5 Important Investment Lessons from Miriam Quiambao-Roberto

Torre Lorenzo hosted an online Zoom webinar, “The Smart Real Estate InvestHER,” where inspirational speaker, author, former beauty queen & actress, and real estate broker & lessor Miriam Quiambao-Roberto shared her knowledge and insights on navigating real estate as a woman and as a mother.

Here were five takeaways from her insightful talk on her journey into the world of real estate.

1. Start financial education early

“I have determined what it’s like to experience security through the modeling of my parents,” Quiambao shared as she spoke about how her parents and grandmother instilled concepts of financial management and stability since she was a child.

“Both of them modelled what it was like to be financially free,” she said, adding that she would overhear her parents talking about where to invest, such as land banking. This led to them being able to have a sustainable income when they retired. Quiambao also talked about her grandmother’s story as a widowed public school teacher raising and sustaining her children by herself.

Learning financial education from a young age sparked her passion for pursuing investments such as real estate as an adult. She added more to her knowledge over the years, even after her big break in Miss Universe and show business, by reading books from prominent finance gurus to taking a course that helped her pass the exam that enabled her to acquire her Real Estate Broker’s license. Her desire to never stop learning in the field of real estate helped her grow more and establish herself in her field, and it all began because her parents gave her a firm foundation in finance.

2. Learn from experiences

Quiambao recounted during her webinar a learning experience involving a former investor partner. The two bought properties together and earned income over the years, which served as Quiambao’s life savings. However, her partner used her income and savings for personal use, and did not manage her earnings well.

Although she won the case she later filed against the partner, she never fully recovered her earnings. With renewed faith, the support of her husband Ardy, and her gigs in show business, she wisely became more careful in succeeding investments and decisions.

“There are responsibilities involved in earning a piece of property no matter what kind of property it is. You need to determine what those are. You need to be responsible. You need to discern if this is the property that you need,” she said during the webinar.

3. Be more intentional in spending

A concept Quiambao taught the audience during the webinar was the Jars System. It is a money-budgeting system with many variations taught around the world, where the main focus is to be more purposeful and intentional in spending your hard-earned money. 

Quiambao taught her version of the Jars System, the “Abundance Formula.” Quiambao’s Abundance Formula is separated into three jars: 10% is for the “Tithes” jar which goes to church tithing or giving, 20% is for the “Growth” jar allocated to personal growth, while the rest of the 70% is for the “Spend” jar for your personal expenses.

4. Enjoy the fruits of your investments

Quiambao shared how strengthening her faith has vastly improved all aspects of her life, from achieving personal breakthroughs to making decisions in pursuing investments like real estate. “Pray before you pay” was a major factor for her and her family in choosing properties to invest in during the pandemic that thankfully was the right call and provided them income to survive. This led to Quiambao’s family choosing the simpler and more fulfilling life in moving to Boracay.  

“Through Jesus, having a complete family, having enough investments that can help sustain this comfortable life, and maybe a little luxury…we’re content with that,” Quiambao shared. Through learning from experience, wise spending, and relying on faith, she could now reap the benefits of her investments, from physical and monetary gains to the opportunity to spend more time with her family.