Around 20% of American adults rely on social media to get their financial information and advice, according to a Gallup survey. Half of these individuals receive that advice from financial influencers — that is, those who specialize in putting out financial information for their audience.
For the individual, the value of that money advice varies based on how accurate, timely and effective it is. But what are the financial influencers getting paid for their services?
Here’s a breakdown of what these influencers — or “finfluencers” — could be earning across popular social media platforms.
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What Financial Influencers Really Make
According to ZipRecruiter, the national average salary for a social media influencer is $57,928, and $131,874 for a TikTok influencer. YouTube content creators earn an average of $120,226 annually.
But the top influencers in the financial field could easily be earning much more than that.
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Erika Kullberg
Last year, money lawyer Erika Kullberg reported her earnings across all social media platforms in a TikTok video. Numbers are based on posting content across these platforms for two years:
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9.2 million followers on TikTok with 542 million total views: $5,756 total
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4.5 million followers on Facebook: $20,251 total
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5.3 million followers on Instagram with hundreds of millions of total views: $0
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2.05 million subscribers on YouTube with 273 million total views: $353,000
For context, this is before taxes and doesn’t include sponsorships.
Humphrey Yang
Former financial advisor and currency full-time content creator Humphrey Yang shared his earnings from YouTube AdSense in an interview last year:
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$15,000 to $20,000 in 2020 (first year of taking content creation seriously)
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$100,000 in 2021
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$120,000 in 2022
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$300,000 in 2023
This is primarily from monetizing long-form content.
Vivian Tu
Vivian Tu, or Your Rich BFF as she’s known on social media, is pulling in millions of dollars from her personal finance videos. In an interview with Erik Siu, she shared that she earned over $3 million in one year from her business and paid herself roughly $300,000.
Notably, this isn’t just money from social media videos. Vivian Tu did start out posting financial tip videos on TikTok, but she’s also built up a successful business since then.
Graham Stephan
A self-proclaimed personal finance enthusiast and real estate investor, Graham Stephan has roughly five million subscribers on YouTube, 462,500 followers on Instagram and 949,200 followers on TikTok.
A few years ago in a YouTube short, he shared his earnings on the platform with 3.6 million subscribers:
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109.1 million views in 2021
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12.7 million watch time (hours)
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$4,000 to $6,000 daily
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Just over $2 million in one year
His lifetime revenue since getting started on the platform back in 2016 was $5.4 million.
Andrei Jikh
Andrei Jikh, a professional YouTuber in the finance space with just over 2.67 million subscribers, posted a video during his second year on the platform. These are his shared earnings:
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$122,952 from ad revenue by the end of 2019
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$663,303 from ad revenue by the midway point of 2020
He also shared that in 2020 he earned money from:
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Patreon: $176,793
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Affiliate marketing: $872,174
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Referrals and other sources of income: $18,555
In a more recent update, Jikh shared that he earned the following in 2021:
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Ad revenue: $1,164,236
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Affiliate revenue: $1,747,145
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Sponsorships: $187,525
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Patreon: $214,474
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Other or miscellaneous: $108,257
He hasn’t updated since then.
Social Media Earnings: By the Numbers
Earnings vary widely across platforms. For example, here’s how much TikTok influencers could earn per sponsored post:
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$20 to $150: 1,000 to 10,000 followers
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$30 to $400: 10,000 to 50,000 followers
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$80 to $1,650: 50,000 to 500,000 followers
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$150 to $3,500: 500,000 to 1,000,000 followers
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$1,200 or more: 1 million or more followers
On TikTok, finfluencers can also earn money in other ways like the Creator Rewards Program and TikTok Live.
And then there’s Instagram. On this platform, it comes down to more than just follower count. It’s also about engagement and earning strategy. According to Influencer Marketing Hub, here’s what influencers on the platform could earn per post:
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$10 to $100: Under 10,000 followers
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$100 to $500: 10,000 to 100,000 followers
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$5,000 to $10,000: 100,000 to 1 million followers
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$10,000 or more: 1 million or more followers
On X (previously Twitter), those with a high engagement rate and large number of followers are likely to earn the most for their money advice. Ways to earn run the gamut from sponsored posts and affiliate marketing to video monetization and in-stream ads.
Some data puts the possible earnings for sponsored tweets at $0.5 to $1.50 per 1,000 followers. This means a financial influencer with 100,000 followers could earn between $50 and $150 per sponsored tweet.
Last but not least is YouTube, which continues to be a popular way for financial influencers to connect with their audience — and for good reason. Influencers can earn money in a variety of ways. According to Influencer Marketing Hub, here’s how much an influencer might make based on view and subscriber count:
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$500 to $1,500: 10,000 subscribers
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$5,000 to $15,000: 100,000 subscribers
Depending on the platform, there are other ways to earn on social media, like:
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Affiliate marketing
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Brand deals
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Ad revenue
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Product sales (like courses)
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Sponsored posts
Are the Numbers Justified?
This comes down to a matter of opinion, of course, but some experts don’t think so.
“I would say for most cases, the earnings aren’t justified. Many influencers make money through affiliate marketing, sponsored content or platform payouts from places like YouTube or TikTok. There is a saying that if you’re not paying for the product, then you are the product,” said Chad Gammon, CFP®, owner at Custom Fit Financial.
“That doesn’t mean all influencers or their advice are bad,” Gammon continued. “Some share helpful, motivating content. But it’s important to understand the incentives behind what you’re seeing. Especially if they’re pushing products or strategies.”
Other experts say there should be certain safeguards in place for those giving financial guidance or advice, particularly when that advice could affect people’s retirement, debt or investing decisions.
“While some financial influencers earn impressive incomes, I believe their compensation should be tied to the quality and accountability of their advice,” said Jake Falcon, CRPC®, founder and CEO at Falcon Wealth Advisors. “That includes being licensed, regulated and ideally acting as a fiduciary. Without those safeguards, there’s no guarantee the advice is in the best interest of the audience.”
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: How Much Do Financial Influencers Make? What Money Advice Is Really Worth
