Long-Term vs. Short-Term Investing: How to Split Your Money
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Putting a timeline and goal amount for your investments matters because the strategy you take to invest for the long term is very different than if you are investing for the short term. Take that new home in Singapore that you are getting in 5 years versus your plan to retire in 25 years: you should have a very different portfolio for your house than for your retirement portfolio that you’re cashing out in 25 years. Goals with a time horizon of less than 3-5 years can be considered short-term, and the ones above 5-7 years can be considered medium- to long-term.
The differences in portfolios come down to how risky and liquid the given portfolio should be. The riskiness and liquidity are a function of an investment portfolio’s combination of stocks, bonds, real estate, and other assets.
When do you want to use the money you’re investing? Do you want it in 1 year? 5 years? 30 years? This isn't a question with one right answer - it's a question of splitting your money sensibly between what you'll need soon and what can grow for years. This guide compares long-term and short-term investing directly on risk, expected return and liquidity, then gives a practical framework for how much to allocate to each based on your own timeline and goals, rather than treating it as an either/or decision.
Are you taking the appropriate level of risk given your timeline?
As shown in Figure 1 below, there’s a clear relationship between risk versus average returns in the long term. But the keywords here are “long-term” and “average”. In the short term, riskier investments fluctuate more and, therefore, can give much higher returns or much lower (negative!) returns than lower-risk investments: a short-term investment in a high-risk asset may end up in a significant loss at the time you were planning to liquidate the investment to pay for the goal you were targeting. If you’re getting close to wanting to use the money, you don’t want to risk those negative returns, so you should decrease the risk of your investment portfolios.
Just as you don’t want to be in a risky portfolio in the short term, you don’t want to be in an excessively safe portfolio for the long term. A long-term-focused investment in a very low-risk asset will end up in a significant missed opportunity. Consider this: an extra 2% annual return in 30 years gives 50% more capital (think: $3 million SGD for your retirement instead of $2 million SGD!).
This being said, too much risk is a mistake, but too little risk can also be a mistake. However, the time horizon isn’t the only factor when determining how much risk you should take. To be able to sustain any investment, it’s crucial that you are comfortable with the risk level you opt for. Adjusting based on your tolerance for risk is one of the key ways to personalise your investments.
Summary Table
| Short-term (money you need within 1–3 years) | Long-term (money you won't need for 5+ years) | |
|---|---|---|
| Risk | Low — capital preservation is the priority; you can't afford a drop right before you need the cash | Can tolerate volatility — short-term dips have years to recover before you need the money |
| Typical expected return | Roughly 2%–6% p.a. in the UAE today (money market funds, high-yield savings, fixed deposits) | Historically ~7–10% p.a. nominal for diversified global equities over long periods — not guaranteed, and past performance doesn't predict future returns |
| Liquidity | High — access within days, ideally without a penalty | Lower liquidity is acceptable — you're not touching this money soon, so locking some of it up isn't a real cost |
Do you have sufficient liquidity?
A liquid investment is an investment that can be sold quickly into cash at a low cost and with certainty. For example, Apple’s shares are very liquid, while an apartment is not liquid. The former example can be sold in a matter of minutes when the stock market is open, while an apartment in Singapore may take months and significant costs to be sold at the right value.
Why is liquidity important? How liquid an investment is determines how easily you can convert it into cash, ultimately to pay for a goal you’ve been saving for. If you tie all of your money up in an apartment, you could find yourself waiting longer than you wanted for the sale to turn into spendable cash.
Emergency funds should generally be kept partially in cash, as cash is the most liquid possible asset. It should also be partially in investments you can liquidate in less than 3-4 days as you never know when you’ll need to pay for a hospital bill or broken refrigerator. Similarly, for short-term goals, make sure they are invested in liquid instruments so that you can easily spend the money exactly when you need to attain the goal versus waiting possibly months for it.
How much should go where? Match the money to when you need it, not to how you feel about risk
- Needed within 12 months (emergency fund, a known upcoming expense): 100% short-term. This money should never be somewhere it could be worth less than you put in when you need to spend it.
- 1–3 years out (a car, a wedding, a home down payment you're actively saving toward): mostly short-term. If the timeline has some flexibility, a small portion can sit in a more growth-oriented allocation — but the default should be capital preservation.
- 3–5 years out (a goal that could plausibly shift a year or two): a blend — roughly half short-term, half long-term is a reasonable starting split, adjusted based on how fixed the timeline actually is.
- 5+ years out (retirement, long-term wealth building, a child's future education fund): mostly long-term, diversified growth assets. Keep a small cash buffer for emergencies, but the bulk of this money's job is to compound, not to sit still.
- A well-known rule of thumb, if you want a single number: subtract your age from 100 to get a rough starting percentage for growth/long-term assets — a 30-year-old might start around 70% long-term, a 50-year-old around 50%. This is a generic heuristic, not personalized advice — your actual goals and timeline (above) should override it if they point somewhere different.
Make sure your investments have a timeline
It’s important to put a timeframe on your goals to determine how much risk you should assign to your various investments. Simply put, if you invest for the long term, you can afford to take more risk and invest in less liquid asset classes (think: property); in the short term, you need to invest in assets that are less risky and highly liquid.
You can invest parts of your long-term portfolio in more illiquid asset classes. In the long term, you can afford a mix of liquid and illiquid instruments and maximise your long-term returns.
Keen to start building your investment portfolio? Check out StashAway’s different portfolios today to benefit from annual management fees that start from as low as 0.2% and a transparent fee structure that enables you to maximise your gains.
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