We spoke with finfluencers building their audiences as people seek advice in navigating today’s tough economy
As the global economic picture has become murkier and the spectre of layoffs is setting in, consumers are looking to shore up their money. But, as a recent Discover survey showed, more than 40% of respondents are unsure how to best manage their personal finances. A recent Schwab Modern Wealth Survey found that among Gen Z, 38% receive financial information or advice from YouTube, while 33% seek it out on TikTok.
And, while family and friends have been a traditional route for financial know-how, more people are turning to online gurus for direction — and those personalities are raking in the clicks. Their goal? Make financial education more accessible and easier to understand, as well as introduce people to more complex financial activities, such as investing.
The top finfluencer according to online broker platform InvestinGoal’s audience rankings is former financial advisor Humphrey Yang, who has over 54 million followers, likes, and subscribers across a multitude of social media channels. Second is Financial Feminist author Tori Dunlap, who has nearly 27 million followers, and has partnered with brands like SoFi.
Many of the followers were amassed over the last few years, but as prices on groceries have risen, government layoffs have taken hold, and the tariff talk has upended markets, many influencers say they saw their audience numbers grow as people looked for ways to build their wealth.
“I’ve definitely seen growth in my audience, especially around topics related to investing,” Taylor Price, who is third on the list with just under 22 million followers, told Fintech Nexus. “There seems to be a shift in mindset where people aren’t just focused on saving anymore. They want to build wealth and are starting to realize investing is a key part of that.”
Price, a Gen Z personal finance expert, got started at 19 after seeing that schools weren’t helping teach young adults about how to manage money. In 2019, she started “Priceless Tay” to discuss everything from how to pay off debt to investing. Two years later, Price had over 1 million followers and has since been recognized by Fortune and GOBankingRates for her approach to financial literacy. She’s also partnered with fintechs and financial companies as her influence has grown.
Similarly, Josh Rincon, who is fifth on InvestinGoal’s list with just over 10 million followers, told Fintech Nexus he gained a whopping 1 million followers just on Facebook since January.
Rincon graduated from college with a business degree in 2019, and got his first job as a loan officer. It was there he was able to see what he called the “good, bad and the ugly” of people’s finances.
“I saw that people of all different backgrounds and income levels lack financial literacy,” Rincon said. “They were making bad financial decisions, even with a good general understanding of their finances.”
That’s when he started posting long-form videos on YouTube and later transitioned to shorter snippets on TikTok. That’s when his exposure grew, and Rincon gained around 100,000 followers in one month. However, it was the move to Instagram and Facebook that put Rincon on the “finfluencer map.”
While most young adults tend to gravitate to TikTok, Rincon said he gets his biggest audience — 3.4 million — from Facebook where his followers are between the ages of 18 and 45.
Rincon is also a generalist, talking about everything from living trusts to Roth IRAs to money hacks, which are a simple or clever way to save money. Since January, he sees between 10,000 to 15,000 new followers “like” him on Facebook each day.
His approach is “word on the street.” With inflation and interest rates high, Rincon asks his followers what is going on. Often he receives about 1,000 comments on each of those posts, with many people saying they are struggling.
“A lot of people are scared about the whole tariff thing,” Rincon said. “And rightly so because it’s dropped people’s investments and 401(k)s. I remind them that over the last 10, 20 and 30 years, the stock market has gone up and down. I also tell people that if they are going to invest, not to work about what’s happening every day. It’s a long-term thing.”
Meanwhile, there is still story after story about why you shouldn’t believe every financial advice you hear from social media influencers. That’s why Rincon says he doesn’t talk about more of the riskier investments, like cryptocurrency, or what might be considered gambling.
He also puts his expertise to work in real-life settings as program director at Instituto de Avance Latino, a nonprofit organization that creates programs geared toward financial education and small business development programs.
“We teach financial literacy, homeownership and small business at high schools,” Rincon said.
But as more people do seek a better financial footing, Price hears followers continue to ask about where to start. She also finds that messages resonate more when she shares personal stories and real-life examples.
“Whether it’s investing, budgeting, or paying off debt, there’s a lot of confusion around what the next step should be,” Price said. “People want guidance that’s not overwhelming. They want a clear, simple path forward.”
As a result, Price finds herself reinforcing the importance of topics she has already addressed, for example, on dollar cost averaging.
“I always say investing is relevant in any market whether it’s up or down,” Price said. “This environment has helped me emphasize that consistency over time matters more than timing the market. If you invest for an above average period of time and make just average returns, you will be rich.”
