A new breed of influencers is taking the social media world by storm. The world of finance used to be the realm of old, white-haired men doling out sage advice about cutting back on five-dollar coffee and saving up.
These days, up-and-coming finance influencers are younger than ever. And they’re introducing personal finance management to a new audience who are craving to learn how to handle their finances better.
Top 14 Up-and-Coming Finance Influencers You Should Know:
What Is a Finance Influencer?
A finance influencer’s job is to provide financial information and share money knowledge to their audience. Platforms like TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube are giving this new breed of finance influencers—also known as “finfluencers”—a voice while propagating their rise to stardom.
Why a New Breed of Finance Influencers Is Important in Today’s Culture
Back in the day, if people wanted to figure out which stocks to invest in, they would consult finance authorities like the Wall Street Journal for investment advice. Today, though, these sources are often seen as outdated and even boring. Most cannot relate to the information these platforms provide especially since they’re not designed for beginner investors.
The younger generation also feel unrepresented since these institutions target an older, wealthier class of audience instead of gen Zers and millennials who are learning to invest for the first time.
This is where social media and influencer marketing platforms come into play. Both have transformed the way people consume information and act upon it. Influencers focusing on financial advice now provide bite-sized personal finance information to an audience hungry for knowledge and guidance.
What makes finance influencers even more important in today’s culture is they discuss topics relevant to their audience—from how to pay off student loans or save up money to buy a house by the age of 30 to how to get rid of credit card debt or start investing in the stock market. It’s this relevancy that makes them so effective and popular among the younger crowd.
Another key aspect is they come with different specialties and target specific demographics. There are finance influencers who focus on investing and those who put an emphasis on personal finance and creating generational wealth. There are also others who choose to discuss topics like wealth building and eliminating debt, whose audiences include couples and women of color.
Top 14 New Breed of Finance Influencers
1. The Financial Diet
Source: instagram.com
Social Links:
- Website: thefinancialdiet.com
- Instagram: @thefinancialdiet
- Twitter: @Tfdiet
- YouTube: The Financial Diet
Expertise: Basics and fundamentals of personal finance
The Financial Diet is a New York-based company run by an all-female crew. The company started out in 2014 as a personal blog by author Chelsea Fagan. Its main mission is to improve and change the conversations we have around money by allowing women to share their experiences. They’re highly active on their socials, offering advice on money and sharing insights. They also run a podcast, The Financial Confessions, where they lead honest conversations about money. Co-founders Chelsea Fagan and Lauren Ver Hege have also co-written a book named after their successful website.
What Makes Them Successful
From doling out savvy advice about budgeting to discussing where to save and when to splurge on purchases, The Financial Diet lifts the shameful veil often associated with talking about money. It’s this capacity to normalize money conversations that makes them so effective. Their website is filled with countless articles, including tips and tricks about growing in financial wealth. Head to their Instagram for inspiring and actionable advice about personal finance, self-care, and life in general.
2. Delyanne Barros
Source: instagram.com
Social Links:
- Website: delyannethemoneycoach.com
- Instagram: @DelyanneTheMoneyCoach
- TikTok: @delyannethemoneycoach
Expertise: Teaches beginner investors how to navigate the stock market and how to invest
Delyanne Barros moved from Brazil to the United States with her family and spent much of her childhood living as an undocumented child in Miami. Eventually, she attended law school but ended up saddled with a $150,000 student debt. However, in just 12 years, she managed to clear her debt while creating a net worth of over $300,000 for herself.
What Makes Them Successful
Delyanne makes investing accessible for anyone who might not typically invest. She emphasizes the importance of investing, building wealth, and managing money. The majority of her audience are Latina women who also experience the struggle of figuring their way out of their debts and likewise want to boost their investment knowledge by understanding the stock market. In Barros’ terms, she wants to teach potential investors how to “slay the stock market.”
3. Humphrey Yang
Source: instagram.com
Social Links:
- YouTube: Humphrey Yang
- Instagram: @humphreytalks
- TikTok: @humphreytalks
Expertise: Delivers easy-to-digest investment information
Humphrey Yang started sharing financial information on his YouTube back in 2019 at the prompting of his friends. While his YouTube channel didn’t immediately take off, he did find a solid audience on TikTok. He began posting one video each day for 30 days on finance and investing. One of his first viral videos was a takedown on the costs of Hydro Flask. The video showed that most people buy for the branding and logo instead of the quality of the product.
What Makes Them Successful
Yang likes to break down complicated topics like investing and taxes so even beginners can understand. He does this by delivering creative short videos on Instagram and TikTok. His longer-form videos can be found on YouTube. He creates his videos in fun and humorous ways, which draws in a younger audience. All of his videos are also designed to be free and strictly informational.
4. Tiffany Aliche
Source: instagram.com
Social Links:
- Website: thebudgetnista.com
- Instagram: @thebudgetnista
- Twitter: @TheBudgetnista
Expertise: Personal finance management and information
Starting out as a preschool teacher, Tiffany Aliche has spent decades teaching people how to manage their money better. She’s authored several books on finance and is known for helping explain complicated money topics to a degree anyone can understand. She shares money advice through her website, her courses, her books, as well as various social media platforms.
What Makes Them Successful
Having an educator’s background, The Budgetnista explains money matters with clarity and simplicity. She not only tackles issues like debt but also engages her community by having a weekly “virtual water cooler” where she asks unique questions. For instance, there’s a #WhatJobWednesday section in her Instagram where she asks her community for ideas on what type of job would fit certain situations. For example, what type of job would fit creatives, or what type of income stream could someone start for zero dollars. The comment section in these posts is a goldmine for those looking for ideas.
5. Haley Sacks
Source: instagram.com
Social Links:
- Instagram: @mrsdowjones
- TikTok: @mrsdowjones
Expertise: Makes finance management funny and entertaining
Haley Sacks, better known as Mrs. Dow Jones, first started capturing the Internet’s attention with her clever finance memes. A self-described “finance pop star,” she started posting finance memes back in 2017. She believes if you’re an entertainer, you should be able to make anything funny, even something as stressful and complicated as money.
What Makes Them Successful:
She often compares topics like budgeting and spending to celebrity and pop culture. Go through her Instagram and you’ll find yourself chuckling over her financial memes yet at the same time nodding in agreement for the countless truths they share about money.
During the pandemic, she also launched her “MDJ Stimulus,” a series of informative content aimed at providing advice on negotiating salary cuts, ways to save money during the crisis, or what to do after being laid off.
6. Dasha Kennedy
Source: instagram.com
Social Links:
- Website: thebrokeblackgirl.com
- Instagram: @thebrokeblackgirl
Expertise: Wealth building and dealing with debt
Dasha Kennedy is bent on empowering women to become their own financial advocate. Kennedy considers herself a millennial finance coach and activist who provides “no B.S., real talk coaching and strategies.” She began sharing her financial struggles on Facebook in 2017 in hopes of educating and inspiring other young women of color.
What Makes Them Successful
The Broke Black Girl provides real talk finance strategies that everyday people can easily understand. Go through her Instagram feed and you’ll find helpful, relatable advice. She celebrates the small wins while also conveying sage advice on how to deal with money, earn more income, and most importantly, how to get rid of debt faster.
7. Anthony O’Neal
Source: instagram.com
Social Links:
- Website: anthonyoneal.com
- Instagram: @ anthonyoneal
- YouTube: Anthony ONeal
Expertise: Money management for students
Anthony O’Neal is a best-selling author, speaker, and a popular YouTube host who is sharing financial advice to help students manage their debts and finances. O’Neal was once in debt for over $30,000, which eventually caused him to live in his car for some time. He has since managed to get out of debt and is now helping others acquire a clear vision of their finances, especially students who are deep in debt.
What Makes Them Successful
By reaching out to students in debt struggling to overcome their debts, he serves a distinct demographic. He also discusses topics like how to handle being single or being in a relationship, in relation to money and finances.
8. Cindy Zuniga-Sanchez
Source: instagram.com
Social Links:
- Website: zero-basedbudget.com
- Instagram: @zerobasedbudget
Expertise: Debt repayment and personal finance management
Cindy Zuniga-Sanchez is a New York-based finance influencer who talks about money and debt repayment. Her company, Zero-Based Budget shares her journey of overcoming over $200,000 of student debt in just 48 months. Today, she is debt-free and continues to offer advice on how anyone can overcome their personal debts. This includes offering a masterclass, as well as explainers, strategies, or solutions to paying off debt faster.
What Makes Them Successful
She gained a massive following after openly sharing her debt-repayment journey on Instagram. She’s also great at keeping her strategy simple, breaking it into three simple steps: know your number, have a budget, and figure out a debt repayment plan.
9. Jeremy Schneider
Source: instagram.com
Social Links:
- Website: personalfinanceclub.com
- Instagram: @PersonalFinanceClub
- Twitter: @perfinclub
- TikTok: @personalfinanceclub
Expertise: Investment and finance management
Jeremy Schneider emphasizes that living below your means and investing are two ways to generate wealth in order to live a financially free life. Schneider started off with a small startup at the age of 22 until 36 years old. By 37, he was fully retired, after selling his company. He later went out of retirement by 40 when he co-founded Nyckel, a machine-learning startup. His platform, Personal Finance Club, aims to provide investment information so “people can win with money.”
What Makes Them Successful
The advice he shares is rooted from experience. He is excellent at explaining complicated investment terms while making sure the audience understands that every financial decision made has its consequences. He also provides beautiful graphic explainers on his Instagram, helping others gain insight on their spending habits, how they can maximize it, and also how to get started in investing.
10. Anjie and RJ Muhammad
Source: instagram.com
Social Links:
- Website: richbyintention.com
- Instagram: @ richbyintention
- Twitter: @richbyintention
Expertise: Building wealth for couples and families
Married since 2017, Anjie and RJ Muhammad knew money could become a big issue for couples if it wasn’t dealt with right. They both made the decision to sit down, figure out their debts, and work on getting rid of it together. After vanquishing $123,000 in debt, they’re sharing their journey and helping other couples deal with conversations about money and debt.
What Makes Them Successful
Rich By Intention has a unique niche in that they appeal to couples who are struggling with getting out of debt or figuring out their money situation. They also have podcast interviews with other leading finance influencers about various money topics.
11. Sara Rosalia
Source: tiktok.com
Social Links:
- Website: sarafinance.ca
- YouTube: Sara Finance
- TikTok: @sarafinance
Expertise: Building wealth early through different income streams
One of the youngest on this list, Sara Finance is not even 20 years old and already on her way to hitting her first million dollars from several income streams. She’s active on TikTok and YouTube and shares advice on setting up drop-shipping businesses and other income streams to help generate income.
What Makes Them Successful
The fact that Sara Finance has started building considerable wealth at her age is inspiring for many people. Her content is a great way to reach teens and get them interested in creating businesses and generating income.
12. Steve Chen
Source: instagram.com
Social Links:
- Website: calltoleap.com
- Instagram: @calltoleap
- Twitter: @calltoleap
- TikTok: @calltoleap
Expertise: Investing
A former math teacher, Steve Chen aims to increase his audience’s financial literacy so they can also live a financially free life. His own struggles with money led him to become a finance coach. He runs his own company, Call to Leap, a community that focuses on providing a beginner’s guide to investing and trading.
What Makes Them Successful
On his various socials, you’ll find him offering relevant information on investing. The fact that he used to be a teacher means he can easily communicate the complicated world of investing in simple terms. Aside from great explainer content, he also creates entertaining reels and TikToks explaining investing terms and strategies.
13. Jose Rafael Hernandez
Source: instagram.com
Social Links:
- Instagram: @thejoserafaelhernandez
Expertise: Investing
After growing up in a low-income household as an immigrant and later working for wealthy people as a financial advisor, Jose Rafael Hernandez could see the difference of what a financial education could provide. As a result, he decided to launch his own financial education company in hopes of teaching and inspiring others to create wealth through investing.
What Makes Them Successful
Scroll through his Instagram page and you’ll find it chock-full of videos detailing different topics about investing. He explains it in clear, understandable terms so even beginners can grasp it. He also offers in-depth explanations about investing for more advanced learners.
14. Ramit Sethi
Source: instagram.com
Social Links:
- Website: iwillteachyoutoberich.com
- Instagram: @ramit
- Twitter: @ramit
Expertise: Money psychology, investing, entrepreneurship
Known for his book, I Will Teach You to Be Rich, as well as his website and the countless courses he has created, Ramit Sethi is one of the most interesting finance coaches to come out within the past decade. A Stanford graduate, he talks about various money topics and is bent on helping readers live their own “rich life.”
What Makes Them Successful
Ramit Sethi is a no-nonsense finance educator who isn’t afraid to ruffle some feathers with his opinions. He has helped countless people gain a better understanding of their personal money psychology. On top of that, his programs have also assisted countless others generate wealth by building businesses or learn how to better negotiate for a raise.
Final Thoughts
While there’s no one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to money matters and investing, getting started with your money journey is important. Regardless of whether you’re looking to invest, understand crypto, or eliminate debt, there are people like this new breed of finance influencers who are ready to guide you on your journey to financial freedom.
