Where should I place my money since I’m serving the nation soon? TIA.

First, thank you for serving our nation.

Second, it will be important to understand your stage in life. Presumably, you may be turning 19 after your A-levels or 20 after your poly studies. Either way, you are young and have a long investment runway ahead of you.

Third, where can you place your money while you serve the nation for the next two years?

www.squirrelsave.com.sg

Assuming you can get emergency funding if needed from your parents, then you must decide the risk you want to take in placing the money.

The safest (lowest risk) with no return is to literally keep your money in the safe. That’s not the best way frankly when there are slightly riskier ways to grow your money with decent returns.

One possibility is to place into a bank savings account in Singapore, preferably in a fixed deposit which offers a higher return than the basic savings account.

However, I would recommend investing in a well-diversified global portfolio, especially when you have two years of runway to grow your money. After all, it will be good to have good returns after you complete your national service to help you meet expected expenses when you further your studies or take a well-deserved holiday.

Investing globally is easy with Robo-advisers. Pick one which is fully automated where you don’t have to make decisions except how much to invest. In selecting the Robo, check if the risk management is done by machine learning AI or if it is managed ultimately by a human manager. Diversification requires massive data analytics, which is not humanly possible. Yet it is easily done with the computing power available today.

Before you start, you need to know or select your own risk profile. It is not easy as most people do not do what they say. Further, conventional risk profiling poses technical questions which some people may not fully understand. Instead, look for risk profiling tools which reflect your personality and risk-reward behaviour. Using such a tool that can analyse your risk-reward attitude is a critical step to start your investing journey.

www.squirrelsave.com.sg

Highly recommend using POSB:SAYS as you utilise your free time to educate yourself on investment. Remember to setup your SAYS account early, so that you’re able to start crediting your NS Allowance as soon as you first receive it.