Coming from an elite background yet is keen on making her own money!

Tan- born in Singapore and raised in Shanghai, grew up attending international schools wherein moneyed families are a regular.

Her mother also comes from a wealthy background and works in private banking, while her dad works in biotechnology.

Tan’s parents cover her $20,000 quarterly tuition at the University of Chicago where she is currently a rising senior studying economics and data science.

Staying wealthy was her motivation-

Tan shares that growing up wealthy and continuing to be the same motivated her to start earning her own money early on.

In middle school, she bought clothes from local wholesale retailers and resold them on social media.

During early high school she started a tutoring business, which she practices even today.

Tan started her tutoring business around 2016 when she was living in Shanghai.

The journey started with her- helping her younger brother and his friends for a debate competition.

Every week a couple more kids showed up seeking help with their schoolwork. These were mostly friends from her brother’s circle.

After a while, Tan’s mother encouraged her to start tutoring with a fee and turn this into a side-hustle.

How does she balance school with tutoring?

Tan spends about two hours a week preparing her lessons. 

She mostly works on Friday nights and spends about five to six hours directing back-to-back tutoring sessions.

The weekend drill is because her students are mostly international and there is a 13-hour time difference between Chicago and Shanghai. 

Although she gets late weekends, this time segregation allows her to work on the tutoring business whilst attending her college without squabbling the two.

Her hourly charge lands at an impressive $67.

No Tax And A Financially Intelligent Mind- The secret to success-

Tan’s remuneration lands in Chinese yuan and all her earnings are deposited into her mother’s bank account in Singapore.

According to the tax laws in Singapore, nationals do not have to pay taxes on income earned overseas which saves them a hefty chunk of tax money.

However, she doesn’t admire spending money unnecessarily.

Rather, she believes in saving it up to start a different income funnel or once in a while splurge on luxury.

Privilege-The Driving Force

Tan appreciates her parents’ hard work and as she gets older also recognizes her privilege and quotes it “as a driving force as to why I need to work that much harder — because I’ve been given so much.