Iggy's Journal: The Best Yield In Singapore Isn't On Any Exchange

14 September 2026, PM

Podcast Release (Iggy Answers)

 CPF Special Account pays 4.0% a year, guaranteed, and it doesn't move when the Fed does something or oil spikes past US$100. That single guaranteed number is the reason my forensic floor sits at 3.2% and my real hurdle sits at 4.7%. Most dividend names and REITs never actually clear that 4.7% bar, and yet they still get called good yields by people who never ran the comparison.

The uncomfortable question this episode sits with, if a REIT is yielding 3.8% and carrying real equity risk on top of that, what exactly is it beating. Not the risk free rate on paper, the actual guaranteed rate many of you already have access to. That gap between "sounds like a decent yield" and "actually clears the bar I'd set for taking on equity risk" is the whole episode.

My Personal Take

Genuinely, this is one of those numbers that should embarrass more of the market than it does. CPF SA sitting quietly at 4.0%, guaranteed, no research required, no forensic audit needed, and yet plenty of dividend portfolios are built around yields that don't even beat it. I'm not saying move everything into CPF SA, that's not the point and I know the liquidity trade offs are real. But the next time a 3.8% yield gets called attractive, ask what it's actually competing against before deciding it's worth the equity risk. Worth the listen, kopi-o in hand, let the numbers speak on this one because they're not flattering to a lot of what passes for income investing here.

📺 YouTube: https://youtu.be/RSSY3vhs2bw

📩 Substack: https://investingiguana.com/p/the-toughest-yardstick-in-singapore

Cheers, Iggy 🦖