Katherine Fan

Katherine Fan is a personal finance expert, journalist, and public speaker with nine years of industry experience. 

Experience

Since 2015, Katherine has published 1,800+ articles, guides, and reviews covering credit card benefits and rewards, small business finances, points and miles travel, loyalty programs, and real estate investing. 

Before joining Personal Finance Insider as Senior Editor of Credit Cards, Katherine covered aviation, award travel, loyalty programs, and credit cards as a senior reporter for The Points Guy, and small business finances as a lead writer for Nerdwallet. 

Katherine has also freelanced for CNN Underscored, Forbes Advisor, Wall Street Journal Buy Side, Bankrate, CreditCards.com, the Dallas Morning News, LendingTree, Upgraded Points, Fortune Recommends, Newsweek, and Slickdeals Money. Her work has been syndicated by Nasdaq, MSN and Yahoo. 

Katherine is a guest speaker at TravelCon, and has been featured on multiple podcasts including NPR Life Kit, Expedia's Out Travel the System, and The Points Guy's Miles Away. 

In her spare time, Katherine moonlights as a photojournalist covering Formula 1, Austin City Limits, and SXSW for the Austin American-Statesman and other media outlets. When she's not jetsetting around the world, you'll likely find her in Austin cooking up a batch of spicy Chinese food.

Expertise

Katherine's expertise encompasses:

• Small business finances

• Credit cards

• Points and miles travel

• Travel insurance

• Real estate investing

Katherine's interest in personal finance runs parallel to her passions for real estate investing and award travel. Despite a salary of just $28,000 a year from her first full-time job, Katherine built an excellent credit score of 805 from scratch through hard work [and privilege], which allowed her to purchase her first home six years after graduating college. She's since added five more doors to her real estate portfolio, although she plans to retire on her index fund investments.

Thanks to credit card travel rewards, Katherine has flown well over one million miles visiting 44 countries across all seven continents. She's sailed with orcas in Antarctica, flown home in first class from Japan, photographed a wedding at Hobbiton in New Zealand, and gone on safari in South Africa. But her most meaningful trips always bring her home to loved ones in Taiwan. 

Education

Katherine holds dual degrees in photojournalism and Asian American studies from the University of Texas at Austin, and a certificate in business Chinese proficiency from National Taiwan University. She began her professional career in tech as a software sales executive for several years before returning to her media roots.