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Help Center - StashAway

Help Center

Singapore’s Supplementary Retirement Scheme (SRS) is a retirement scheme that  Singapore’s Ministry of Finance designed to encourage both Singaporeans and foreigners to save more for retirement by offering attractive tax incentives to those who participate.

What is SRS?

Anyone who is a tax resident of Singapore. This includes Singaporean Citizens, Permanent Residents, and Foreign Employees.

Who is eligible to open an SRS account?

Unlike CPF, SRS is entirely voluntary. Additionally, an SRS account holder can choose to invest the SRS funds from a wide list of approved options, while the majority of CPF investments are managed by the CPF Board.

What’s the difference between CPF and SRS?

You can open an SRS account with DBS, OCBC, and UOB. It’s important to know that you’re not limited to invest the funds with the bank with which you opened your SRS account. There are many third-party fund managers approved by the Ministry of Finance, and you can select one of these to fund managers for your SRS investments.
 
StashAway is approved by the Ministry of Finance <a href="https://www.stashaway.sg/supplementary-retirement-scheme" target="_self">to manage SRS investments</a>.

How do you open an SRS account?

You can open an SRS account with DBS, OCBC, or UOB, but you aren’t limited to those three banks to invest your SRS contributions.

Don’t I have to invest with the bank with which I opened my SRS account?

SRS’s main advantage is the <a href="https://www.stashaway.sg/r/supplementary-retirement-scheme-tax-benefits" target="_self">tax benefits</a> it offers. Whatever amount you contribute to your SRS account is fully deducted from your tax bill that year (Singaporeans and PRs can contribute to their SRS bank accounts up to $15,300 SGD per year, and foreigners can contribute up $35,700 SGD per year). These contributions lead to significant tax savings: Singaporeans who max out their SRS contributions can decrease their taxes by up to $3,366 SGD each year, depending on their tax bracket. Foreigners, given their larger contribution cap, can save nearly $8,000 SGD per annum, totaling nearly $80,000 SGD over the course of 10 years, assuming a full SRS contribution during those 10 years. 
 
Withdrawals at retirement (or when conditions are met) are given a 50% tax concession and can be spread over 10 years to minimize taxes.

What are SRS’s tax benefits? 

There is a wide range of financial vehicles into which you can invest your SRS funds once you open an SRS account. These vehicles include stocks, bonds, fixed deposits, unit trusts, and annuity plans. StashAway is one of the many providers of <a href="https://www.stashaway.sg/supplementary-retirement-scheme" target="_self">SRS investment options</a>. 
 
What’s most important is that you are investing your SRS funds at all. If you leave your SRS funds sitting in the SRS bank account, they are earning a mere 0.05% per annum, so they’re getting eaten up by inflation if you don’t invest them. 
 
Check out how much more money you can earn over the long term if you invest: 
If you contribute the full $15,300 SGD per annum every year for 20 years, that would be worth $306,000 SGD after 20 years. But, if you invested it and earned 5% net returns per annum, you'd earn $504,850 SGD in 20 years. If you contributed the max amount for 30 years, you'd have $459,000 in savings, but again, if you invested those contributions each year and earned 5% net returns per annum, you’d have $1,003,436 SGD in 30 years.

Where can I make SRS investments?

Firstly, you will need to create an SRS account with either DBS, OCBC, or UOB.
<ul>
<li>
DBS sign up link: <a href="https://www.dbs.com.sg/personal/investments/srs-and-cpf/supplementary-retirement-scheme">https://www.dbs.com.sg/personal/investments/srs-and-cpf/supplementary-retirement-scheme</a>
</li>
<li>
OCBC sign up link: <a href="https://www.ocbc.com/personal-banking/investments/supplementary-retirement-scheme.html">https://www.ocbc.com/personal-banking/investments/supplementary-retirement-scheme.html</a>
</li>
<li>
UOB sign up link: <a href="https://www.uob.com.sg/personal/invest/financial/srs-account.page">https://www.uob.com.sg/personal/invest/financial/srs-account.page</a>
</li>
</ul>
You will need to enter your SRS account number and bank name, so do have it on hand!
If you are a foreigner, you will need to provide your FIN and upload proof of identification. We will get in touch with you for verification.
 
Next, you'll have to create a new portfolio (either General Investing or Plan for Retirement) in your StashAway account. There'll be an option "I want to fund this portfolio with my SRS account" at the start.
 
Once you have entered your SRS account number and bank name, you can proceed to set up a deposit request.
 
If you've set up a standing instruction, we will automatically request the SRS funds from your SRS account on your behalf each month, so there is no need to make a new deposit request.
 
After we've received your deposit request, it will take about 2 to 3 business days for the bank to process it. Thereafter, you can expect to receive a confirmation email from us, once we've received the funds successfully.

How do I set up an SRS deposit?

Singaporeans and PRs can contribute to their SRS bank accounts up to $15,300 SGD per year, and foreigners can contribute up $35,700 SGD per year.

What’s the maximum you can contribute to SRS?

When you create a portfolio,
 
Step 1: Select  "I want to fund this portfolio with my SRS account" at the start
Step 2: Add your SRS account details to your StashAway account.
Step 3: Create a new portfolio (either General Investing or Plan for Retirement/ Income Portfolio/ StashAway Simple™ Portfolio) in your StashAway account.
Step 4: Choose “I want to fund this portfolio with my SRS account”
 
After we have verified your SRS account, you can plan your StashAway SRS investments right from the StashAway mobile or desktop app. On your behalf, StashAway will request the SRS funds from your SRS contribution account bank (DBS, OCBC or UOB) on the date you have specified with the amount you specify.
 
The investment amount and schedule into StashAway from your SRS account can be changed at any time through the StashAway app.

How do I invest my SRS funds using StashAway?

You can have up to 2 Simple portfolios - one that you can fund with your SRS funds, and one that you can fund with your personal bank account.

Can I deposit SRS funds into StashAway Simple?

Withdrawal can be done after the statutory age:
Upon reaching the statutory retirement age (62 years old), Singaporeans and PRs can withdraw from their SRS accounts over a period of up to 10 years, starting on the date of the first withdrawal. Foreigners can withdraw without penalties 10 years after they open an SRS account.
50% of every withdrawal will be subject to tax. Proper withdrawal timing is key to <a href="https://www.stashaway.sg/r/supplementary-retirement-scheme-tax-benefits">maximising the tax advantages</a> from SRS contributions. To maximise the tax advantages, you should withdraw when your marginal tax rate is lowest.
 
Early SRS withdrawal penalties:
It’s important you only contribute to SRS if you’re certain you won’t need the funds until retirement, because if you don’t meet the early withdrawal conditions, you will face a 5% penalty, and in addition, 100% of the early withdrawal would be subject to tax.

When can you withdraw your SRS?

There are three payout tiers in the CPF Life plan. The monthly payments are based on how much ​you have in your Retirement Account Savings at 55. See below for the expected monthly payout ranges for the Standard plan:
<ol>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">$83,000 SGD — expected payout per month is $720 to $770 SGD</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">$166,000 SGD — expected payout per month is $1,320 to $1,410 SGD</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">$249,000 SGD (max amount allowed in retirement account) — Expected payout per month is $1,910 to $2,060 SGD</li>
</ol>
Please visit the CPF website for any updates <a href="https://www.cpf.gov.sg/members/schemes/schemes/retirement/cpf-life">here</a>.