10 Personal Finance Influencers to Follow If You're an Advisor

Personal finance influencers are becoming increasingly popular on social media as people seek out straightforward, practical financial advice. While many influencers cater to a consumer-facing audience, some offer tips and strategies that are directed toward financial services professionals. Getting to know some of the most impactful personal finance influencers can be a terrific way to pick up tips on how to scale your business or glean valuable insights for your clients.

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Personal Finance Influencers Advisors Should Know

What defines someone as an influencer? It isn’t necessarily a specific number of followers, though the top influencers in the finance space have followings in the millions.

Broadly speaking, an influencer is someone who’s built a solid reputation for sharing their knowledge and expertise in a particular area. They may be active on several social media platforms or just one, but regardless, they can sway opinions or influence decision-making.

With that in mind, here are 10 personal finance influencers that advisors follow:

1. Humphrey Yang

Humphrey Yang is a former financial advisor who’s grown a TikTok following that’s 3.4 million strong. Yang’s content is largely educational and informative, touching on everything from how to build wealth to how psychological bias can affect buying decisions. However, he also discusses entrepreneurship, including the story of how he built a $1 million business at the age of 29.

Advisors may appreciate those kinds of insights, as well as Yang’s storytelling skills, which serve as a fitting example of how to distill sometimes complex concepts into an easily digestible format.

2. Kevin O’Leary

Kevin O’Leary is a Canadian businessperson, investor and author who’s built up a dedicated following of millions across several social media platforms, including LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram. O’Leary, also known as Mr. Wonderful, regularly discusses investing, economics and entrepreneurship, which may be of interest to advisors who are looking for ideas on how to grow their businesses or tips to stay motivated throughout the journey.

O’Leary doesn’t shy away from being bold and outspoken with his content and he encourages entrepreneurs to take a similar approach when growing their businesses.

3. Michael Kitces

Michael Kitces is a Certified Financial Planner™ and established voice in the blogging space. Nerd’s Eye View is where Kitces shares his insights into what it takes to grow a thriving practice as a financial professional. The site has consistently been ranked among the top 10 best blogs for financial advisors and the advisor industry.

On social media, Kitces is primarily active on X (formerly Twitter) where he has approximately 95,000 followers. Here, you’ll find posts sharing updates on the latest industry regulations along with tips on how to build client trust and facilitate conversations that can help you approach planning more effectively.

4. Josh Brown and Michael Batnick

Josh Brown is a New York City-based financial advisor at Ritholtz Wealth Management, LLC and CNBC commentator. Michael Batnick is a chartered financial analyst and director of research at Ritholtz Wealth Management and founder of The Irrelevant Investor blog. Together, they host The Compound & Friends, a podcast focusing on the latest economic trends and what’s happening in the markets.

The podcast, which is available on iTunes, Google Podcasts and Spotify, is also streamed on YouTube, where it’s amassed more than 233,000 subscribers. It’s worth tuning in for advisors who want to keep a finger on the pulse of the markets.

5. Tiffany Aliche

Tiffany Aliche, better known as The Budgetnista, is a personal finance influencer and financial educator who specializes in speaking to the needs of women. Collectively, her social media channels have more than 1.5 million followers. Aliche’s content encourages her followers to get smart with money by learning how to budget, save and invest wisely.

In addition to posting on Instagram, Aliche regularly hosts live streams on YouTube featuring special guests in the finance space, including special Ask an Advisor episodes. That may be of interest to advisors who are looking for opportunities to collaborate with influencers and tap into a broader audience.

6. Ramit Sethi

Ramit Sethi is a blogger, podcaster, entrepreneur and author of “I Will Teach You To Be Rich,” a New York Times bestseller. Sethi doesn’t have a professional background in finance, but he’s become one of the most prominent influencers in the financial space over the last decade and a half.

Sethi’s approach to building a richer life emphasizes proven strategies that encourage people to take control of their financial destinies, whether it’s through launching their own business or negotiating a pay raise at work. You might appreciate Sethi’s views on entrepreneurship if you’re interested in striking out on your own as an advisor.

7. Graham Stephan

Graham Stephan became a millionaire by age 26 through real estate investing. Now he shares his best tips and advice on building wealth with his YouTube audience, which has more than 5.16 million subscribers. His advice is geared toward 18- to 30-year-olds who are looking for ideas and inspiration on how to get on the path to wealth from an early age.

Stephan’s content may prove valuable to advisors who are interested in tapping into this niche demographic. Much of his content revolves around the challenges that younger people are facing regarding earning, spending and saving in the current economic market.

8. Brian Preston and Bo Hanson

Brian Preston and Bo Hanson are financial influencers and CFP® professionals who host The Money Guy Show, which is available on YouTube, Spotify and Apple Podcasts. The Money Guy features financial advice that goes beyond common sense, with the goal of helping listeners achieve financial freedom.

Recent episodes have covered the average 401(k) balance by age, the benefits of renting vs. buying a home and how to build wealth using the three-bucket strategy. Hanson and Preston also host Making a Millionaire, which shares behind-the-scenes stories of how real people build wealth, as well as Financial Advisors Explain, a series of short videos that break down complex financial concepts into bite-sized answers.

9. Samantha Russell and Susan Theder

If you’re interested in improving your digital marketing, Samantha Russell and Susan Theder have a wealth of information to share. The duo shares their best tips and strategies for advisor marketing on YouTube, through a mix of short clips that pack a punch and longer, more in-depth explorations of frequently asked marketing questions.

Theder is the chief marketing and experience officer at FMG Suite, while Russell is the firm’s chief evangelist and marketing idea generator. New videos are typically uploaded weekly and recent topics include how to leverage your advisor website for growth and what human advisors can do for clients that AI cannot.

10. Erin Moriarity

Erin Moriarty is the host of Erin Talks Money on YouTube, where all things finance take the spotlight. The channel’s content covers a range of topics and several videos feature interviews with other financial experts and influencers, including Michael Kitces, Ed Slott and David Bach.

Retirement is a regular topic, which you may appreciate if retirement planning is a core focus for your business. Recent videos include discussions of sequence of returns risk, the best time to claim Social Security, the pros and cons of using the 4% rule for withdrawals and how long-term care costs add up in retirement.

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Financial Advisor Influencer FAQs

Financial advisors comparing advice from personal finance influencers.

Is collaborating with influencers a good marketing strategy?

Collaborating with personal finance influencers can be an effective way to bring attention to your advisory business. The key is choosing an influencer whose following reflects your ideal client base. For example, if you primarily work with women in their 40s, it wouldn’t make sense to team up with an influencer whose following is mostly young men in their 20s.

How can a financial advisor become an influencer?

There’s no specific roadmap to becoming an influencer. Some of the most noteworthy personal finance influencers started with zero followers and took years to build up their brands while others went viral seemingly overnight. If you’re interested in becoming an influencer as an advisor, here are a few tips that can help:

What compliance rules should advisors know when collaborating with influencers?

If you’re entering into a partnership with a financial influencer that involves the exchange of compensation, Federal Trade Commission (FTC) rules require clear and transparent disclosures of that relationship. If the partnership is promotional in nature, RIAs are also bound by SEC compliance rules. Specifically, that includes the marketing rule, which prohibits advisors from making false or misleading claims.

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Bottom Line

Financial advisors looking up popular personal finance influencers.

Personal finance influencers can have a lot of impact on their followers’ decision-making. The ones we’ve shared here are all in the finance space, but they don’t all cover the same ground with their content. Checking out different influencers can help you decide which ones belong on your follow list.

Tips for Growing Your Advisory Business

If you’re ready to start attracting new clients, an online lead generation service can help. SmartAsset AMP (Advisor Marketing Platform) is our holistic marketing service financial advisors can use for client lead generation and automated marketing. Sign up for a free demo to explore how SmartAsset AMP can help you expand your practice’s marketing operation. Get started today.
While social media can be an excellent way to market your business, it’s unwise to put all of your eggs in one basket. Diversifying your marketing plan to include email marketing, a professional website that’s optimized for local searches and direct mail marketing can also help you gain new clients. And perhaps the best marketing tool may be referrals from current clients, which you can encourage by providing superior service.