How this Dubai expat became a 'crypto investor'

From a journalist to a menopause care pioneer, Canadian expatriate Ann Marie McQueen has dedicated her life to breaking the taboos attached to a period that comes to every woman’s life. Hotflash inc is the first UAE-based platform dedicated to uncovering the truths about perimenopause and menopause, now with over 50,000 women around the world in its community. Here, the 54-year-old talks about her 16 years in Dubai and what it’s taught her about life and money, and how she’s become somewhat of a crypto queen.

If you had to use one word to describe money, what would it be?

It’s a tool.

If you had to write a letter to money, what would you say?

I’m not scared of you anymore.

How would you describe your relationship to money?

I listened to too many people. I overrode my own intuition. I trusted the wrong people. It caused me anxiety and I avoided it. I would spend it quickly and I would not give it the respect it deserves. And I certainly didn't make long-term plans with it.

How do you think this relationship was formed?

I grew up in a house where my dad was fond of saying, ‘We can't keep up with the Joneses’. The connotation was that the Joneses had money, and money was bad. Also, my parents used to fight about money.

What good or bad lessons about money management did you learn from your mother?

My mum had a rebellious streak about money (that’s what the fights were often about) and I inherited it. Now I try to only spend money when I’m calm, and not triggered in any way, either by excitement or fear.

Who has taught you the most about financial management?

I’ve had to learn all this on my own because to be honest, all of the financial advisors I had were all flash and fear operators. I read Benjamin Graham’s The Intelligent Investor. I read The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel. The Bitcoin Standard by Saifedean Ammous. I did three months of daily meditation on money by the hypnotist Elliot Roe. I took the Richer Every Day course in Mike Dillard’s community. And I've amassed a circle, mostly from TikTok of all places, of wise counsel for crypto investing.

What do you think has been the most profound experience you’ve had so far in relation to money, good or bad, and what has it taught you since?

My fears about money started to reach fever pitch in my early 50s. I've never been married and I didn’t have kids. My mom died at 53, and I really never thought past 53. So I never did any long-range financial planning. I was on a trip to a cheap place in Koh Samui [in Thailand] and I was sitting in the water and I was worrying about money. And I just suddenly thought, if I’m going to live for a really long time, I have time. If I’m going to die soon, I have enough money. And if it’s somewhere in the middle, I can figure it out. I think it’s never too late to get your financial act together. I’m living proof at 54.

How do you think living in the UAE has changed your relationship with money?

I think it’s made me much less interested in flexing and conspicuous consumption.

If you could give your younger self one piece of advice about money now, what would that be and why?

• Lifestyle