OCBC Frank allows $100 investment a month for bluechip through them but there is a monthly fee of $5 . If i invest $100/month, I will make a lost by the end of the year. Is this common? Should I put in more going forward if not what should I do?

It doesnt make numbers sense to do it. 5% loss every month.

Why not save up and do a Dollar cost average every quarter or half yearly?

Before you even invest, you are already losing 5%/month. By the end of 1 year, you would have lost 60/1000 = 6% nett, which is not feasible considering that STI ETF gives about 3% pa and REITs (the safer ones per say) gives about 4-5% pa. You are literally losing $ every single year.

2 options, is of course to invest more every month, or you can take a look at POSB InvestSaver. If I am not wrong, the sales fee is only 0.82% for POSB. That is way more feasible even at $100/month investment. You can read more about it here: https://www.posb.com.sg/personal/investments/other-investments/invest-saver

OCBC Monthly Investment plan is too expensive for someone who wants to invest $100 a month.

$5 out of $100 is alr 5% cost. That's too expensive!

Besides POSB InvestSaver, the other monthly investment plan that I will recommend is Maybank Kim Eng monthly investment plan. Do take a look!

You will need to calculate the actual opportunity cost associated with the charges as compared to the capital invested.

Thereafter, study your instrument to find out the projected and expected rate of return. Then deduct it off the fee to find out the net return.

Now, evaluate if the fee makes sense. If not, time to move on to a better investing vehicle.

Here is everything about me and what I do best.

If you can only afford $100/month, then might as well avoid this scheme. Just because a scheme is out there, doesnt mean you had to utilize it

You are already losing 5% due to commission. I would strongly recommend that you put in more loving forward to reduce the effect of the commission

Hi Anon,

Just a quick update! Maybank's Kim Eng Monthly Investment has already discontinued their services leaving DBS, Philips and OCBC as the only traditional choices!

I am on the same side as the others who have contributed, as your current investment amount seems low and expenses will hurt your monthly investments. You can consider snowballing your monthly savings (although it might defeat the purpose and I'm not sure if it is a practical method to do so), by contributing a larger amount each month or decreasing your frequency of savings. However, with the rise of alternative investment platforms, you might want to consider these alternatives for now if you decide to proceed with a $100 RSP!

Robo-advisor platforms can give you access to (globally) diversified portfolios depending on the choice of robo-advisor platforms. They usually charge a management fee (except for https://solutions.kristal.ai/seedlypost) and some might have restrictions on the minimum investment amount, so definitely do take note of that!

I think Seedly came up with a new updated article as well, hence you should check it out! (https://blog.seedly.sg/singapore-platforms-to-invest-fixed-monthly-savings)

All the best in your investment journey!

If you want to invest in the STI ETF of $100 a month, it might be better to use POSB Invest Saver or Maybank Kim Eng monthly investment plan.

https://blog.seedly.sg/which-regular-savings-plan-is-the-cheapest/