Insights

The Pledging Calculator, Explained

When income alone won't clear TDSR, eligible assets can lift your loan — pledged for 48 months at full value, or merely shown at 30 cents on the dollar. This calculator shows exactly what each route unlocks.

By TRIBE Editorial · 28 June 2026 · 3 min read

When your income alone doesn't clear the TDSR cap, banks let you bridge the gap with assets — but on two very different terms. You can pledge liquid assets (lock them for a period) and have them counted in full, or merely show them (leave them unpledged) and have them counted at a fraction. The Pledging Calculator quantifies both routes, so you can see exactly how much extra loan a given pot of savings unlocks — and how much you'd need to hit a target.

100% ÷ 48

Pledged assets

counted in full over 48 months

30% ÷ 48

Shown (unpledged) assets

only 30% recognised

× 55%

Then the TDSR cap applies

before it becomes loan

Pledged versus shown

Both routes turn a pile of assets into a stream of "recognised income" the bank can lend against — but at very different rates. Pledging locks eligible assets (cash, fixed deposits and similar) for 48 months; they're recognised at 100%, spread over those 48 months, as additional monthly income. Showing the same assets without locking them — the unpledged route — recognises only 30%, again spread over 48 months. Pledging is therefore worth more than three times as much per dollar of assets, which is the whole reason the choice matters.

The step most calculators skip

Here's where a lot of back-of-envelope sums overstate things. The recognised income from your assets doesn't become loan one-for-one — it's still subject to the 55% TDSR cap, and then converted to a loan as the present value of that capped monthly amount over your tenure at the stress rate. In plain terms: assets add to your income, and only 55% of that addition can service debt, and that servicing buys a loan sized at the stressed rate. The calculator applies all three steps, so the extra-loan figure is realistic rather than the inflated number you'd get by skipping the 55%.

As a feel for the magnitudes: pledging around $480,000 recognises roughly $10,000 a month of income; achieving the same through the unpledged route would take more than three times the assets. And a modest $48,000 pledged lifts the loan by roughly $115,000 at a 4% assessment rate over 30 years.

Two directions

The tool runs both ways. Forward: enter the assets, tenure and assessment rate, and see the extra loan pledging versus showing unlocks. Backward: it can tell you the assets needed to reach a particular loan figure — useful when you know the shortfall and want to size the pledge.

How to read it

Open the Pledging Calculator, enter your assets, tenure and assessment rate, and compare the pledged versus unpledged loan figures. Weigh the gain against the cost: pledging means locking real money for 48 months, which has its own opportunity cost. The calculator tells you what the lock is worth in borrowing power; whether that trade is right for you is a separate decision. To see whether you even need it, run your income-only capacity first in the Affordability Assessment.

See what your assets unlock at tribesg.com/tools/pledging-calculator.

Sources: TRIBE Pledging Calculator; pledged/unpledged recognition (100% over 48 months / 30%), the 55% TDSR cap and 4% assessment rate per MAS rules, as at June 2026. Informational only; not financial advice.

Silas Tan is a District Director at Huttons Asia and co-founder of TRIBE. This article is for informational purposes and does not constitute financial or investment advice. CEA Registration R000303I.