Finance guru Queenie Tan, from Sydney, has shared her top five most important lessons she learnt while building her $500,000 net worth
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A finance guru has revealed the five lessons she learnt that helped her make grow her net worth to $500,000 including don’t be afraid to take calculated risks and don’t follow the crowd. 

Queenie Tan, from Sydney, said it took her and her partner Pablo three years to reach their first $100,000 but in the last 12 months have grown their net worth to $500,000 – half way to their $1million goal. 

In the video posted to her Youtube channel, the 25-year-old lists her top five life lessons she learnt along her finance journey. 

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Finance guru Queenie Tan, from Sydney, has shared her top five most important lessons she learnt while building her $500,000 net worth

Finance guru Queenie Tan, from Sydney, has shared her top five most important lessons she learnt while building her $500,000 net worth

The 25-year-old said it took her and her partner Pablo three years to reach their first $100,000 but in the last 12 months have grown their net worth to $500,000

The 25-year-old said it took her and her partner Pablo three years to reach their first $100,000 but in the last 12 months have grown their net worth to $500,000

 1. Get high value at low prices 

Whether buying food at the shops or investing in the stock market, Queenie said getting high value at a low price is ‘always a good idea’ and is even a philosophy adopted by one of the world’s most famous investors Warren Buffet. 

Queenie cited an example from her childhood when her dad wouldn’t let her buy a top she wanted unless it went on sale. 

Despite her worries the top would go out of stock or never go on sale, it was eventually discounted to 50 per cent off and her dad was able to buy her the garment she wanted as well as a second top for the price of one. 

‘Next time you’re looking at purchasing something, consider whether you are getting high value at a low price and consider how many hours you would need to work to in order to afford that item,’ she said. 

2. Money is your life’s energy

Queenie explained we need to ‘trade our time for money’ to be able to afford a living and it’s important to weight up your quality of life with a job that pays more but leaves you stressed and burnt out. 

She said a person working 38 hours a week for a $90,000 a year job would be making roughly $49 per hour.

However when you factor in the time and cost of extras you need to fulfil your job such as commuting, taxes, getting ready, uniforms, makeup and recovery time after work, it can equate to less than $20 an hour. 

A year ago at 24, Queenie said she was working a job earning a ‘decent six figure income’ but was leaving her feeling strained but now as a full-time content creator she is ‘feeling better about life’ even during some months when she earns less. 

‘It’s just worth it to us because we have a lot more freedom in our life and that freedom is worth a lot more to us than money,’ she said. 

How does Queenie Tan spend her $10,000 monthly income? 

Personal expenses 

Living expenses – $2,200

Utilities – $200

Telco and Internet bills – $80

Groceries – $1,000

Transport – $200

Gym – $480

Personal leisure – $800

Business expenses  

Operating expenses (OPEX – common business fees) – $600

Capital expenditure expenses (CAPEX – electronics, software, technology) – $500

Investing 

Stock market – $2,000 

Savings – $1,88

3. Zig when others zag 

‘Sometimes we think the most popular option is the best option but that’s not always the case and that’s why I think it’s important for us to do our own research and to make our own decisions,’ Queenie said.

She explained how excited her parents were when she got into law school at 18 years old but wasn’t enjoying it and was hesitant to drop out because of societal expectations. 

Queenie was being told that dropping out of university would be a ‘big mistake’ but she did so anyway for her own happiness and researched a career path that was more suited to her rather than what everyone else was doing. 

‘It’s important to explore all opportunities to find out which one is right for us instead of just following the crowd and just assuming that the crowd has done its research and assuming that the crowd has made the right decision,’ she said. 

Whether buying food at the shops or investing in the stock market, Queenie said getting high value at a low price is 'always a good idea'

Whether buying food at the shops or investing in the stock market, Queenie said getting high value at a low price is ‘always a good idea’

4.  Take calculated risks 

Queenie asked her 38,400 Instagram followers if they would play a game of heads or tails with her where if they win, she gives them $150 but if they lose, they give her $100 with 42 per cent voting against playing altogether. 

She explained that in the game of heads or tails, each throw would average out at $25 gained for the person playing against her making it a worthwhile investment for them. 

‘Most people don’t end up winning because they’re afraid of losing even when they actually have a better chance of winning – this is called loss aversion,’ she said. 

‘When we’re about to make a big decision, it’s important to ask ourselves, what’s the worst and best thing that could happen and generally the worst thing that we think could happen isn’t actually as bad as we thought it could be.’

Queenie said we need to 'trade our time for money' to be able to afford a living and it's important to weight up your quality of life with a job that pays more but leaves you burnt out

Queenie said we need to ‘trade our time for money’ to be able to afford a living and it’s important to weight up your quality of life with a job that pays more but leaves you burnt out

5.  Those who keep learning will keep rising

Queenie cited the camera company Kodak as a good example of why we need to evolve and progress our ideas and habits into the future. 

Kodak was once one of the biggest camera companies in the world before the age of digital photography and made their money selling disposable cameras you needed to pay to get developed. 

‘Kodak could’ve worked at developing a digital camera but it didn’t work for its business model because they didn’t want to lose the chunk of revenue selling film for disposable cameras’ Queenie explained. 

Brands like Sony, Panasonic and Canon started to develop their technology so much so the world embraced digital cameras and they became the biggest camera brands in the world leaving Kodak struggling to catch up. 

Queenie said with the world evolving rapidly every fives years is different to the last. 

‘We can either try to fight the change and stop it happening even though we know it’s inevitable or we can keep learning and keep evolving and keep progressing into the future,’ she said. 

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