How To Start Investing With $1,000 In Singapore For Beginners
Are you a new investor or a potential new investor contemplating whether to take the first few steps into the stock market? There could be many reasons that are holding you back, such as the need to have a substantial amount in terms of thousands of dollars to begin investing, or the lack of time to track the performance of your investments despite the long urge to invest.
The truth is, you do not need a lot to start investing. You donât need thousands of dollars; it can be just $1,000. If you have a full-time job and do not really have much time to immerse yourself in the fun of investing, here are some options and tips that you can try with just $1,000.

Investing For Beginners - $1,000 Edition
Before you start to invest, youâll need to know your investmentâs level of risk, and how to manage these risks to avoid making a move that youâll regret. Depending on your risk appetite, a bigger risk appetite yields more significant gains and losses, while a lower risk appetite leads to smaller and likely more stable and consistent returns. $1,000 is pretty decent for a start, as it can be put to good use in a variety of investment choices ranging from bond investments to cryptocurrencies.
What can you start investing with $1,000?
Besides the traditional types of investments like stocks, real estate and bonds, there are a number of low-cost options with different levels of risks that you can consider:
- RSP or Regular Savings Plan
- Bond investment
- REITS
- ETFs
- Robo advisors
- Cryptocurrency
Why you should start investing
- Building smarter investment habits
Investments are a form of financial commitment, so itâll eat into your disposable income at the beginning for a while until you gain returns from your investments. With reduced disposable income, youâll most likely think twice about overspending on certain expenses. So, to make the most out of your investments, itâll be wiser to pick the best online brokerage with lower fees and minimal miscellaneous charges. You may wish to compare various online brokerages via MoneySmartâs Online Brokerage platform before you decide to pick one, so that you wonât end up regretting and paying any unnecessary fees and charges.
- Saving for a particular fund
Whether itâs for a wedding, your childâs education, retirement or other reasons, investments can help increase your savings for a big-ticket expense in a shorter amount of time as compared to just relying on your monthly income with no extra returns.
- Growing your wealth
Once you begin investing, itâs the beginning of opening doors to opportunities to earn better returns as you learn to take more risks with tact and meticulous planning. Over time, youâll get the hang of things and be able to meet your financial goals and increase your wealth, be it savings or disposable income.
How do I start?
You can start by deciding on your investing method. Did you know that there are actually 5 popular methods in Singapore? Each method is catered to different type/types of investment products:
- Passive investing - Suitable for ETFs and robo advisors
- Dividend investing - Ideal for bonds, blue chip stocks, and REITs
- Hands-off investing - Great for unit trusts and insurance products
- Active stock picking - Apt for stocks
- Speculation - Useful for cryptocurrency and forex
From low-risk digital investment apps to more hands-on and high-risk trading, you should make sure you pick a suitable method that suits your risk appetite and amount of capital for investments. If youâre keen to find out more about these methods in detail, you can read our article on how to invest in Singapore to better understand the appropriate approach to investing before throwing in your hard earned money into it.
Low-risk Assets
Invest in an index fund or ETF
Regular Savings Plans (RSPs) for novice investors

Best Robo Advisors In Singapore
As Singaporeâs first neobroker, Syfe is one of the most popular robo advisors around that lets you invest in US stocks and ETFs at a low cost. Besides its affordable fees with no minimum investment amount, it has a range of investment portfolios â Core, REIT+, Equity100, Global ARI, and Cash+.
Depending on your risk appetite, level of experience, and availability of capital for investing, youâll want to pick a portfolio that you can manage. If youâre still new at investing, the Syfe REIT+ may be a better choice as thereâs no minimum investment required. On the other hand, if youâre quite a seasoned investor and prefer to invest globally, the Syfe Equity100 will be more apt as it is a highly diversified stocks portfolio.
The key highlight of investing via Endowus is that youâll be able to invest with both your CPF Ordinary Account and SRS savings in portfolios including LionGlobal Infinity U.S. 500 Stock Index Fund, FSSA Dividend Advantage Fund, Schroder Global Emerging Markets Opportunities Fund, PIMCO GIS Global Bond Fund, Dimensional Global Core Fixed Income Fund and many more. Whatâs more, you automatically be given a UOB Kay Hian trust account that will contain all your assets, and to process your Endowus transactions.
Unlike some robo advisors that do not require any minimum investment, Endowus has a minimum initial investment amount of SGD 1,000, so youâll need to at least be able to afford to maintain that amount in your account. Youâll have the option to use both cash and/or your CPF Ordinary Account funds to make up this $1,000 in your account.
This robo advisor specializes in investments in ETFs. So, if youâre thinking about investing in solely ETFs, this could be great for you. Providing you access to trade ETFs from all over the world, Stashawayâs variety of ETFs include generic ones that track entire markets, gold, bonds, etc., such as iShares International Treasury Bond ETF, Vanguard Real Estate ETF, SPDR Gold Shares, just to name a few.
Your funds will be kept in a DBS trust account, while your investments are held in a Saxo custodian account, with unlimited and free transfers and withdrawals. Similar to Syfe, no minimum investment is required, but thereâs a minimum of 0.2% p.a. management fee charged to your account.
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Government Bonds
Singapore Savings Bond (SSB)
If you really want to play it really safe, investing in a SSB is an ideal one to start with as this bond is almost risk-free, given that it is issued and backed by the Singapore Government. A SSB usually yields returns of between 2% and 3% (tied to Singapore Government Securities) when you hold it till maturity, plus it gives you the flexibility of cashing out any month without losing the accrued interest.
However, with a 10-year maturity, which includes step up interest rates, your payments will gradually be higher and higher, depending on how much longer you plan to hold on to your investment. Note that SSBs cannot be sold on a secondary market, unlike corporate bonds.
Supplementary Retirement Scheme (SRS)
This scheme is a voluntary scheme for Singapore citizens and PRs to help save up for retirement. You'll be able to top up to $15,300 each year, and your contributions to the SRS are eligible for tax relief. So, your investment returns are virtually tax-free, unless you're talking about Singapore dividends. However, 50% of your withdrawals from SRS are taxable once you reach the retirement age of 63.
There's an opportunity cost if you leave your uninvested funds in your SRS account as it only earns 0.05% per year. So you'd rather invest that money in stocks, bonds, ETFs and unit trusts. before withdrawing it at retirement.
CPF Special Account (CPF SA)
Another low-risk form of investment is placing some of your CPF savings in the Special Singapore Government Securities (SSGS) through your CPF Special Account. As SSGS are non-tradable bonds issued specifically to the CPF Board, and are guaranteed by the government, it makes it relatively safe and easy to get involved.
You can start by making top-ups to your CPF Special Account (CPF SA) by transferring some of your funds in your Ordinary Account (OA) to your SA. You are eligible to do this only if you've got sufficient cash in your personal bank account to pay off your flat (including your down payment).
Another option is the Retirement Sum Topping-Up scheme which lets you earn an interest rate of up to 5% when you top up your CPF SA (up to a maximum of $8,000) with a tax relief benefit. You'll also be enrolled into the CPF Life Scheme where you will receive a monthly payout. The downside to this scheme is that you can only get access to these funds once you hit the age of 55.

High-risk Assets
Cryptocurrency
Circulating supply and market cap
Buying a little bit of a cryptocurrency
Getting a cryptocurrency account
Before you set up a crypto exchange account in Singapore, you’ll need to go through a middleman like Xfers to carry out the cash-to-crypto transaction via bank transfer, and then fund your crypto purchases using bank transfers.
However, as a beginner investor, we'd encourage you to read up more on the basics of cryptocurrency first before jumping on the bandwagon of crypto trading because it involves a very high level of financial risk. You may want to refer to this simple guide that we've put together for you:Cryptocurrency in Singapore: 7 Things to Know Before You Start Buying.
Forex
Speculating the next move
Having a plan
Trading currencies on a suitable platform
Thereâs a wide variety of forex trading platforms, but for beginner traders, you might want to start with those which are more popular in Singapore such as Oanda, Interactive Brokers, POEMS, FXPRIMUS, HotForex and FX365 Mobile. Similar to stock trading, youâll have to set up an account on a forex app, platform or other service provided by a broker before you can start trading on the platform using the providerâs interface.
Currencies are often traded pairs such as USD/EUR or USD/SGD. There are many combinations available, and it usually involves the base currency which is the first currency symbol in the pair, and the second is the quote currency.

Frequently Asked Questions
What can I invest with $1,000?
- There are actually many options that you can afford to invest in with $1,000. These include Regular Savings Plans, bond investments, REITS, ETFs, robo advisorsâ products, cryptocurrency and forex.
Should I pick low-risk assets to invest in?
- If your risk appetite is small and the capital that you can afford is $1,000 or lesser, Singapore Savings Bonds (SSBs), Regular Savings Plans (RSPs) and ETFs will be safer choices for you as thereâs a lower risk and funds involved as compared to high-risk assets like stocks or cryptocurrencies.
Am I eligible to invest in SRS?
- The Supplementary Retirement Scheme is only open to Singapore citizens and PRs. Under this scheme, youâll be able to top up to $15,300 each year, and your contributions to the SRS are eligible for tax relief. So, your investment returns are virtually tax-free, unless it is Singapore dividends.
If I want to start investing but have less than $1,000, what can I invest in?
- Regular Savings Plans (RSPs), portfolios of global equities, REITs, bonds, and even cryptocurrencies require less than $1,000 to invest in.
Are robo advisors good for investment needs?
- This depends on your preferred investment style. Robo advisors make things hassle-free and in a way more âhands-offâ in terms of investing style as everything is automated. All you need to do is put your funds in to buy and sell stocks, ETFs, bonds, etc., and the algorithm will do its job instead of the old skool way of human financial advisors watching the stock market.
Can I invest in cryptocurrency with less than $1,000?
- Yes. Youâll be able to buy bits of that particular cryptocurrency you want with as little as $50 or $100 by getting it via a crypto exchange platform like Binance Singapore, Gemini, Kraken and others.