Today, we are going to share with you how to grow your CPF investment money in a no-brainer way.

The best part?

You need not be financial savvy to do this. A beginner can do it!

And I'll reveal the exact step-by-step process, which you can follow easily.

What is CPF Investment Scheme (CPFIS)?

It is to provide option to CPF members to invest their CPF savings in various instruments such as insurance products, unit trusts, fixed deposits, bonds and shares.

The Average CPF Interest Rate is 2.5% to 4%. Check their latest interest rate here.

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Who can invest?

– 18 years old or older,
– are not an undischarged bankrupt
– have more than $20,000 in your OA; and/or
– have more than $40,000 in your SA

How much of your CPF can you invest?

– After setting aside $20,000 in Ordinary Account (OA), you can invest up to 35% in stocks and up to 10% in gold. AND/OR
– After setting aside $40,000 in Special Account (SA), you can invest up to 35% in stocks and up to 10% in gold.

What can you Invest in using Your CPF?

List of Investments under your Ordinary Account (OA)

Here’s the link to the list you can invest in. We will be using ETF as our recommended investment tool. The other tools are either too risky or you have to pay high in commission.

Find out your CPF Account Statement

1. Go to https://www.cpf.gov.sg/, and sign in with your Singpass ID and password.
2. Enter the 6-digit One-Time Password (OTP) sent to your mobile number that’s registered with CPF.
3. Click “My Statement”.
4. Scroll down to “Section C”. This is the part where CPF computes the latest amount you can invest using CPF Investment Scheme.

How to Start Investing Using Your CPF?

Below are the steps to go about starting your CPF investment;

First, you need to set up a CPF investment account with one of the local banks below, I listed their rates with links for your reference too;

1. DBS Bank Ltd (DBS), (DBS rates)
2. Overseas-Chinese Banking Corporation Ltd (OCBC) (OCBC rates)
3. United Overseas Bank Ltd (UOB) (UOB rates)

When you invest on your own, you pay the broker their commission at much lesser range from SGD2 to SGD20 per transaction depending on the platform you are using.

If you have difficulties in setting up the CPF investment with the 3 banks, it will be best to visit their head branch. Below are their addresses;

– DBS Head Branch Address: 12 Marina Boulevard, Marina Bay Financial Centre Tower 3, Level 3, S(018982)
– OCBC Head Branch Address: Raffles City Shopping Centre , 252 North Bridge Road B1-08, S(179103)
– UOB Head Branch Address: 80 Raffles Place UOB Plaza 1, S(048624)

Things to bring along: NRIC or passport.

Reasons why you need to invest on your own in your CPF?

Since the CPF money can only be use after 55 years of age, we recommend that you grow it before you reach 55.

We also recommend NOT TO USE third party like insurance companies to invest your CPF.

Because the percentage of commission pay to these companies and agents can go from 10% to 50% in the first year. So in theory, you are only using 50% to 90% of your intended investment! Making it an instant loss when you purchase them. That is why they always say you need a certain number of years to see that the policy is breakeven.

Straits times shared that 40% of those who used CPFIS made losses, only 15% made profits larger than 2.5%. Read more here. The 3 main reasons for the low ROI is due to;

1. High Fees in Financial Products (One of the main culprits, which I shared above.)
2. Switching Financial Portfolio Too Often.
3. Not Being Updated or Lack of Concerns on their CPF Investments.

Read more on “Don't buy Endowment Policy Plan“.

Here goes the reasons…

Reason #1: Using your CPF Money to Buy Home.

Most Singaporeans will use their CPF money to purchase new home. So it makes sense, once you have more than $20,000 in your normal CPF account, you should start investing early so you can put a comfortable downpayment for your new home.

Fact: You will need to return the CPF amount you used to purchase the home when you sell it, plus the interest! Source from HDB.gov.sg

Reason #2: Use CPF for retirement in the future.

I know this is a lousy idea, but there’s not much one can do until you are 55 years of age. So might as well grow as much as possible and as early as possible. So that once you reach 55, you will have a monthly comfortable amount to draw out.

How to grow your CPF Account?

Instead of gaining the yearly CPF interest of 3.5% to 5%, why not use it to invest in assets that have higher percentage of returns that’s better than what the CPF interest is offering?

Here how….

We have found out that the past 30 years our STI index are in a general uptrend since 1987, and has a consistent yearly growth with dividend payout of about 9.5%.

I would recommend using ETF (Exchange Traded Fund) to invest into STI index. You can do it monthly or yearly. This is a dollar cost averaging strategy, and it requires to be long term. That means 10 years or more to see the compounding effect.

Since most would want to focus on their job or business, this is a great passive way to grow your CPF money.

So in theory, if you were to use $5,000 from your CPF every year to invest in STI index (at 9.5%) using ETF for 30 years, you would end up with $825,539 at the end of 30 years. See below.

Taken from https://www.moneysmart.gov.au.

You can see that the total deposit that you would have invested is $150,000, yet your total interest earned is $669,539.

Compound interest is the most powerful force in the universe. Albert Einstein
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Compound interest is the greatest mathematical discovery of all time. Albert Einstein
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Can I use CPF Investment to trade?

Yes, you could. Our “The Systematic Trader” can help you to pinpoint which company to trade in and when to get out too. We do conduct previews almost weekly, do email to cyrus[at]collinseow.com to find out more.

Conclusion

So here you go, the “CPF Investment: Passive Income Guide for All Singaporeans”.

This strategy requires consistency in investing and time (10 year or more) to see results. It works great for retirement plan, for child’s future education. For those who just want to set it and focus on their business/work.

If you enjoy this post, do share to your social media friends, or mention this post in your website/blog.

If you have any questions regarding your CPF investment, do use the comment below and our team will do our best to answer you.

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