How to invest SRS money in Singapore: what you can buy and how

To invest your SRS money, you buy approved products from inside the account: T-bills, Singapore Savings Bonds, fixed deposits, shares, ETFs, unit trusts or single-premium insurance. Topping up doesn't invest anything, so the money sits as cash until you place an order. Plenty of it does sit there. In December 2025, 21% of all SRS money was cash. Here's how to invest SRS step by step, what each option pays or risks, and how the withdrawal rules shape what you hold.

Does topping up your SRS invest the money?

No. A top-up moves cash into your SRS account, and buying something with it is a separate step.

Until you do, the cash earns whatever rate your SRS operator sets for it. Your operator is the bank that holds your SRS account. Look up that rate in your account, then compare it with the 1.95% a year the six-month T-bill paid at its 22 October 2026 auction.

You'd be in big company. In December 2025, 516,376 people had SRS accounts, and 21% of all the money in them was cash.

Bea drops her face into her hand — Me, finding my December top-up still sitting as cash in June

Investing isn't a withdrawal, so it doesn't trigger any tax. Anything your investments pay out, from dividends to sale proceeds, goes back into your SRS account, not to you.

What can you invest your SRS money in?

Shares, unit trusts, bonds, fixed deposits, ETFs and some life insurance products. You can't use SRS money to buy property directly.

Each provider decides which of its products take SRS money, and overseas investments may not be available. So check before you plan around a particular fund or market.

The table shows the main options, how you buy each one, and the smallest amount you can put in.

What SRS money can buy
Option	How you buy it	Smallest amount	Worth knowing
T-bills	Your SRS operator's internet banking or app	S$1,000	6 months or 1 year, 1.92% to 1.95% in October 2026
SGS bonds	Your SRS operator's internet banking or app	S$1,000	Government bonds bought at auction
Singapore Savings Bonds	Your SRS operator's internet banking	S$500	S$2 fee, cash out in any month
Fixed deposits	Your SRS operator	Set by the bank	Rate set for a fixed term
Shares, REITs and ETFs	A brokerage account that takes SRS money	Set by the market	Value can rise or fall
Unit trusts	A fund provider that takes SRS money	Set by the fund	Fund fees and sales charges
Life insurance	An insurer, single premium only	Set by the plan	Life cover capped at 3 times the premium

What do other people hold in their SRS?

A real mix, with a big chunk doing nothing. In December 2025, shares, REITs and ETFs made up 24% of all SRS money. Insurance was 20%, unit trusts 11%, and cash 21%.

Where SRS money sat in December 2025, as a share of the total

Where SRS money sat in December 2025, as a share of the total
Holding	December 2025
Shares, REITs and ETFs	24%
Cash	21%
Insurance	20%
Unit trusts	11%

Source: MOF, compiled SRS statistics 2025

The rest was in other kinds of holdings. None of this tells you what to hold, but it does show how much SRS money waits as cash.

How do you invest SRS money, step by step?

Start with when you'll need the money, then pick the product. Here's the order that works:

Investing SRS money that's sitting as cash

One timing rule matters each December. To get tax relief, your cash top-up has to land by 31 December, or by your operator's earlier cut-off. The relief then counts in the next Year of Assessment, as long as you're a tax resident that year.

Check your SRS balance and how much of it is cash.
Work out your withdrawal age, which is fixed by the date of your first top-up (more on that below).
Pick what fits the years you have left before you start withdrawing.
Place the order through the right channel: your operator for government bonds and deposits, a brokerage for shares and ETFs.
Check your next SRS statement to see the holding, and the cash any payouts add.

How do you buy T-bills and SGS bonds with SRS money?

Through your SRS operator's internet banking. Two of the three operators also take bids in their app. You don't need a brokerage account for these.

The smallest bid is S$1,000, and you go up in steps of S$1,000. For a new issue, the full amount comes out of your SRS account when you apply. If your bid fails, you get it back 1 to 2 business days after the auction.

Don't leave it to the last day. Bank channels can close 1 to 2 business days before the auction.

T-bills last 6 months or a year, and you get the full face value back at the end. The six-month T-bill auctioned on 22 October 2026 had a cut-off yield of 1.95% a year. The one-year bill auctioned on 15 October paid 1.92%. Outside SRS, you'd pay no tax on that interest. Inside SRS, it stays in the account and follows the withdrawal tax rules like everything else. Our T-bill guide walks through the bidding.

Quick maths: what does leaving it as cash cost you?

Say S$15,000 of your SRS money is sitting as cash right now. Here's the sum for putting it into a six-month T-bill at the 22 October yield:

That's what the money could earn in half a year at that yield, less whatever your operator pays on the cash. Our T-bill calculator works it out for any amount and auction.

The yield is 1.95% a year, so half a year is about 0.975%.
0.975% of S$15,000 is about S$146.
Do that twice in a year and it's close to S$290, if yields stay where they are.

How do you buy Singapore Savings Bonds with SRS?

Through your operator's internet banking, and one operator also takes applications in its app. Each application costs S$2, and your operator holds the bonds for you. CPF money can't buy them.

Savings Bonds start at S$500, in steps of S$500, and you can hold up to S$200,000. Interest is paid into your SRS account every six months. You can cash them out in any month with no penalty.

The bond issued on 2 November 2026 pays 1.67% in its first year. If you hold it for all 10 years, it averages 2.45% a year. Each month's bond has its own rates, so check the next one before you apply. Our Singapore Savings Bonds guide covers how the rates step up.

Can you put SRS money in a fixed deposit?

Yes, through your SRS operator, if it offers one. The bank sets the rate and how long the deposit runs.

Compare the deposit rate with the T-bill and Savings Bond rates above for the same length of time. Our fixed deposit rates guide shows how the rates compare, and the Savings Bonds, T-bills and fixed deposits comparison puts the three side by side.

How do you buy shares, ETFs and unit trusts with SRS?

You need a brokerage or fund account that accepts SRS money, and you pay for the purchase from your SRS account. Not every provider takes SRS money for every product, so ask before you open an account.

SGX-listed ETFs are a common pick. SRS investors held S$827 million of them in October 2025, up 380% from December 2019. An ETF is a fund that trades on the stock exchange and usually tracks an index. Our ETF glossary entry explains more.

Fees differ by product and provider, so check the full cost before you buy. With unit trusts, look out for sales charges.

Dividends and sale money go back into your SRS account. They don't reach your bank account until you withdraw under the SRS rules.

Can you buy insurance with SRS money?

Yes, but only some kinds. The plan has to be paid with a single premium, which includes recurrent single premiums. Its life cover can't be more than 3 times the premium.

Critical illness, health and long-term care plans aren't allowed.

Life annuities, which pay you an income for life, get their own tax rule. Half of each payout is taxed every year for as long as it runs, and they sit outside the 10-year withdrawal window below.

How should the withdrawal rules shape what you hold?

They don't pick your investments, but they set the clock. Your penalty-free withdrawal age is the statutory retirement age when you make your first SRS top-up. It's 64 for a first top-up from 1 July 2026, and lower if you started before then, since a later rise in the retirement age doesn't change yours.

From that age, half of each withdrawal is taxed. You can spread your withdrawals over 10 years from the first penalty-free one.

If you're a tax resident with no other taxable income, you can take out up to S$40,000 a year without paying tax. Half of that, S$20,000, counts as income, and that much falls in the 0% band. Over 10 years, that's up to S$400,000.

At the end of the 10 years, whatever is left apart from life annuities is treated as withdrawn, and half of it is taxed.

You don't have to sell to withdraw, either. From your withdrawal age, you can move SRS investments out as they are, for example into your own CDP account, and half of their value is taxed. Our SRS withdrawal strategy planner maps the 10 years for your balance.

The catch: what happens if you take money out early?

Before your withdrawal age, most withdrawals are taxed in full, and you pay a 5% penalty on top.

There are exceptions. A withdrawal on medical grounds has no penalty, and only half of it is taxed, as at your withdrawal age. On death there's no penalty either, and up to S$400,000 is tax-free on a full withdrawal for terminal illness or on death. A bankrupt's withdrawal is fully taxed with no penalty.

Foreigners get one more way out. You can make one full withdrawal with no penalty, half of it taxed, if you aren't a citizen or PR on that date or for the 10 years before. The account must also be at least 10 years old, counted from your first top-up.

What are the risks of investing your SRS money?

Investments can lose value, and SRS doesn't change that. A fall just before you withdraw hurts most, since there's less time to wait for a recovery.

There are three other things to know about the account itself:

One more: what you put into SRS never comes back as a refund. It leaves only through a withdrawal under the rules above.

Your SRS savings and investments aren't guaranteed under the scheme if the bank or provider fails.
You can't use your SRS balance as collateral for a loan.
Your SRS balance isn't protected from creditors.

Don't have an SRS account yet?

You can open one if you're 18 or older, not an undischarged bankrupt, and able to manage your own affairs. Citizens, PRs and foreigners can all join, but you can only have one SRS account at a time.

The yearly top-up cap is S$15,300 for citizens and PRs and S$35,700 for foreigners. Each dollar you put in cuts your taxable income, within that cap and the S$80,000 cap on all your personal tax reliefs combined.

Our SRS account guide shows how much tax a top-up saves at each income, and the SRS tax savings calculator runs it for your own pay.

Deciding between SRS and a CPF top-up for your tax relief? Our SRS vs CPF top-up comparison shows what each one locks away, and until when.

The MoneyBees take: what we'd check first

We'd work out when we'll need the money before choosing what to buy. Your withdrawal age is fixed by your first top-up, and it's 64 for anyone starting now.

The October 2026 six-month and one-year T-bills paid 1.95% and 1.92%, and the amount you put in comes back in full at the end. Shares and funds move with the market, so their value can be lower in the year you start withdrawing.

What settles it is how many years you have before your first withdrawal.

Before you go

This week, log in to your SRS account and check how much of your balance is cash, and the rate it earns. Then look up the date of the next T-bill auction on the MAS website.

Frequently asked questions

What can I invest with SRS?

Shares, REITs, ETFs, unit trusts, bonds such as T-bills and Singapore Savings Bonds, fixed deposits and some single-premium life insurance. You can't buy property directly, and each provider decides which of its products accept SRS money.

Where can I invest my SRS money?

T-bills, SGS bonds, Savings Bonds and fixed deposits go through your SRS operator's internet banking. Shares and ETFs need a brokerage account that takes SRS money, and insurance goes through an insurer.

How do I invest in T-bills with SRS?

Apply through your SRS operator's internet banking before the bank's cut-off, which can be 1 to 2 business days before the auction. The minimum is S$1,000, and the full amount is taken from your SRS account when you apply.

Can I buy Singapore Savings Bonds with SRS money?

Yes. You apply through your operator's internet banking for a S$2 fee, from S$500 up to a total of S$200,000. Interest goes into your SRS account every six months, and you can cash out in any month.

Is investing my SRS money a withdrawal?

No. Buying an investment keeps the money inside the scheme, so there's no tax or penalty. Dividends, interest and sale money all go back into your SRS account until you withdraw.

Can I use my SRS money to buy property?

No. SRS money can't be used to invest in property directly. It can buy listed shares, REITs and ETFs, unit trusts, bonds, fixed deposits and some single-premium insurance plans instead.

Sources

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This is general financial information for Singapore, not personal financial advice. Figures change, so verify current rates against the official sources above before acting. See our full disclaimer.

Junxiong-WFG Organisation is an authorised representative of AIA Financial Advisers Private Limited (Reg. No. 201715016G).