#MoneyTok: A closer look at TikTok as a source of financial advice

TikTok has become more than just a platform for dance challenges. It has expanded to include educational videos tagged #LearnOnTiktok. Within this educational segment, emerged a niche group of financial influencers “finfluencers” who have made it their mission to spread financial literacy through TikToks.

The good

Making financial literacy accessible

Personal finance is rarely integrated in school curriculums, but these TikTok finfluencers are finding ways to reach the younger generation. They unpack complex topics and demystify financial jargon through bite-sized videos capped at 60 seconds.

Edu-tainment aspect

TikToks also entertain while they educate. You might be hard pressed to convince someone to take up a personal finance course or read a finance book, but through stimulating, and sometimes even humorous videos, finfluencers make learning finance more enjoyable.

Short and sweet

One of the unique aspects of this platform would be the 60-second time limit. This restriction forces finfluencers to get creative with covering as much information as they can and being as concise as possible. Not only are these videos more digestible, it’s also easier to broaden your horizons when you can learn from a wide variety of fields just by binge-scrolling the feeds of different TikTokers.

The bad

Potentially misleading information

There isn’t much regulation or fact-checking on social media. We often mindlessly scroll through our FYPs, taking everything at face value, but misinformation runs rampant on social media. A large following base can often engender trust but follow counts should not be treated as a marker of reliability or veracity.

Promoting “Get rich quick” schemes

Numerous content creators have gone viral sharing how they’ve turned a huge profit through day trading or copying investments of the rich. This can be dangerous for those who attempt to replicate their success thinking it’s a shortcut to getting rich without actually understanding all the underlying risks.

The Finfluencers themselves

Here are 5 popular finance TikTok personalities that you might want to check out.

1. Matt Gresia

Handle: @mattgresia

Platform: TikTok

Follow count: 2M

Background:

• Finance Degree from Manhattan College
• Founder of Canswer Sock Co., a sock company raising money for cancer
• Content: Explaining finance terms, celebrities and their lavish expenses, and “money hacks” (for credit cards, rent, etc.)

2. Humphrey Yang

Handle: @HumphreyTalks

Follow count: 1.6M

Background:

• Loyola Marymount University College of Business Administration
• Briefly worked as a financial advisor at Merill Lynch
• 4 years in E-commerce as an entrepreneur
• Learned personal finance on his own through youtubers

Content: Personal finance, entrepreneurship, and investing strategies

3. Fairies Quadri

Handle: @faaresq

Follow count: 1.6M

Background:

• Current Major in Finance, minor in Business Analytics at University of Illinois at Chicago
• Finance Intern at Kirkland & Ellis
• Co-founder of Bitcoin Investments & Advisors

Content: Cryptocurrency, personal finance, and stocks & trading

4. Taylor Price

Handle: @pricelesstay

Follow count: 1M

Background:

• Bachelor of Business Administration, major in Finance and Management at University at Albany School of Business
• Founded her own company TAP Intuit, a financial education platform that provides financial literacy to students

Content: Gen Z financial literacy and fintech

5. Antonette Aquino

Handle: @moneyhealthcheck

Follow Count: 237k

Background:

• Political Science and Government graduate from De La Salle University
• Licensed Financial Advisor
• Founder of Money Health Check, a social network brand that aims to promote financial literacy to the young Filipino community.

Content: Personal Finance, Investing

The bottom-line

TikTok finfluencers have made financial literacy more accessible and less daunting but it’s essential to keep in mind its limitations. The content on TikTok is neither regulated nor fact-checked and there’s a finite amount of information you can fit in a 60 seconds clip. When it comes to taking financial advice from TikTok, it’s crucial to be cautious and critical. #MoneyTok can help you build a good foundation but it would be best to seek out other resources as well when building your financial literacy.