
What is the Supplementary Retirement Scheme (SRS)?
The SRS is a voluntary savings scheme that helps you boost your savings for your golden years. You will be able to get a dollar-for-dollar tax discount on the amount saved to your SRS account. The more you contribute, the more you save on taxes.
The amount will be up to the maximum yearly contribution of $15,300 per annum for Singapore citizens and Singapore Permanent Residents(SPRs), and $35,700 for foreigners.
The total personal income tax relief claimable in a year is S$80,000. SRS contributions will help maximise the total amount of tax relief you can claim.
Learn more about SRS and how it can benefit you in this guide.
Benefits of SRS
Tax Relief
The most obvious benefit of the SRS is the tax relief that it provides. To give a better sensing on its magnitude, here is an example of just how much you can save in taxes:

Using the table above, the employee that decides to save using SRS will reduce the taxable income, lowering the amount paid to tax by approximately 32%. The higher your income, the larger the tax benefits you will enjoy.
Interested in finding out how much you can save with your SRS?
Find out how much tax benefits you can enjoy with our SRS calculator:
Wide Range of Investment Options
In addition to tax benefits, there are a wide range of financial instruments available for the SRS scheme, including
- Fixed deposits
- Bonds (such as T-bills and Singapore Savings Bonds)
- Unit trusts
- Index funds
- ETFs
- Stocks like blue chip shares and real estate investment trusts (REITs)
This variety of financial products caters to different risk appetites, making them great for most people, whether you’re a conservative or aggressive investor.
Long-Term Wealth Accumulation
Not only will the amount be subject to tax relief, but investing your SRS funds in various investment products allows them to grow at a rate faster than inflation.
Over time, your investments will benefit from compound interest, significantly boosting your retirement funds.
SRS vs CPF, what’s the difference?
SRS is seen as complementary to CPF.
Here are some key differences between the schemes:
Eligibility
Any Singaporean Citizen, Permanent Resident (PRs), or foreign employee above the age of 18 years old and not an undischarged bankrupt can contribute to an SRS account.
CPF contributions, on the other hand, can only be made by Singaporean Citizens or PRs.
Tax Relief
CPF SA and SRS both offer tax relief, but with different limits. CPF SA provides relief up to $8,000 for self top-ups and another $8,000 for loved ones, while SRS offers dollar-for-dollar deductions on contributions up to $15,300.
Withdrawals
SRS and the CPF SA also differ in their withdrawal rules.
Funds in your CPF SA can be withdrawn anytime from when you reach 55, provided you’ve reached the full retirement sum (FRS).
There is no age limit when it comes to SRS withdrawals, but note that there’s a penalty fee charged when you withdraw your funds before reaching the statutory retirement age (63 years old as of 2024, and is scheduled to be raised to 64 in 2026). This age is fixed when you make your first SRS contribution, so it’s advantageous to open your account sooner rather than later. More on SRS withdrawals below.
Investment Options
CPF SA focuses on low risk investments. This includes low risk unit trust, insurance products as well as cash management options ranging from Singapore Government Bonds (SGB), T-bills to fixed deposits. This is vastly limited when compared to the range for SRS as previously mentioned, giving investors a wider range of options to choose from.
Annual Returns on Cash
Your CPF SA account provides an annual return of 4.14% while the rate of returns of investing your cash in your SRS depends on the type of investment you’ve chosen.
Withdrawal of SRS Funds
SRS gives you the flexibility to withdraw your SRS funds. With careful planning, the SRS withdrawal can be subjected to minimum tax. In some cases, the incurred amount can be reduced to zero.
Withdrawing your SRS fund during and after statutory retirement age
If you choose to withdraw your SRS funds after you’ve reached the statutory retirement age, all withdrawals are subject to 50% tax concession, including annuity streams.
Here’s an illustration of how it works:
You have S$400,000 in your SRS account and no other taxable income.
Currently an SRS member can withdraw up to $40,000 per year tax-free on or after reaching the prescribed retirement age, assuming that he has no other taxable income. Over the maximum withdrawal period of 10 years, he can withdraw up to $400,000 tax-free.

Withdrawing your SRS funds before statutory retirement age
In the event that you are in dire need of your SRS funds but have yet to reach the statutory retirement age, there are 2 scenarios to help determine the taxable income within the year.
Scenario 1:
Withdrawal before statutory retirement age without any circumstances
- Tax on the 100% of sum withdrawn and an additional 5% penalty
Scenario 2:
Withdrawal before statutory retirement age under exceptional circumstances
The exceptional circumstances are as follows:
- Withdrawal in the event of terminal illness
- Withdrawal of medical grounds
- Withdrawal of annuities
- Withdrawal in one lump sum by a foreigner (with at least 10 years holding period)
- Tax on 50% of the sum withdrawn will apply to these exceptional circumstances without any penalty
How to Invest Your SRS Funds
You’ll need to open an SRS account before you even start investing.
The SRS operators are UOB, DBS & OCBC, and you can register for an account with any of them on their online platforms and fund it via internal bank transfer or head down to their outlets to deposit your funds.
While you can only open an SRS account with one of the three local banks, you can invest your SRS funds with other financial institutions, such as Syfe.
Why Grow Your SRS with Syfe
Here are the benefits to grow your SRS with Syfe;
- All-in-one App: With SRS now on Syfe, you can manage all your investments—brokerage, cash management, managed portfolios, and now SRS—on one platform.
- Enhanced Tier Benefits: Your SRS investments count towards your Syfe tier level, unlocking lower fees and greater rewards as your investments grow. Discover all the perks that come with your current tier and see what’s in store as you invest more. Visit our Syfe Pricing page for full details on tier benefits!
- No minimums, no lock-ins: Start investing with any amount, and enjoy the flexibility to withdraw anytime, without fees.
- Expert management: Our dedicated investment team handles rebalancing and optimisation, so you can enjoy a hands-off experience.
Syfe Core Equity 100 (SRS)

Syfe Core Equity 100 (SRS) is Singapore’s first equity portfolio built using the best-in-class SRS-eligible index funds in the market with 5,000 stocks across the globe and have high historical returns of the past 8 years.
The portfolio is managed in partnership with top asset managers, leveraging decades of experience and a proven track record. The fund-level fee of Core Equity 100 (SRS) is 0.20%, significantly lower than actively managed equity portfolios, which typically incur 1% to 2% in management fees.

Syfe Income+ (SRS)
Syfe Income+ (SRS) is a one-of-a-kind offering that brings you PIMCO’s best-in-class fixed-income strategies. Retail investors enjoy exclusive access, unlocking up to 60% savings on fund-level fees to maximise returns. The fund-level fee is 0.65%, compared to 1.5% for retail funds. The portfolios also offer an attractive yield-to-maturity of 6.2% to 6.8%. Monthly dividends are automatically reinvested to maximise returns.
Cash+ Flexi (SGD) (SRS)
Cash+ Flexi (SGD) invests in low-risk, high-liquidity funds to help you achieve steady returns in line with or above money market rates. With projected returns at 3.7% p.a., it offers a rate over 70 times higher than the 0.05% offered by traditional SRS bank accounts. It’s an ideal portfolio to supercharge your SRS savings safely.
Start Today
Apply promo code “SRSNOW” and fund your SRS portfolio by 30 November, Saturday 2359 (SGT) to earn S$50 cashback for every S$25,000 invested in our Core Equity100 or Income+ SRS portfolios—up to S$400!
The cashback will be credited in four quarterly payouts from the date of your first investment. Start building your SRS portfolio now and enjoy exclusive rewards!
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