One TikTok influencer adopted the guise of a 7-year-old in pigtails to demystify investment advice. Another appraised the field of S&P 500 investment funds in 56 seconds. A third presented the ultimate Chipotle hack: A sort of reverse-engineered burrito that costs four dollars.
TikTok has emerged as an unlikely mecca for personal finance advice, under the hashtag FinTok. Content creators with such handles as @YourRichBFF and @JohneFinance have collected millions of followers and tens of millions of views with quick, breathless videos that offer tips on everything from credit card rewards to haircut costs to cryptocurrency, often in less than a minute.
As with TikTok generally, FinTok trends young. Many content creators are in their 20s or early 30s. They market themselves not so much on academic credentials or professional training as on lived experience and relatability: A self-made millionaire at 30. A six-figure saver at 25.
In a September survey by WallStreetZen, three-quarters of Gen Z respondents said they learned about personal finance from social media, especially TikTok.
FinTok: Financial advice on TikTok ranges from benign to risky
Much FinTok content seems innocuous, even inspirational: Who couldn’t use some help in balancing their budget?
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But some videos veer into potentially risky advice about investments, insurance, and taxes, topics that might better be left to the pros.
“It’s scary because it’s so unregulated,” said…
