Foray into CPFIS and Endowus

It's been raining in Singapore for 3 consecutive days... brr.... 

As mentioned in the previous post, I'm looking to maximise my CPF interest returns and have decided to do so by: 

1. Topping up my CPF-SA with $7,000 yearly up to the Full Retirement Sum (FRS), although the FRS is going to be like a moving target! Bonus is that I'd get $7k in tax relief for FY2021 too and transferring in January each year will ensure the maximum interest to compound during the year.
2. Investing $10,000 lump sum + $1,000 monthly from CPF-OA via Endowus. The main reason why I wouldn't invest more than this is because a guaranteed 2.5% with zero risk is hard to beat and I am concerned about taking too much risk in the current bear market... 

On point 2 above, I've considered just transferring $10k+ from OA to SA to earn 4% interest (like how I did a lump sum last year) but this action is irreversible, and I want to have a cushy buffer in my OA just in case I need the funds for housing in the next 3-5 years.   

Signing up for the CPF Investment Scheme (CPFIS) and Endowus was easy enough. 

Steps to take:

1. Complete CPF's Self-Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ) here. You'd need to log in via your SingPass. 
2. Go to your bank (DBS, OCBC or UOB) to apply for a CPF Investment Account (CPFIA). Note that if you don't complete Step 1 above, the bank may not approve your CPFIA application. I'm using OCBC and it took me just 5 minutes to apply for a CPFIA via ibanking. 
3. Sign up with Endowus and fill up your risk profile. Once signed up, they'll send you a couple of helpful emails with instructions on how to link your CPFIA with Endowus via the CPF website (once your CPFIA is ready). 
4. If like me you don't fulfil the criteria set out in Endowus' Client Knowledge Assessment, you'll be made to take an e-learning course and assessment here and upload the completion certificate - gah troublesome😶, but I'll take it as a learning opportunity. 

Last month, I've also created a Supplementary Retirement Scheme (SRS) account in a bid to reduce my taxable income + for retirement planning - will blog about this another time. 

Enjoy this long weekend while it lasts!!