, start planning and calculating your decent amount in the next 2 years. Not NOW. Here are some of the HOW?

1. Establish good financial habits.
   save first then spend. Not the other way round. By strongly encourage you to open 2 accounts is to teach you to give your bank account a role. Classify your money. Give them a role.

2. SAYS blog has a tip on how to save in NS or just Google it. There are a lot of ways.

3. At the meantime, start learning about investing. I would recommend you to start with reading on STI, bonds, dollar averaging, robo advisor. The rest are of higher risk.

Whatever you do, do your own due diligence. Don't start, E. G invest stocks, just because people tell you to.

Feel free to ask me any question. Like my post if this really help :)

At 19, I wouldn't worry so much about having a certain amount in the bank account. Having $10,000 vs having $15,000 just because you saved an extra $5k this year is great, but not going make a huge difference.

What I would prioritize though are the following:

1. Learning experiences to maximize your income generating abilities post NS
2. Establishing good financial habits
3. Being prudent and saving up to build a foundation