In three years, Vivian Tu has amassed 2.5 million followers on TikTok and made a name for herself – Your Rich BFF, to be precise – as a reseller of clear personal finance advice to audiences in largely young. Now, in his first book, rich AF (Portfolio, December), she hopes to bring her wisdom to even more people seeking financial advice in a time of economic uncertainty. You spoke with P.W. about why financial literacy should be taught in schools, how to find a financial mentor, and why Gen Z’s “happily ever after” is different.
How can a “financial mindset,” to use your term, change someone’s life?
Much of the human relationship with finance develops before the age of seven. Everything you learn from your parents, good or bad, is deeply ingrained and you need to unpack it before you start your financial journey. I talk a lot about financial myths and the preconceptions we have about the wealthy. We think they work really hard, but they are so lazy – a smart lazy type. I talk about how ordinary people can be so lazy and how they can develop an abundance mentality.
How do you combat what you describe as a “rigged” system?
We must come together and debunk what we have been told. Is it “rude” to talk about money? No it is not. Rich people on the golf course talk about their wallets all the time. Why is it rude when young people of color do the same? This subject is not taught in schools; we need legislative changes to ensure it is taught to the next generation. For now, I’m happy to be this education for the younger ones. Financial services are aimed at people who are male, pale and stale. My audience is the leftovers: women, Gen Z, millennials, LGBTQ people, immigrants, low-income or historically marginalized people. They are the ones who need it.
Your boss at JPMorgan played a critical role in your success. How can readers find good mentors?
They should find someone locally – a professor, a colleague, someone with more life experience. Everyone has something to teach. My mentor was the reason I was able to create this life for myself. She told me I deserved to be rich. I looked at her and saw a young, successful, single Asian woman and realized I could be there too one day.
You talk about “lifting the curtain on wealth”: what is it that most people don’t know?
Because finance is heavy jargon, people think they have to be smart to understand it. You just need a plan. I hope this book gives you the road map. I’ve read some amazing books by Suze Orman, Robert Kiyosaki, etc., but a lot has changed since then. Wages have stagnated, student loans are crazy, houses cost 10 times more than they did when my parents bought them. Baby boomers and Gen Xers understood this story: You can live a wonderful, happy life on one income, with a white picket fence and a golden retriever. Gen X and millennials played by these rules, and it didn’t work. Today, our “happily ever after” is different.
A version of this article appeared in the 11/13/2023 issue of Publishers Weekly under the title: Financial advice for leftovers
