This article is a guest contribution and originally appeared in Growing Wallets. Growing Wallets hopes to become a platform to advocate the importance of financial literacy.

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For first-time HDB flat buyers, taking up a housing loan with the Housing Development Board (HDB) would seem like the obvious way to go. Benefits like being able to pay the down-payment through CPF or cash, and being able to loan up to 90% of the purchase price make the HDB loan an attractive option for cash strapped couples and individuals. As a young couple, my wife and I were no different from many other couples just starting their life together. We started off our first mortgage with a housing loan through HDB to maximise the use of our CPF money and none of our modest nest egg. But, we have since refinanced to a bank loan, which has helped us gain a surplus in our CPF accounts as our monthly mortgage repayments have dropped....