I put in $400/mth hence at that amount POSB was the more reasonable option.
OK, I’m getting the picture now. So you have roughly $2,500 in the STI via POSB Invest Saver.
So I think I’d do something like this:
1. $50,000 in SSBs (or maybe $40,000 since you’d keep about $10,000 in ordinary bank accounts chasing the best interest rate you can find — FastSaver is pretty good). You’d park that money in a CIMB FastSaver account (1% up to $50K) right away, then use a $500/month minimum balance POSB Everyday Savings Account (and FAST transfers between CIMB and POSB) to make your Singapore Savings Bonds purchase attempts. Try for $20,000 per purchase on the last day of sales each month. It’ll take you 3 to 5 months to place $50,000 in SSBs, but you’ll get there. (You can also open a CIMB StarSaver account at the same time, and apply for CIMB’s lovely StarSaver debit/ATM card which is most probably Singapore’s best ATM card for overseas cash withdrawals.)
This is your solid emergency reserve fund. $50K is terrific — should last you 12+ months in an emergency plus give you some flexibility on things like a wedding ring, etc.
2. $100,000 in stocks, split as $20,000 (or less) in the STI and $80,000 (or more) in global stocks. For the STI part you could shift over to Standard Chartered if the costs are better there, and the STI part is not obligatory in my view. For the global portion I’d divide that into 9/10ths IWDA and 1/10th EIMI. I’d make those IWDA and EIMI buys over 6 monthly installments. When you make the 6th purchase, leave a tiny bit of cash in the account left over (US$250 let’s say).
Tangent314 is quite correct that a US$100,000 or higher account at Interactive Brokers avoids the monthly minimum commission. However, it’s only US$3/month at your age, and even US$10/month isn’t much to worry about. As you accumulate wealth this minor problem will probably take care of itself, and any month when you’re buying (dollar cost averaging) this minor problem won’t be a problem at all since your currency conversion and stock purchase commissions are charged against the minimum first.
You don’t need a margin account at IB. Just stick to a cash account basis — simpler, easier, less risk.
3. If you want to upgrade to a public hospital A1 ward coverage Integrated Shield plan, great. That’ll be $3/year more or something like that.
4. If you venture outside Singapore, then get some excellent travel emergency medical insurance. Per trip insurance is probably fine if it’s about one or two short trips outside Singapore. Bupa Global’s “Basic” annual policy is great if it’s more than that, and I’ve mentioned that one a few times in other threads.
5. While you’re stopping by CIMB, see if you can get approved for their Platinum Mastercard. It’s annual fee free for life, it’s a genuine credit card that’ll build a credit history, and it’s a rather good card for overseas use (~0.8% total net markup on foreign curerncy spending). Set it up for automatic full balance GIRO payment from your regular bank account. They might require you to place a $10,000 fixed deposit (for example), but they have some good fixed deposit rates right now and that could count as part of the ~$50,000 I’m suggesting (so then ~$40,000 in SSBs). Then see if you can close that fixed deposit at the end of the term and keep your (responsibly used) card.
6. Regarding CPF, I don’t think you really mess with that until you get into a positive (non-zero) tax bracket and can enjoy some tax reliefs. The 5% interest (the bonus interest rate) is tempting, though — I see the point. If you do find it tempting, consider putting a little money into Medisave specifically, and depending on your current Medisave balance. Your Integrated Shield base plan premiums are deducted from Medisave anyway. If you’re not working (no other CPF contributions) then you can put up to $37,740/year into Medisave voluntarily. I’d don’t think I’d put that much yet, but if you want to put $10,000 in there, or something like that, that could be a reasonable thing to do. Medisave can be useful at any age, and it’s more difficult to put money into Medisave with tax relief once you start earning a substantial amount, so I think that’s the first place to go for voluntary top-ups, if you wish.
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