Once seen as often dry and sometimes intimidating, personal finance advice is a far cry from what it was in your grandparents\u2019 day. <\/p>\n
It\u2019s not just the array of new online tools, from banking apps to exotic new investing options, such as cryptocurrency. Social media has created a platform for \u201cfinfluencers<\/a>\u201d \u2013 nonprofessional personal finance influencers who have become an increasingly common source of advice for young people, whether it\u2019s accurate or not. <\/p>\n While most Americans over 64 say they turn to professional financial planners for guidance, a 2025 Gallup poll<\/a> found that 42% of 18- to 29-year-olds seek financial advice on social media. That\u2019s almost double the share among those ages 30 to 49. Many finfluencers have no formal financial credentials. Instead, their credibility is largely built on their social media followings, engagement metrics and relatability. <\/p>\n There\u2019s also another generational shift afoot: Personal finance is increasingly bound up with political and social issues<\/a>. Young adults are attempting to navigate a precarious economy \u2013 and the finfluencers who try to court them often launch critiques at the institutions and policies that they say created these conditions. <\/p>\n This advice ranges from risky trading-centric approaches to holistic financial practices. But a common thread is their positioning against traditional financial advice. <\/p>\n As a scholar<\/a> who studies how the digital economy<\/a> is affecting young adults\u2019 well-being, I argue that Americans who still get their financial advice from more conventional sources \u2013 as well as the professional adviser class \u2013 need to understand there\u2019s been a sea change in how young people understand money. And the legions of online followers need a better grasp of the risks involved. <\/p>\n Personal finance goes political<\/p>\n \u201cHey, I\u2019m Rachel and I\u2019m not paying my federal income taxes this year,\u201d begins a TikTok video of an attorney who claims she\u2019s skipping out on her US$8,800 tax bill for political reasons. <\/p>\n Rachel Cohen\u2019s videos have racked up millions of views so far this year. Her video series details her reasons for refusal, specifically citing her disagreement with federal immigration policy and the \u201cmilitary-industrial complex.\u201d On April 15, 2026, Cohen updated her viewers \u2013 some of whom had threatened to report her to the IRS \u2013 that she filed her return. But instead of paying the amount due, she\u2019s parking the money in a high-yield savings account. Her sign-off<\/a>: \u201cStay tuned and find out if I get arrested!\u201d<\/p>\n Cohen\u2019s not alone in her public protest. Millions of viewers<\/a> have watched \u201ctax resistance\u201d or \u201ctax strike\u201d videos on TikTok that offer advice on how to not pay taxes and walk viewers through the potential consequences they might face. <\/p>\n Although my research suggests most of the tax-protest content on TikTok comes from left-leaning users, it draws influencers across the political spectrum. Examples include dissenters citing anti-war sentiments<\/a> or disapproval of the government\u2019s handling of the Epstein files.<\/p>\n Other personalities are encouraging their followers to treat their finances as a broader political statement. In some cases, these videos issue a call to action. <\/p>\n Vivian Tu, better known by her followers as \u201cYour Rich BFF<\/a>,\u201d explains why the price of raspberries has gone up, citing a variety of foreign and domestic policy decisions: the war in Iran, tariffs and a shortage of migrant farmworkers. \u201cIf this video made you mad,\u201d she says, \u201cshare it with a friend and contact a legislator.\u201d <\/p>\n Tori Dunlap, author of \u201cFinancial Feminist<\/a>,\u201d tells her 2.2 million followers on Instagram: \u201cIf you\u2019re freaking out about the world right now, GET RICH<\/a>. That is your best form of protest is to get financially stable.\u201d <\/p>\n However, Dunlap isn\u2019t peddling get-rich-quick schemes. Much of her advice is run-of-the-mill personal finance tips \u2013 such as improving your credit score<\/a>, paying down debt<\/a> or automating savings contributions<\/a>. <\/p>\n Political personal finance content has also extended beyond protests into things such as tracking the financial integrity of members of Congress<\/a> or avoiding investments that could fund things such as private prisons<\/a>. <\/p>\n Follow the money<\/p>\n These examples underscore how people\u2019s financial lives are bound up with their values. And finfluencers appeal to their most politically charged beliefs to shape their financial decisions \u2013 even if they aren\u2019t the best choices for their bank accounts.<\/p>\n One example is conflicts of interest. What many followers may not be fully aware of is that most finfluencers are incentivized to make highly performative content to monetize their accounts<\/a>. This funding can come through either sponsored content \u2013 often from credit card and fintech companies \u2013 or through their own materials and \u201cmasterclasses.\u201d <\/p>\n Moreover, full transparency is not a given. Although TikTok and Instagram have \u201cpaid promotion\u201d designations for sponsored content, it\u2019s not always so easy to identify potential conflicts of interest. <\/p>\n Crypto promoters, for example, routinely fail to disclose<\/a> their sponsorships \u2013 and it\u2019s common for them to boost coins they have a vested interest in. <\/p>\n As Americans\u2019 distrust in financial institutions<\/a> and regulators grows, many are willing to follow advice that falls into gray areas of oversight. When personal finance tips resonate with a viewers\u2019 values, everyday financial decision-making can become colored with politics and nonconformist sentiments. <\/p>\n Advice, please!<\/p>\n Not everyone turns to finfluencers. Many take advice from anonymous strangers on forums such as Reddit. <\/p>\n The r\/personalfinance<\/a> subreddit alone has 2.8 million weekly visitors who post, respond and read questions posed and answered by everyday people. This is only one of 189 finance-related subreddits my colleagues and I compiled in our recent report<\/a>. <\/p>\n Unlike finfluencers, Reddit users typically trade tips and opinion in plain text and occasional memes. Users of these forums are rarely monetized. It\u2019s also demand-driven advice \u2013 people who post on these forums get to ask questions that directly address their personal financial issues. Credibility is earned though community \u201cupvotes\u201d and endorsements. Rather than one opinion, they can get a variety. <\/p>\n But similar to finfluencers, there\u2019s an anti-institutional sentiment that privileges peer-to-peer learning over credentialed expertise. For example, users on the Bitcoin subreddit<\/a> harshly criticize the contemporary financial system and advocate for digital currency over conventional forms of money. <\/p>\n Others take aim at the excesses of consumer culture, as seen on the forums for anti-consumption<\/a> and frugal<\/a> and simple living<\/a>.<\/p>\n In this environment, financial education is rarely neutral \u2013 it\u2019s deeply intertwined with people\u2019s personal and political lives. As finfluencer Ellyce Fulmore puts it<\/a>: \u201cThe barriers you face, your personal experience, the systems that do or don\u2019t work for you \u2026 personal, personal, personal, personal!\u201d<\/p>\n