Double Feature! Financial Feminist & Rich AF

The Financial Feminist and Your Rich BFF of TikTok fame both released books! Here is what I thought of them :)

Since I’ve started making my own money I’ve been trying to figure out what I should do with it. I know that sounds really dumb but I think for me there is a lot of confusion around the messaging about money, how I should feel about it and what I should do to be financially independent. Have I sat through a Dave Ramsey video or two? Sure. Have I read a few outdated and “pull yourself from the bootstraps” type financial books? Yes.

Now, if you have spent even some time on the side-hustle, productivity, finance side of reels (which was recommended to me all the time which is one of the reasons why I’m not on the platform as much anymore lol) I found a lot of interesting advice, with some of it catered towards women and their wants and needs. I’m sure you might have seen or follow these people. But apparently once you generate a following on TikTok and repost everything on reels, you then write a book? I have seen so many familiar faces on bookshelves these days, it’s honestly crazy.

Anyway, today I wanted to compare the two books from two different creators I follow who have published books at the same time. Tori Dunlap and Vivian Tu are both money/finance educators online and have thousands of views and followers across platforms and continue to do their work on educating about money (with my educated guess) to predominately female audiences. Both are super accessible in their messaging but are different in their overall vibe and presentation. Maybe you are looking for an intro to personal finance too!

Here’s some background on both to give context:

Vivian Tu, or as she introduces herself as “Vivian, your Rich BFF and your favorite wall street girly”, helps her viewers save money, and overall do as the rich do. Her messaging is very straight forward tricks and tips to get you focused on how to get it done step by step. Think older sister who is explaining everything finance to you to the first time. She breaks it down in sometimes funny analogies. The focus for her book is very similar to Rich Dad, Poor Dad. Her messaging sounds like “I will teach you what the rich do and here are the steps to get there”.

Tori Dunlap, host of the Financial Feminist podcast, and founder of Her First $100K. She’s a money educator online. Her messaging is trying to make money as intersectional as possible, which is what is the main focus of her podcast to try to bring more viewpoints into money. Her mission is a focus on closing the knowledge gap about money between men and women, helping women be more comfortable with money. Her tone feels more like an activist auntie who is trying to help everyone get the life they deserve. Her messaging sounds like “Let’s repair your relationship with money, be aware of our privilege, and beat the patriarchy at their own game while we make the system better”

So without further ado, what the books were about.

Summary of both books:

The books, although the tones were completely different, covered these topics (no particular order). Please note these are both generalizations of what I picked up from their books for fun. I would recommend readings one or both of these to get a full picture. But you’re reading my newsletter so you get Lauren’s version ✨💃:

• Budgeting

  • Rich AF: different saving tactics and how to achieve (modified 50/30/20 rule, zero sum budgeting etc.). Very goal oriented budgeting.

  • Financial Feminist: Three bucket budgeting system. Much more relaxed but with lots of calculations to think about. Value based budgeting.

    • Bucket 1 for necessities

    • Bucket 2 for saving for emergency fund/ investing/ more debt paying

    • Bucket 3 for discretionary spending on your top three spending categories

• Earning

  • Rich AF: negotiate because that’s what rich people do. Also and you can always make more and can’t budget your way to being rich.

  • Financial Feminist: negotiate your salary because you are worth negotiating for. Also you deserve peace of mind and don’t stay at a toxic job.

  • Both of them: Hustle culture is toxic so please be kind to yourself.

• Debt

  • Rich AF: Rich people call it leverage and can be a tool to help you create more opportunities (business loan, student loans, mortgage etc.). Stat off with paying for high interest debt first and snowball your way down.

  • Financial Feminist: don’t let debt define you. People should not make you feel less than because of it. Here is some misconceptions and negative money feelings we have and some rebuttals against them. To pay off debt, make a plan for yourself. Pay the lowest balance first? Pay the highest interest first? Pay for no more than two at the same time? “Personal finance is personal” (which she repeats several times in the book)

  • Both of them: Debt is a necessary tool to let you live life you need. Paying off debt is paramount especially if it’s above 7-10%. But if it’s below 7% you can pay off the minimum amount and use the money left over to grow in the stock market long term. Please be kind to yourself when paying off debt. It is not a shameful thing everyone has it.

• Investing

  • Rich AF: Investing is how the rich make more money. They invest in a lot of things including tax advantage accounts (Listed with * below) and other things like real estate, companies, and tangible goods. If it makes more money rich people are buying it.

  • Financial Feminist: Investing is how you will become rich. Here is how to invest and what you should be looking for.

  • Both: Here is how to invest 101. Here are also all the types of accounts that are out there you can start investing with: 401(k),403 (b), Roth IRA*, Traditional IRA*, HSA*, and brokerage accounts. You could also have SEP IRA* or a Solo 401 (k)* for the freelance and self-employed types. They both also do a great job of breaking down in laymen's terms what makes people chose one over the other. Also both were against crypto for various reasons.

• Points specific to “Rich AF”

  • Rich people are lazy. They really are trying to make life easy for themselves and keep it that way. They are not trying to hustle, so we can learn from them.

  • Abundance vs. scarcity mindset and how by having a better mindset about money, it can trickle down to other parts of your life.

  • Surround yourself with good advice and seek financial advice when you got the basics down.

  • Have a fuck- you number. Which is: the money you need to live comfortably for one year/ 0.04. 4% is accounting for the fact that any money you don’t spend gets invested in the stock market to grow more.

• Points specific to “Financial Feminist”

  • We need to explore our feelings about money and try to resolve them as much as we can. Although money is a tool, we have lots of feelings around it that can be traced back to childhood and the key to actually breaking old money habits is understanding where your feelings about money are coming from.

  • A woman’s most rebellious act against the patriarchy is to get a financial education, financially independent, and use money as a tool to get what she wants

  • Intersectionality and activism are important. We can both acknowledge and fight for equality and equitability for all and play by the rules until they get fixed to be more fair.

  • We aren’t trying to be perfect but when possible, make it a point to choose the sustainable, equitable, options. This includes items, as well as jobs, stocks, and banks.

Finance advice by women for everyone (but mostly for women)

Both books, although very similar in content, were really nice to read. They were both tremendously kind and conscientious towards their readers. They are truly beginner guides to how to start your financial life or a wake up call for those who don’t know where to start. Both were anti-hustle culture and money neutral (i.e. it’s a tool rather than something that is morally right or wrong), and helping readers get on the right track towards financial independence.

Although it’s exciting to talk about wealth and how to get there, they were both understanding that readers are coming from varied backgrounds, and that getting to the next level requires a solid foundation. I also really appreciated the amount of stressing that money is a tool. I think this neutrality about the money itself has been something I didn’t realize I needed to hear. I sometimes feel myself get caught up in the glitz and glamor of it all along with a healthy dose of fear of not ever being able to retire, that it’s quite paralyzing to think about money at all.

I think for me, Financial Feminist wins out between the two. I appreciated the varied voices from her past podcast episode's which not only rounded out different perspectives on money but also addressing the money feelings that are unique to different perspectives. It felt intentional and well rehearsed. I especially liked the first few chapters that had readers reflect about their “money memories” and feeling associated with money. The prompts that were in the book helped a lot in reevaluating my own relationship with money that I didn’t know I needed.

The book was approachable but speaks to the common narratives, concerns, and misconceptions people have around every topic in the book. Although there were a few things I wished there were more details on such as deeper dives into investing, how to shop for credit cards or loans, and also what to say after a negotiations fall through for some reason. I’m sure this is not the last book either one of these creators will write as long as their media businesses survive, but these specifically were the questions I was asking myself at the end of Financial Feminist. Overall the book was really helpful and I would highly recommend.

Rich AF, although had lots of great wisdoms like the flow chart of how to invest money in the most tax friendly way possible, breaking down different kinds of financial professionals and how they can help, or different perks banks and credit cards have; for me it missed the mark in terms of how to take personal finance seriously. I know that is literally not the point of this book. It was to make personal finance more accessible to Gen-Z and younger audience by making it fun. Maybe I’m just boring but to me it personally felt juvenile, maybe leaning too much into the internet slang and pop culture analogies for concepts that don’t really need it as much as others. I can see if you really don’t know, then it’s helpful. I can also see if someone is trying to take their personal finances seriously, being talked to seriously with a joke here and there is much more appealing than having a pop-culture reference and slang on every other page. It got old and I’m realizing the audience was not me and that’s okay.

Money is personal, and I learned a lot from reading both books. When I’m reviewing books from creators I follow on the internet, it feels like I’m at a concert, giving my own little live broadcast of it. I hope you enjoyed this weeks double feature! I would love to hear if you like this concept!

And of course see you next week xoxo