Supposed I have my BTO downpayment saved up but I will not be getting the house or married for another 5/6 years. What can I do with the money?

Assuming you are in no danger of losing your job, and you already have set aside rainy-day funds.

Let the downpayment you need = $x, and your annual income = $y. I would invest about 4y to 5y on more volatile investments, while keeping x-4y in a safer environment.

Reason being, I know that I will earn the 4y back in the 4 years that I'm working (not even accounting for pay raise), and thus this is an amount that I can "stand to lose". However, I cannot invest my (x-4y) boldly because if I lose any of this amount, it will cause my downpayment amount to be insufficient.

So that would my basis of how I would split the funds. Of course, you have other things short term goals/long term goals you may want to consider as well.

Hey anon,

Short term investment is pretty risky if you really need the money to be at least capital guaranteed. The most you can consider is better yielding savings plan / account like Singlife, cash management account, or any short term endowment plans.

Since you still have another 5 to 6 years for the next big ticket, do consider invest for the long term instead, even if it's a small portion of your money. You can either do lump sum or rsp, depending on your investment style and monthly finances.

In this 5 to 6 years, you will still be working for active income and saving up at the same time. Just ensure you get your sums right that and by then you still get your downpayment ready (after lessing CPF etc, or whichever your strategy may be). On the other hand, you would have also established a side investment portfolio down the road where you can grow it over time.​​​