Financial education has a history of being accessible to the few and concentrated among the wealthy. For the majority, financial literacy was not taught in school or at home, which has led to many suffering from crippling debt and the stress which comes with it. Below is a round-up of 10 influencers looking to change the stakes, by sharing their own personal journeys with money from going debt-free, to investing and building their wealth. We’ve ranked each influencer by their follower count on Instagram, but many have a presence across multiple platforms including TikTok, YouTube and Spotify.

‍

Macro-Influencers

‍

(1) herfirst100k - 2.1M Followers

‍

Seattle-based money expert, Tori Dunlap, who after successfully saving $100,000 at age 25, quit her corporate job to start Her First $100K. She has since gone on to become a New York Times bestselling author and the host of the #1 money podcast for women in the world. Her primary focus is getting more money in the hands of more women around the world to create financial power for wider economic and political change.

‍

‍

(2) anthonyoneal - 432K Followers

‍

Anthony O’Neal was 19 years old when he began his journey to becoming debt-free. At the time, he was $35,000 in debt but now enjoys financial freedom as a bestselling author, speaker and educator, helping others to get out of debt and build their wealth.

‍

‍

(3) the.retired.millennial - 242K Followers

‍

Anita Kinoshita has built her brand, The Retired Millennial, around making personal finance education approachable and documenting her journey towards her goal of retiring in her 40s. She started investing with $25 a month, built a profitable online hobby starting with zero money behind her and is now in a position to invest over 50% of her income.

‍

‍

(4) moneywithkatie - 240K Followers

‍

Katie Gatti Tassin, started Money with Katie in 2020 as a space for her to document everything she was learning about personal finance during her journey to financial independence. After seeing her net worth grow in tandem with her financial literacy, she knew this was valuable information worth sharing with others. It has grown to a 240K-strong following on Instagram and into a podcast with 140,000+ listeners per month covering the topics of personal finance, investing and working towards early retirement.

‍

‍

(5) nicktalksmoney - 214K Followers

‍

Personal finance doesn’t have to be boring is the message behind Nick Meyer’s brand of finance. He’s getting rid of the jargon and making budgeting and investing accessible to all. After growing up in a household where money was the number one cause of stress, he was determined to avoid the same financial stressors his parents suffered their whole lives. Nick went on to study finance at the University of Minnesota and became a financial and tax advisor to the wealthy. He’s now sharing his learnings with everyone else, alongside an injection of fun and humour.

‍

‍

Mid-Tier Influencers

‍

(6) theavocadotoastbudget - 53.6K Followers

‍

Lexa Van Damme has her sights on helping millennials with the resources and tools they need to save money, pay off their debt, invest and get to the point where they feel financially confident. Knowing what it’s like to live paycheck-to-paycheck, Lexa is sharing how she climbed out of credit card debt and created a shame-free space for other millennials to feel more confident with money.

‍

‍

(7) missellenyin - 31.2K Followers

‍

Ellen quit her corporate marketing job five years ago to go freelance and bootstrapped her first $300 client project into over $2 million dollars in revenue by the age of 28. She now mentors students online and has her own podcast where she shares the insider secrets you can’t Google, direct from top entrepreneurs and real-life case studies.

‍

‍

(8) ms.simran.kaur - 29.3K Followers

‍

An optometrist turned investor, entrepreneur and author. Simran Kaur is an LP in venture capital funds, angel invests, invests in real estate and puts her money in public markets. Before all of this, and her brands Girls That Invest and The Indian Feminist, she would often spend her money on (in her own words) ‘dumb things’. Eventually, she learned to invest it instead and was able to buy her first home at 23. Determined to make financial education more accessible, she shares her knowledge through her e-learning platform, socials and global stock market podcast as well as through her book Girls That Invest.

‍

‍

Micro-Influencers

‍

(9) modernfrugality - 15.7K Followers

‍

Jen is a personal finance writer and co-host of the Frugal Friends Podcast. She married her husband, Travis in 2015 with almost $78,000 of debt between them. This triggered a journey of frugality and side hustles, and they managed to pay it off in 23 months and have been debt-free ever since. Jen started her brand Modern Frugality to help her friends and others who want to pay off debt efficiently and to stay motivated on the journey. Her story has caught the attention of publications including the Wall Street Journal and Money Magazine and has since become a bestselling author on Amazon.

‍

‍

(10) the_brokenwallet - 12.8K Followers

‍

Vee is a personal finance writer and blogger. After taking low-paying freelance writing jobs, she actively decided to seek higher-paying gigs, which led her to write about personal finance. As Vee researched debt, credit, saving money, mortgages, and other evergreen financial topics, she quickly found her passion for personal finance. Through her simple, accessible financial tips online, she has helped others find financial stability.

‍

‍

Image Credit: Andre Taissin