Podcast cost Simran Kaur shares how she became a millionaire by 25: Money mistakes everyone makes

Over two years the New Zealand podcast host has launched a book, gained an Instagram following of more than 168,000, hosted a Tedx Talk in the US and taught thousands of women about financial literacy.

Now Simran has reflected on the money mistakes she’s made and told FEMAIL what she’d do differently when it comes to investing.

‘Often we hear about the financial success that the everyday person achieves, or more notably what the rich and wealthy did to get rich and wealthy. But I think it’s equally as important to share some of the money mistakes that have been made on the way,’ she said.

Simran Kaur, from New Zealand, (pictured) has a net worth of one million dollars at the age of 25 after co-founding the Girls That Invest podcast in 2020

Now Simran (pictured with best friend and podcast co-host Sonya Gupthan) has reflected on the money mistakes she’s made and told FEMAIL what she’d do differently when it comes to investing

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Podcast cost Simran Kaur shares how she became a millionaire by 25

Simran’s assets include her savings, house, stocks, business cash and the value of her car and business – while her liabilities are her mortgage and student loan.

Rather than simply not budgeting or spending more than you earn, Simran highlighted how to make your money go further by investing and avoiding unnecessary spending.

Not using ‘cash back’ reward programs sooner

Simran said one of her biggest money regrets is not using reward programs that provide cash back when you shop.

‘I used to think credit cards were for people who didn’t have money. Such a silly mistake,’ she said. 

‘I’ve missed out on thousands of dollars worth of points from back in university when I first started out in the business world, but it goes to show sometimes experience is the best teacher.’

Simran said one of her ‘biggest’ money regrets is not using reward programs that provide cash back when you shop (pictured with her new book)

Paying off student loan debt quickly

One misconception Simran had was that she needed to pay off her student loans as fast as possible.

‘I studied in New Zealand which means loans are interest-free (in Australia they’re inflation adjusted),’ she said.

‘This means over time debt gets CHEAPER and therefore it’s better to pay off my student loan slowly.’

For Australian students, it’s best to check how much is charged to your loan per year and attribute part of your pay to the loan if possible.

Spending money on unnecessary purchases

From fancy cars to fine dining, spending money on expensive products is one money mistake many can relate to.

‘I always look back and cringe at how much money I spent on the few times I went out to very fancy restaurants and yet never left them feeling very full,’ Simran said.

‘They are just not worth it.’

From fancy cars to fine dining, spending money on expensive products is one money mistake many can relate to

Since 2020 Simran has launched a book, gained an Instagram following of more than 168,000 people, hosted a Tedx Talk in the US and taught thousands of women about financial literacy

Investing mistakes:

Selling stocks as soon as the market drops 

Economic uncertainty and rising inflation has caused a significant dip in the stock market throughout 2022, likely leading new investors to ‘panic sell’ stocks.

But long-term investors know it’s best to hold onto shares over a period of time with hope to come out on top and make a profit.

Simran said when she first started investing her Amazon shares dropped by $3 and she ‘absolutely panicked’, so she sold all $300 worth.

After realising she should’ve held onto the stocks, she went and repurchased them again.

‘It’s comical now because every time you buy and sell shares you’d have to pay a hefty brokerage fee back then, so I probably lost even more money! Now I know better, but it goes to show we all start somewhere,’ she said.

Simran said when she first started investing her Amazon shares dropped by $3 and she ‘absolutely panicked’, so she sold all $300 worth

Investing in too many ETFs 

An ETF (exchange-traded fund) is a ‘pooled’ type of investment or group of shares, such as Asia ETF, ETHI, iShares Global 100, BetaShares FAIR and Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF (VAS).

While ETFs are great for beginners, investors can fall into the trap of overlapping with too many companies if only this type of investment is focused on.

‘I found ETFs to be a great way to diversify, but what some people don’t realise is that too much of a good thing can be, well, a bad thing!’ she said.

‘I didn’t realise it for a while but by investing in so many ETFs I was essentially buying many baskets that were filled with many of the same companies. It was like buying a kilo of Brie cheese and then a kilo of camembert, too much of the same thing!’

Checking my portfolio everyday

If you’re a long-term investor, it’s best to avoid checking your stock portfolio daily because the dips and changes can often cause panic.

Simran said she got ‘a bit too over her head’ when she started reading the stock market news everyday.

‘The issue with this is that it makes you start to questions all your decision making and makes you worry about things you frankly don’t need to be worrying about,’ she said.

‘The science shows that the less you check your portfolio, the better, and that there’s actually an inverse relationship between how often you check your portfolio, and how your shares do!’

Thinking it was ‘too hard’ to start investing

During her teenage years, Simran often thought it was too difficult to start her investing journey due to common stereotypes on what an investor ‘looks like’.

Because she wasn’t ‘a man in a suit’ she thought investing wasn’t for her, but this was far from the truth.

She’s now learnt that you don’t need to be wealthy to start investing, and it’s not as difficult as it may seem.

‘I thought investing was something you did once you were wealthy – it didn’t occur to me for a long time that investing is what you do to help you get wealthy,’ she said.

‘I think a lot of us still have this misconception that it’s not for us, that we’re bad with numbers or that we inherently just cannot learn, yet studies have found women to be better investors than our male counterparts.’

During her teenage years, Simran often thought it was too difficult to start her investing journey due to common stereotypes on what an investor ‘looks like’. She’s now learnt that you don’t need to be wealthy to start investing, and it’s not as difficult as it may seem

Simran’s road to financial success has come with sacrificing her time, as she often works 60 to 80 hours a week focusing on her assets.

In just two years the 25-year-old has managed to grow her net worth from $8,000 to an astonishing $1million.

Simran previously told FEMAIL she was able to rapidly grow the figure by investing in shares, renovating her rundown home and growing her podcast.

In 2020 Simran boosted her savings by taking on side hustles to supplement her income and learnt how to invest her money.

She managed to save $57,000 in one year to purchase her first home worth $565K with a 10 per cent deposit.

Simran and her podcast cofounder Sonya Gupthan (pictured, right) started the podcast Girls That Invest to spread financial literacy and teach women how to invest

‘Initially I worked a normal 9-5 job with some ecommerce side hustles, where I was selling merchandise like shirts and tote bags to a community of 300k people along with a few other ecommerce brands that were in the accessories niche,’ Simran said.

At the time she was also freelancing her time to create online content for financial brands.

‘I realised I was great at social media so I thought ‘if I spend so much time on Instagram and TikTok for free, why not be paid to do it,’ she said.

‘All the money I earned I either invested into my shares or my business. I lived very cheaply by renting out a flat with three other people, spending less than $70 on food every week and splitting bills with my flatmates.’

She also took up side hustles, such as dropshopping and selling ‘print on demand’ products.

Dropshipping involves shipping products from the manufacturer directly to the customer without the supplier or retailer ever seeing it.

Simran grew her net worth by focusing on side hustles in addition to renovating her home and building her businesses

Simran and her best friend Sonya Gupthan started Girls That Invest to spread financial literacy and teach women how to invest, and today the brand is worth six-figures.

For the first 18 months Simran said she didn’t take on any paid opportunities and would speak at events for free to share her views and knowledge.

Now the pair offer a single paid product for our community members who want a more comprehensive in-depth experience to learn more about investing.

‘Our masterclass has been taken by over 2000 students worldwide from counties like Australia and NZ but also in the US, Canada, UK, Spain and South Korea – it’s phenomenal!’ she said.

Prior to purchasing her first home at the age of 24, Simran had to strategically save and budget her money.

‘I had to cut down my spending habits by budgeting how much I spent on groceries and caught up with friends at home instead of going out,’ she said.

Being single with no dependents, she was able to save frugally and strategically over a short period of time.

But she also had luck on her side, as she invested a large amount of money into the stock market ‘at the right time’ to gain an estimated profit of $4,730 over 12 months.

‘When I had close to $50,000 I knew I needed to speak to a mortgage broker and apply for a loan,’ she said.

Over a short period of time the Girls That Invest podcast is claimed to be ‘one of Australia’s biggest investing podcast for women’

‘I was lucky enough to invest in the bottom of the market in March and some of my investments did very well, including Tesla which gave me a 400 per cent return on my money,’ she said.

‘I had dabbled in investing in the past but decided to take it more seriously and invested as much as I could afford slowly every week.’

‘When I began my investing journey there wasn’t any information that was female orientated and it felt very intimidating,’ she said.

‘I couldn’t find a voice that related to mine, it was just ‘finance bros’ who overcomplicated investing concepts.’

In addition to saving, Simran encourages women to start investing and find ways to boost your income