Hi! I'm a fresh grad with $13,000 in savings in my POSB Savings. How much would you recommend me to transfer to CIMB, and what should I do with the rest?

Question

I'll be starting to draw a monthly pay soon, but what should I do with my current savings of $13,000? How much should I keep as expenses, and how much should I move to CIMB / invest?

Ng Wei En · Accepted Answer

If you are going to be drawing a monthly salary soon, you may wish to look at Seedly's post on Best Savings Acounts for working adults. Capitalise on the Salary credit for additional interest. CIMB will be good for earning no obligation 1% interest.

https://blog.seedly.sg/best-savings-accounts-2018/

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https://blog.seedly.sg/best-savings-accounts-2018/

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Brandan Chen · Answer

Why CIMB? If you are starting to draw a salary, wouldn't accounts from UOB, DBS, OCBC benefit you more in terms of interest rate?

As for the $13,000, I would suggest that you keep it in cash till you have built up your "rainy weather fund" of about 6 - 12 months expenses.

On the other hand, try to speak to a financial advisor to get basic coverage such as a hospitalisation plan and life insurance.

Feel free to PM me at www.facebook.com/brandan.chen should you like to find out more!

Nick Tan · Answer

Put into accounts like DBS, OCBC and UOB since you'll be drawing a salary soon, it makes sense to cash in on their salary bonus for their accounts which is more than 1% from CIMB Fastsaver.

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Get yourself adequately insured.

Pay off debts (assuming you have a school loan).

Build up your rainy day funds.

Nicholes Wong · Answer

First go take a look at the high interest savings accounts that others have posted. If you are able to meet the requirements and you like them, they are better than CIMB. Keep around 3-6 months of your monthly expenses inside first as your emergency fund. For investments, you might want to read up seedly blogs or other bloggers to see which kind of investment suits you. There are a lot of ways to invest and different methods as well. Once you start learning and something you dont understand, you can ask here and the community will be able to help you better.

Gabriel · Answer

Hi, as you'll be starting to draw a salary soon, you can consider the higher interest savings accounts such as DBS Multiplier, UOB One or OCBC 365. CIMB is a good alternative for those who do not draw a salary or does not meet the requirements to earn higher interest, like students and NSFs

Nicholas Chan · Answer

Start to consider investing in a long term dollar cost averaging plan into etfs/unit trusts

Aik Kai · Answer

Any reason for opening a CIMB account? If it is purely for the 1% interest, I would suggest opening a DBS Mulitpler account or OCBC 360 account. Interest is higher, especially since you will be drawing a monthly salary. Besides, stepping into the working world means you will spend more, be it dinner, gatherings, functions etc etc so a credit card would be handy.

For the $13,000, i would say save it as an emergency fund. Emergency fund should be 3 to 6 months of your monthly salary so $13k is a good start.

Also, take it that the $13k is for kickstarting your wedding and house renovation expenses. You can place it in SSB or FD.

BUT! Before you place it in SSB or FD, read up on these terms and investment in general before putting any money in. If you need to google SSB and FD, all the more you need to brush up your knowledge on investing.

All the best!

MT2020 · Answer

CIMB will be good to keep your emergency fund. As a rule of thumb you should aim to keep at least 6-12 months of cash in your emergency fund.

Geraldo L. · Answer

Yes it's possible, but do some simple calculations on your end. How much are you able to save in a month/year, take an annual growth of 5-6% (pretty safe gauge if you were to invest in a well-diversified portfolio) and see how long you will take to reach 100k.

Penny Chong · Answer

I would recommend investing 50% in a market portfolio like S&P500 ETF as it historically yields 10% ...

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Accumulate once every 3 months and put it into a S&P 500 ETF quarterly! The historical returns are 10% and I would say it is much better than saving bonds​​

Amanda · Answer

I would recommend you to set aside about 6 months worth of expenses in a high interest yield savings account. If you are below 26, Jumpstart account would be great! It offers 2% p.a. for your first 20k.

After you have set aside about 6 months worth of expenses I would suggest you to invest the rest!