When does it make sense to invest in SG REITs vs US stocks?

When you are retired, and prioritized consistent cash flow than capital appreciation

Do you mean investing in SG REITs over US stocks?

Well, that would depend on your risk appetite and financial goals.

SG REITs are generally less volatile (which does not equate to safe) as compared to US Stocks. In addition, I would say that the general business of REITs are quite easy to understand as compared to say certain tech companies in which you might not completely understand their product. SG REITs of course, also brings about the benefit of dividends (if that's your aim).

However, on the other hand, US stocks in general do have higher room for growth. This is simply because of the way REITs are more limited in the ways that they can grow (usually through acquisitions) whereas regular companies can grow organically, release new products etc. Moreover, choosing SG REITs as your whole portfolio is dangerous as you're concentrating in a single asset class. This will mean that your portfolio will be pretty hard hit when faced with REIT-specific events such as interest rate move or government policies targeting REITs. However, if you choose US stocks instead, which is a really broad basket, you can invest in many types of comapanies, consumer staples, consumer discretionary, energy, tech, comms, transportation, entertainment, the list goes on.

As such, if you can handle the general volatility and are seeking capital appreciation, US stocks might be for you. However, if you want less price action and more dividends for income, you might prefer SG REITs. But at the end of the day, it is also definitely feasible to have both in your portfolio and these strategies are not mutually exclusive. I, for one, used to have both in the earlier part of my investing journey.​​​