Just a point to note on distribution upon death. Group policies don't allow for the nomination of beneficiaries and will follow Intestate Succession Act. It may not be the way you intend to distribute.

Hi Anon, The Seedly community is filled with plenty of information for the uninitiated. I'm sure you can find most information you require regarding investments. First you need to ask yourself what is the objective of you investing. Most likely, it is to address the impact of insufficient returns as you are building your current asset to a bigger future asset for your personal financial goals. Thereafter you'll need to align your need (based on your objective above), ability, and willingness to take risk. There are many investment instruments available in the market. It's about finding the right instrument which is aligned to your personal objectives for a positive investing experience. https://advice.moneyowl.com.sg/investment might be a good place for you to learn more about a way of investing which is more likely to be suitable for most people like yourself.

Agreed with Hariz on readiness of the investor. You need to be clear of your investment objectives. Your need, ability, and willingness to take risks also need to align with your financial goals. A platform is just a place for you to execute your investments. Perhaps it might be good to consider the adviser's alpha as well? In down markets, the ease of selling away with a click of a button may work against you. The key to a successful investing experience is to stay invested. It may sound crazy but at times, doing nothing may be the most difficult thing to do. Having the option for you to talk to someone amidst the volatility of your investment journey is definitely a plus.

Hi Anon, It is encouraging to see young individuals like yourself keen to start investing early. The effects of compounding over the long term are definitely in your favour. Your time horizon is also much longer than most people and that translates to a higher ability to take risks. Agreed with Elijah on the need to first build your emergency fund before you even start investing. There is a sequence to financial planning and it starts with building a strong financial health. Investing is a marathon, not a sprint. Before you go for one, it's advisable to look through a few ratios such as emergency fund for liquidity and debt service ratios assuming you are servicing a study loan. Thereafter, a good way to get started is probably to invest small amounts on a regular basis to capitalise on the effects of Dollar Cost Averaging. DCA will be a more assessible way to invest for the young and just starting out. MoneyOwl offers $50/monthly investment amount to help you get started. The more you read, the more you know. Read about the many instruments available to the retail investor in Singapore. Learn about the risks involved, relevant regulations etc. Some investments are more complex than others, some are more costly than others. You then need to ask yourself why are you investing. Aligning your need, ability, and willingness to take risk will help you gain clarity ahead of your journey of investing. https://advice.moneyowl.com.sg/the-right-way-to-invest/ should provide good background knowledge for a beginner investor like you.

The short answer is yes. A unit trust offers a cost effective manner to access a diversified portfolio of investments. As opposed to buying individual shares and bonds to build your own portolio. This diversification can also happen across various countries, industries, asset classes etc. It is also important to take note of the implicit (or hidden) costs of unit trusts. These usually come in the form of annual management fees which are net off your investment holdings. There are a number of platforms offering low cost instruments via low cost unit trusts and ETFs. When you hear of a 6% p.a. return, that is just one side of the story. Always have this habit of probing further. Just like in the world of social media, you almost always only just hear of/see the good stuff. Nobody goes around sharing "Wow my portfolio has been yielding -6% year on year since I started x years ago!" It is highly possible his portfolio generated 6% p.a., but how consistent was this performance? Sometimes we may become too caught up in the noises of geopolitical events and make short term decisions which affect our long term goals. Fund returns does not equal investor's returns due to many factors such as exiting the market at the wrong time etc. It does help to have an competent and qualified adviser to walk this investment journey with you through times when the most difficult thing could be to do nothing.

Lifelong Retirement Investment Scheme (LRIS) was briefly mentioned alongside the announcement of CPF LIFE Escalating payout plan. It was meant to be an in between option for people who were not quite satisfied CPFOA interest rates, but were too averse to CPFIS risk. The focus was on a low cost, long term, passive instrument. However it fizzled out subsequently. The difficulty lies in the implementation and sustainability. It's not difficult to find low cost instrument these days. The ability to provide a guarantee of at least 2.5% returns p.a. is a liability few want to undertake in the long run. It seems CPFIS will remain with 0% sales charge for the foreseeable future.

Your risk appetite is just 1/3 of the whole story. It tells you your Willingness to take risks. When we do investments, we need to know our Need and Ability to take risks as well. The Need comes from any potential shortfalls we might have from our financial goals, such as achieving FI. The Ability comes from proper financial planning, which includes but is not limited to, whether you have set aside sufficient emergency fund, whether you have protected a potential income loss with suitable insurance, whether you have any financial dependants, and your time horizon. If you have a low willingness (risk averse) to take risk but there is a need and you have the ability, then you really should take some risks in your portfolio. The converse is also true. If you have a high willingness (aggressive), but have no need and no ability, then you really shouldn't take any risk at all. There are many instruments to help even the most risk averse investor get started. CPF offers a risk free return of up to 5% p.a. Why not consider doing a Retirement Sum topping up to your Special Account to enjoy tax relief of up to $7,000 next year?

To each his own. If you enjoy studying the markets and crunching numbers and statistics, active investing might be a more fufilling experience for you. If you aren't, then you are probably more suited to a passive investing style. Here's a good read to explain the differences and what are some factors to look out for in investing :) https://advice.moneyowl.com.sg/the-right-way-to-invest/

Based off your timeline, it seems you are aiming to purchase your house at age 40+. In reality you probably will require this capital much earlier. There may also be other current and future financial commitments such as study loans, marriage. It would be good to start off with a systematic way to budget your expenses, save an emergency fund, and then invest with the surplus. Most people use their CPF savings to pay for their property purchases (public or private) in SG. Perhaps at 20, you should also be looking to build up your human capital (increasing your income). Unless you have other financial resources such as inheritance, income will be your most important financial asset. Without a regular stream of income, you have nothing to invest with. It is definitely heartening to see one start as early as you. As rightly pointed out by Siow Nan, DCA will be a more assessible way to invest for the young and just starting out. MoneyOwl offers $50/monthly investment amount to get started. There is no guarantee in investment returns. CPF interest rates are almost risk free. As a rule of thumb riskier assets generate higher returns but it's not the only factor to consider in investing. High risk tolerance therefore, should not be the only consideration in investing as well. MoneyOwl's robo will align your need, ability and willingness to take risk before recommending a suitable portfolio. Being bionic, there is also a team of client advisers on hand to answer the who, what, when, where, and hows of your investment.

There is a sequence to financial planning. Before even looking at interest rates, retirement savings plans, insurance, investments, perhaps one should take a step back and look at their financial health. A few simple ratios to consider if one is financially healthy. Savings Ratio, Total Debt Servicing Ratio, Emergency Fund. All the ratios should be looked at in totality just like how you read a blood test report. Are you serving too much debt based on your income? Have you set aside an emergency fund of about 3 to 6 months of your expenses? Once all that is taken care of, you should look at a systematic and organised way to save and then invest by means of a budget. Identify your fixed and variable expenses, look at how you can reduce some of these expenses in order to have a surplus. From this surplus, you can now look at protecting this human capital. The role of insurance in your financial plan is for protection against the loss of income. Loss of income would mean you are unable to work towards your financial goals (Retirement). What could cause your financial plan to fail? When your income stops permanently or a very long time, you have no choice but to draw from your current assets to fund your current lifestyle and that will affect your ability to reach your goals. Death, disability, and major illnesses could cause your plan to fail. Insufficient returns could also cause your plan to fail. That is where the right types of insurances and investments come into your financial plan. As Luke rightly pointed out. Retirement is a vague word, what does it mean to you? Perhaps a better term to use would be Financial Independence, or having a fully paid roof over your head, and a sum of money sufficient to pay for your expenses until you die. (CPF LIFE would form a good foundation for you to build upon, depending on the standard of living you desire) Insurance is an expensive way to save/invest. There are many low cost investment options in the market today. You are not just limited to the banks when it comes to financial planning. Seedly is a fantastic platform with a wealth of information on personal financial planning to help you make better decisions :)