'Your Rich BFF' Vivian Tu's top money tips: How she made $7M a year by 31

24:25Vivian Tu:That's wild. That's really cool. over then the course of the week, it just kept getting more and more and more eyeballs on it. And I ended the video basically being like, tell me what your money questions are. And I just had thousands of comments of questions. And that's what fueled all of the other content. I would just respond to those questions. Yeah. That took up loads of your time already. And you were doing this on the side initially, obviously, right? It was a year and a half, wasn't it? Yeah. I was at my full-time job for a year and three months. It's so embarrassing too, because the following Monday I had to go back into the, uh, we were, it was mid COVID.

24:59Vivian Tu:So we didn't go back into the office, but I had to log back on my computer and I had to call my boss and be like, Hey, I have to tell you something. And I was like, um, I like went viral this weekend. I just like wanted to flag it since like, you know, this is a media company. We had a policy, like you're not really supposed to be like doing not like not creating content on the side, but like you have to flag these kinds of things. You just want to make them aware. Yeah. And he was like, Vivian, I don't care. You're good. Like keep bringing in the money. You're doing a great job. I was like, cool.

25:27Vivian Tu:Sick. Awesome. Good job. Ultimately, when I started getting brand deal offers, I had to run all of them by my employer because again, media company, I'm so grateful that I did the smart thing, did that. And they told me no biggie, keep going. Like it, you know, we, it was made very clear to me that it was okay as long as it did not impact my work at the company. But because of that, I was able to keep my full-time job, work there, have the stability of a paycheck nonstop for a year and three months while I got my feet under me. And then ultimately when I realized that You're Rich BFF was run rating more than I was even making at my day job, I was like, maybe I should try and do this full time.

26:10Vivian Tu:And I think it was also because I was just so burnt out, like so deeply burnt out. I was working Monday through Friday, you know, and this is not a nine to five job, like I'm in sales. So I work as hard as I can to try and make money. Then Saturday, I would ideate seven ideas. Sunday, I would change into seven different outfits and record all seven of them. So it looked like it was a new video every day. Yeah. And I had not taken a day off. And it was so exhausting. You're like, I have to choose. I have to choose. And I thought about it and I was like, I have loved my career in media. I have loved my career at BuzzFeed.

26:44Vivian Tu:I've done such a good job. I'm really proud of the work I've done. I have not made any enemies. My boss loves me. My peers love me. I think if Your Rich BFF didn't work out, I could probably call him again and beg for my job back. Right. And he would probably give it to me. And so I was like, I don't want to look back on this moment when I'm 50 or 60 and regret not having taken that chance because I can always go back to the show. And now a quick word about our sponsor, Factor. It's officially fall, which means we're all getting back in the swing of things, and I couldn't be busier. So finding time to cook can be tough.

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28:19Right, and I think a lot of people don't realize that so many of the big decisions in life actually are in fact reversible, right? Yeah. For the most part.

28:27Vivian Tu:Yeah, you can control all delete most things. Right, right, right. Like, I always believe that. And I think, like, even things that you can't undo, most often you can get out of, you can fix with a Band-Aid. So you didn't want to miss the moment, but I'd love to hear more about how you made that switch. Because, you know, you've said as a child of immigrants, you were taught to value stability, fear risk. I think you've also said in the past that you've grown up being taught not to talk about money with anyone outside the family, which is, like, totally against that, right? As someone from a similar background, as you know, I can very much relate.

28:58But how did you grapple with the notion of, you know, the reactions from your community, your parents, picturing the lunches with Asian aunties we all often have to go to, right? Like, how did you handle that?

29:11Vivian Tu:So I had actually had a really horrible, terrible experience with this when I left J.P. Morgan because my parents, I cannot tell you, my parents were so proud when I got that job. You know, they were blowing up the WeChat, telling aunties like, oh, yeah, you know, Vivian just working at J.P. Morgan. Like my mom was doing that. Yeah. But then when I went to BuzzFeed, like there was no panache in that for the Asian American community. Like my mom was like, what are you doing? Writing quizzes about what kind of cheese you are? Like she was not impressed. And we got into a huge fight and didn't talk for a couple of months.

29:44Vivian Tu:And I'm the only daughter. And so it really upset me that they were so unsupportive because I was in an environment where like, I wanted to leave so badly I had been you know rotated away from my mentor given to this new manager who was terrible treated me terribly and I was like I need to be like I need to like eject seat out of this position and I like didn't understand why my parents couldn't see that yeah so I was terrified when I was going to take this full time I was like oh we're gonna do this again right like this is gonna be even worse because now I don't even have a job to go to it's just me sitting at home right and I was so terrified to tell them and you know what's so funny I didn't even tell them about your rich bff for nine months like they didn't know about it until nine months in and at that time I was still working a full-time job so they were like oh this is just like a nice way to supplement your income haha he he but when I decided to take it full time I was really scared to tell them but ultimately I did and I thought my parents had been abducted by aliens because they responded with, okay, you know, your career, you know, what's best.

30:49And I was like, are you in drugs?

30:51Vivian Tu:Like, there's no way you would ever say this to me. But I think, you know, I always joke, like even old Chinese parents can learn new tricks. Like they, they had realized what had occurred in the conversations for my last job, but for this one, they were a lot more supportive. And they frankly have no idea what I do for a living. But I think they had to grapple with the idea of their only daughter being happy or not, or trying something really, you know, important to me. So they tried to be as supportive as they could. And I don't think it was until relatively recently, I started giving my mom something to brag about.

31:31Vivian Tu:You know, when I make big lists like the Time 100 Creators list or Forbes or something like that. Like now she knows what she she understands what it is. But it wasn't even those. The pivotal moment was. Good sleep is everything. That's why Ali's science back support is made with a blend of melatonin and L-theanine for both kiddos and grownups. So when your mind won't switch off, you've got something that can help. Erasing thoughts and restless nights won't stand a chance. Find Ollie Sleep Solutions for the whole family at Ollie.com. That's O-L-L-Y dot com.

32:39Vivian Tu:And she saw my content being ripped and stolen and repurposed to sell an English language course on Xiaohongsu. Oh, that's so funny. Like the Chinese TikTok app. She was like, Vivian, you've made it. Like people know. I'm like, mom, send me this. This person stole my content. Like they're trying to sell this to legal. Yeah, like I need to send this to my attorney. And my mom was like, this is so cool. They're using your video to sell this course. I'm like, I don't want that, mom. That's when you know you've made it, especially in China. Yeah, but like, it just like, it made me laugh so hard because I was like, my mom is so thrilled that my content has been stolen and then being used to sell English language courses.

33:19Vivian Tu:But it like, you know, she was reading all the comments like incessantly and people were like, wow, this woman speaks such great English. It's like, I'm a native born US citizen. Like, of course I speak great English. But also just like, oh, great. Now I can learn English and about the economy at the same time. And she saw the impact that my content was having. And I think that's when they finally got it. Shipping, billing, admin, payroll, marketing. You're managing all the things. So why waste time sending important documents the old fashioned way? Mail and ship when you want, how you want with Stamps.com.

33:53Print postage on demand 24-7 and schedule pickups from your office or home. save up to 90 % with automated rate shopping. That's why over 1 million small businesses trust Stamps.com. Go to Stamps.com and use code PODCAST to try Stamps.com risk-free for 60 days. What about the transition on your own, though, right? Because only 4 % of internet creators globally make more than$100K a year, according to Goldman Sachs' estimate. How did you financially plan for this? Did you have a fallback plan in mind? Oh, yeah. I had set aside$100 ,000 in cash because I was like, so the year that I made$625 ,000 was the year right before I left.

34:34Vivian Tu:And I was like, okay, I need to set this money aside and this will be my nest egg. And in case I don't make a dollar from your rich BFF for the next year, I'm still going to be able to live my life exactly as I currently do. And I don't mean like, oh, just like, you know, bare bones in it. I mean, still pay rent, still go on vacation, still eat the same way, still go out with my friends. I want to live exactly the same way. And I had this$100 ,000. Unfortunately, I never ended up needing it. But I did have a very rude awakening of like building systems for myself when I started working for myself.

35:06Vivian Tu:Because when you go and you work at a place like JP Morgan or even a place like BuzzFeed, there are standing weekly meetings with the team. There are catch-ups with your boss. There are times to do things. Like your week is relatively structured. The first Monday after I quit my job, I woke up on that Monday bright and early, normal time. I got dressed and then I sat at my kitchen table and I was like, oh no, what do I do now? How do I structure my day? Like what do I want to do today? And I had all this freedom in the world, but it was so overwhelming to have that free time. So then I had to split up my week.

35:48Vivian Tu:I'm like, okay, this is going to be time for filming. This is going to be time for ideating. This is going to be time for emails. This is going to be time for this. This is going to be time for that. Give us the specifics. Yeah. So I split my week a lot with time for ideation. So that's like, I can be in my full sweatpants, sweatsuit. I'm just ugly on the couch, just ideating. I have days where I have full glam like this, where I do interviews, where I record content, where I'll do podcasts, things like that. then there are days where it's more the technical stuff of like oh I've got to respond to emails I've got to work on my book I've got to talk to my editor I've got to talk to the person who does the social assets for the podcast clips whatever right but like there are different modes and I always joke about it being I get to be a part-time hot girl so sometimes I'm talent in front of the camera, but other times I need to be a CEO and other times I need to be the person who, you know, has greasy hair and is in my sweatpants and I'm just trying to get the work done.

36:52Yeah, absolutely. So time batching was really essential to you.

36:55Vivian Tu:So, so important. I was also going to ask, you know, obviously your Rich BFF has gone from you being a one man band to an entire team that now supports the business. What does the org now look like? Yeah, so I've got agency representation, management, I've got an attorney, my PR team, business manager. So they handle like accounting, anything with a dollar, basically payroll, stuff like that. Then I have two full-time employees that help me with content, with everything that I need. They help with the podcast, with like just assistant stuff. And then also I have a couple folks who are part-time, so editors, part-time freelancers who will help with like the newsletter.

37:33Vivian Tu:I've got someone that we are currently hiring to full-time help me with some ventures that I'm interested in. There's just a lot. Yeah. Now it's over two dozen people. Wow. Yeah. It's phenomenal. You now run a consistent seven figure business, right? I believe you've said that all in you made about$7 million last year. Is that right? Yeah. Times. Yeah. Can you kind of break down a bit of the business model for those wondering, you know, like what makes up all the different revenue streams for someone like you? Yeah, definitely. So we've got brand partnerships. That's a very, very large portion of my business since i'm a digital first creator i also get paid by the platforms and admittedly those payments have gotten like chunkier in recent months and years because the meta platforms tiktok youtube they're all kind of fighting for eyeballs so what used to be oh i'll cut a 200 check from one of the platforms can now be a couple thousand dollars a month which is really cool there is affiliate revenue from anything from like a like to know it or an Amazon book advance advertising revenue from the podcast speaking revenue small amount of TV revenue as I do appearances working on some stuff on my own side and then trying to think if there's anything else uh yeah I think there's just always going to be more opportunities and then also like me being able to take that money and make strategic investments sorry I just So we'll let that sink in.

38:59You said you made$7 million last year. And you're still, by the way, do you mind my asking how old are you? I'm 31. Wow.

39:06Vivian Tu:But that's what I think. Everybody gets really excited about the$7 million number, right? But then we have to talk about where it goes. It's not like I take$7 million and it goes in my pocket, right? Of the$7 million, immediately 25 % off the top goes away because that goes to agents, management, attorneys, right? So we're already down a quarter of that. Then I have flat rate retainers for folks like my publicist, business manager, the two girls that work for me full time, like four different editors that work for me part time, another full time employee that we're currently hiring. We have a dev person who helps with the website, who helps with the build, stuff like that.

39:39Vivian Tu:Designers. They all have to get paid. They all have to get paid. Then there's a ton of expenses, right? Like hundreds of dollars every single month for web hosting, for the fact that I have the domain at yourrichbff.com, thousands of dollars every single month on social tools to like actually like help do the work that we need to get done. Pay thousands of dollars in licensing every year to be able to have that one song at the front of my podcast episode. I have to pay money for that. That's not free music. Then I have to travel. When I travel for certain things, that's out of pocket. Right. People don't talk about how expensive it is to get style, to get glam.

40:17Vivian Tu:But if you show up to a certain type of event, not looking a certain type of way, you're not putting your best foot forward and you got to dress for the job that you want. So that's all expenses, all expenses. It's also very expensive to just run the business. Right. Like I think I spent like twenty two thousand dollars on camera equipment last year, podcasting equipment, mics like that's all like if you're getting the high quality stuff, it's expensive. Yeah. So I spent a ton of money on that. And I would say then, you know, about 40 % of it goes to Uncle Sam. Right. And then I can maybe think about paying myself.

40:50Vivian Tu:Yeah. And so I think people get really excited about a$7 million number. But there are a lot of people who rely on me to pay their bills. And so it's a huge responsibility as well. Well, I think the reason people get so excited is because it's all self-made, isn't it? It's literally all generated by you. Yeah. That's a lot of pressure at times. Does it get to you? Yes and no. One, I think there is a level of pressure and responsibility I take when I hire, because I don't want to hire someone in two months be like, I can't afford to pay you. Like, I don't want to do that. So there's a huge level of responsibility to make sure that everybody on my team is taken care of.

41:30Vivian Tu:There's a huge level of responsibility to make sure that I'm running a very smart and sustainable business. Like, let's be real. I see other influencers and I see how they spend their money. And I'm like, how can you afford that? because I feel like I made more money than you last year and I would not buy that right that's our value system you know to every to each their own but in another sense you say the seven million dollars is all self-made you're right and I ask myself all the time if not me then who because I have met some of the world's most impressive people me and my girls I feel like we're all smarter than them.

42:08Vivian Tu:We're harder working than them. We are willing to grind it out more than them. I see how people spend their time. I see how I spend my time. And I just know no one's going to out hustle me. So I feel like I deserve this. Do you ever step back and think though, like, wow, like, I can't believe how my life has turned out? Yeah, of course. I'm on my third do over. I mean, I really thought that I was going to get rich climbing my way up the Wall Street ladder. and that would have been a really wonderful life. And then when I pivoted and moved into sales, I was like, wow, I can't believe I'm making so much money.

42:44Vivian Tu:If I keep doing this, at one point, maybe I can be the chief revenue officer somewhere. That's going to be a really wonderful life. And then when I decided to work for myself, I built all of this and it didn't happen overnight, but sometimes... Plan B is a backup birth control option that's there for you when things don't go according to plan. It specifically works after unprotected sex and before pregnancy occurs by temporarily delaying ovulation. Plan B is available nationwide at all major retailers and through delivery apps like DoorDash. No ID, prescription, or age requirement. It's the number one OBGYN recommended brand of emergency contraception, and it won't impact your future fertility.

43:27Vivian Tu:That's freedom to be. Use as directed. Moments like this are a nice reminder to like sit back and smell the roses. Like, look at all of this. I built this. I'm proud of that. 100%. I think you've even said you became a millionaire at age 27. Is that correct? Talk to me about that moment because that is just unreal. But you know what? It's not the sexy millionaire that everybody thinks. Like you get a million dollars. Most of it was locked up, right? A lot of that money was in my 401k, in Roth IRAs, IRAs. Don't ruin the moment. I know, but here's the thing. Everybody thinks, oh, millionaire status.

44:07Vivian Tu:She can go and buy a Lambo. It's like, yeah. If I didn't want to be a millionaire anymore, I can buy nothing. I have all of this locked up in my retirement savings accounts. I have a lot of this locked up in equity. Yes, I had a million dollars by 27. I was still living in a one bedroom apartment with like, you know, a washing machine that you to put quarters in in New York City when that happened. Right. And, you know, even though I had a million dollars, I didn't feel rich. Right. And I would say like even now, I still am very, very mindful of how I spend my money because every dollar that I take and spend on something that is fun and frivolous.

44:49Vivian Tu:And I'm not saying I don't. I do. But every dollar has an opportunity cost for me. So I have to be mindful. Yeah. And I always will be. Maybe that's just my. That's very responsible, by the way. I think your parents will be proud of that one. Yeah. I think a huge reason you've resonated so much with audiences is that you have this way of blending really sharp insight, like your takes on work culture and the psychology behind money with a really personal, relatable presence. I mean, you've shared everything from your egg freezing journey to family moments, to your own purchases. What do you think, though, is it about that mix that's really helped you connect so deeply with audiences?

45:26And has it ever felt uncomfortable being so open?

45:29Vivian Tu:Being so open, you certainly get a lot of weirdos on the Internet. Please. I shared my embryo freezing process. The number of weird people in my DMs being like, this is unnatural. Like, you should just have babies the old fashioned way. I'm like, how disrespectful of you to make that comment to me. because you don't know why I did this. I'm very lucky. I did this as an insurance policy. I did this because I want to have a career when I have it and think about children later. And in a case that I may not be able to, but there are plenty of people out there who struggle with infertility. Like, how dare you say that to me?

46:06Vivian Tu:That's so rude. And I have to just remind myself, like, these are losers. These are weirdos on the internet. Nobody who has a happy, successful life makes these weird comments to other people. as for sharing my life i think that's why i appeal because i always believe that someone who is well-rounded is always going to be more appealing right like are you going to follow the fitness influencer who only eats chicken breast and broccoli or are you going to follow the fitness influencer who's like yeah i actually only work out four days a week i eat healthy most of the time but that's not to say i'm not going to have a slice of pizza this weekend of course i'm not eating chicken breast and broccoli every single day that sucks i don't want that but like i feel like i'm someone who's like you can make smart responsible decisions 80 of the time and then the other 20 go nuts have fun do what you want because i show people when i'm on vacation i show people that i'm grinding it out i am you know boss babying it up but i also have time for those fun purchases yeah i also have these important moments of my life that i share with other people and tell them what it costs and people love that and sometimes that content even though I'm like this isn't as helpful people are just curious right nobody talks about what it costs to do egg freezing and I went out and I was like yeah it's roughly 25 g's and I think people were grateful that I said that yeah because it gave them a ballpark of like if this is something I want I need to think about how I'm going to financially be able to afford it yeah absolutely so then you realize how much of your own story can just play into it as well and help others just simply by living your life.

47:40Vivian Tu:I mean, like people went nuts when I told them what was in my prenup. They were like, I can't believe she just said that. And I was like, is this contentious? But then, you know, most of the comments were like, this actually gave me courage to talk to this about with my partner. It is interesting though, Vivian, because I know you've said in the past that actually a lot of people don't know that you're also somewhat of a private person behind the scenes when it comes to certain. Yeah, of course, as we all might be. I don't think it's that like, it's not even that necessarily I'm a private, private person.

48:09Vivian Tu:it's like I'm pretty private when it comes to public facing like I'll tell my closest girlfriends everything but I would say that as I've gotten older I've become a little bit more of an introvert um so the way that I like I still love being with groups and talking to people that's like the extroverted part of my personality but at the end of the day the way I recharge is being in my sweatpants on my couch with my husband, take out in front of me. We are eating it. We are watching a movie and going to bed at like 9.30 PM. Yeah. And that is what really brings me joy. Well, staying on the topic of putting yourself out there for a second, you once told a story about a girl that you know accidentally messaging you your own video.

48:53Yeah. Clearly intending it for someone else saying, what did she say? She's so cringe. That struck me, right? because it's the exact type of judgment uh that prevents so many people from going out and pursuing what they're dreaming of how did you handle it and what would you say to other folks who might be holding back from starting their own venture because of that fear well i called her out on it

49:12Vivian Tu:because i was like i know you meant this for somebody else and i'm now i'm gonna make your skin crawl but it hurt my feelings of course but again i look back and i think of that moment and I laugh so much because like this girl never left our hometown. She probably has a dead end job that she doesn't like. She probably wishes she was doing what I was doing and making the kind of money and living the type of life I have. At the end of the day, most times I would say judgment and an attempt to shame is projection. Like you are so terrified that you cannot achieve these goals. You don't want me to either.

49:50Vivian Tu:It's like crabs in a bucket. I'm from Maryland. So maybe that's like a Maryland only phrase, but like when crabs are being sold by the bushel, they're in these like big barrels and the strongest, tallest, biggest crabs always try to get out of the barrel. And instead of all of these crabs working together to escape the bucket, escape the barrel, the like smaller, weaker little crabs will hang onto like the hind legs of the stronger, bigger crabs. So the stronger, bigger crabs can't escape. But if they had just somehow strategically worked together, they could probably all get out of the bucket.

50:22Vivian Tu:And it's, that's my own perspective of like this, right? Like when people who hate on you are saying all of these nasty things, it's probably just because they feel an insecurity in themselves and they don't want you to do it because they can't. And as you get older, you really realize to employ that mindset, right? You realize it's not really about you. I mean, I just feel like I care so much less about what people think of me these days, because especially when it comes to material possessions, in my early 20s you would catch me buying stuff that i had no business buying i certainly could not afford it i was trying to flex i was trying to be a cool rich girl like what like designer bags shoes accessories clothes like just everything yeah i would do everything and now so funny i wore this necklace and uh someone online commented like look at this girl talking about saving money while wearing this designer necklace and I was like I got it off Amazon and someone was like wow I can't believe she just told us that and it's like what do I have to prove everybody on the internet can google and find out that per you know per your stat that the New York Times reported that I made seven million dollars last year you know I can afford it I can afford pretty much anything like retail that I would want to buy these days I don't need to buy it though because you know I can afford it so why wouldn't I just get the doobie thought it was real anyway yeah exactly let's talk about what's coming up for you.

51:47What's next on your roadmap?

51:48Vivian Tu:Yeah, I've got a lot of exciting projects coming. If you want to follow along, you can check me out at Your Rich BFF on all social media. There are some really, really cool projects that should be launching early next year. So I'm really excited to share them when I am allowed to. But I really do hope everybody loves them because they're just more ways through new mediums to convey a lot of that information that I want everybody to learn. Yeah. And looking further ahead, what is the end game for you here? You know, if we were to sit back down again in, let's say, 10, 20 years, where would you want to be?

52:23Vivian Tu:When any person closes their eyes and thinks about money or finance, they see my face. I mean it, like, because for a while, like, it was the Susie Orman, Dave Ramsey, Jim Cramers of the world. And that was like for our parents' generation. But I want to be that for this generation. I think that the work that I'm doing is hopefully going to change the lives of so many people for the better. So I want to be known as like the face of finance. Did you always have this innate confidence just throughout your whole life? Or was it something that you feel like you built up over time? I don't know if it's just like confidence or feeling like I had to prove that I could do everything.

53:11Vivian Tu:being the daughter of immigrants. But I remember when I was a little kid, I was, I can't remember, probably like the middle school, middle school age, there was a test in our biology class. And I ended up getting a really bad grade on it. Like, I mean, barely passed C, like a bad grade. And I was normally an A student. And I brought this test home. And my mom was furious that I I got this bad grade on it. And then she sat with it for a minute and she asked me, when you were taking this test and it was very clear, you did not know what the answers were. Did you ever think about like cheating? And I said, well, no, because I assumed that if I didn't know it, no one else in the class would either.

53:53Vivian Tu:And I think it was just the belief that I was always going to be able to figure it out, whether I was going to pull random answers for my brain or whatever. But I just didn't ever think that I was lesser than anyone else, even if I had less than less money, less skills, less connections. I felt like I'm really lucky that I grew up really frugally with my parents, but like I was never want for any sort of basic necessity. And I got to start life at the start line versus some people start life out in the parking lot. Yeah. And so I will say that I have a lot of privilege and that like all of my needs were met.

54:32Vivian Tu:But also there was just this sense of like blind belief that I could do anything. Yeah, absolutely. Can't let you go without getting some quick financial advice. Yeah, let's do it. We're living in a really uncertain economic climate, as you already talked about. What are some of the most pressing questions you're seeing from audiences right now? And what's been your response to some of them? Yeah, I think a big question is like, should I pull all my money out of the market? Like, should I even keep investing? Like, what's the situation with my job security? Like, are tariffs going to make my entire life more expensive?

55:06Vivian Tu:Like, what's going on? Like, this one big, beautiful bill, like, how's that going to impact my finances? All of those questions. And I think the funniest question that I recently got was just straight up, are we cooked? Like, certainly it was a Gen Z-er who asked me this. But like, it just feels like there are so many factors out of your control. And I hate that feeling of feeling helpless. And so my response to that was, you're never cooked. I don't care who's president. I don't care what is going on in policy. I don't care what's going on in the market. I don't care what's going on anything.

55:44Vivian Tu:You still have the ability to drive this bus. You still have the ability to make the smartest possible decision with the limited amount of information you have. and maybe this goes back to my Wall Street background of if you have three seconds to make a call, what call are you making? In this case, it's if you have a certain amount of information, you don't know what policy changes are going to happen. You don't know how politics are going to play out. You don't know where the market's going to go. You don't know what your career is going to look like. What is the smartest financial decision you can make for yourself today?

56:17Vivian Tu:And you're always going to be able to make the smartest decision for you. And so I always say, no matter who the president is, no matter what's going on in the news, no one's here to save you. You got to save yourself. Right. So that's something you keep reminding everyone in this uncertain time. Yeah. Generally speaking, what do people still not understand about building wealth in your experience? I think something that people still don't 100 % get is that it's dangerous not to invest. um people are like oh but if i miss my money like um what if i lose it and it's like you might for a short period of time but if you're investing in a diversified portfolio i mean they have run monte carlo simulations and over a 40-year period the odds of you losing money are like almost non-existent the odds of you making money are actually incredibly high yeah over a 40-year period yeah what i will emphasize is that buying one stock is not investing that's gambling when i say investing, I mean a diversified portfolio, a bunch of different exposures, domestic, international, small, mid, large cap.

57:23Vivian Tu:I'm talking all the industries. ETFs. Yeah, exactly. If you don't invest and you put all your money into a savings account, and even if it's a good savings account, high yield savings account, your money will likely not keep up with inflation and you will have less and less over time. And at the current way that society is going, you cannot save your way to rich, you have to invest. It's the only way a single person can have a two-income household. Yeah. That's one thing you would tell everyone. Every single person. Yeah. All right. This brings me to a segment we're calling What It Takes, where an audience member gets to ask for advice or hear more on what it takes to get where you are.

57:58Today, Hanako, a designer based in Hong Kong, asks, in your work at My Rich BFF, you've helped people navigate generational wealth gaps. What's one financial habit you wish every new parent in high-cost cities like Hong Kong would start on day one?

58:14Vivian Tu:I would say like having even like just talking to your kids about money and setting up systems for them to practice. So one thing that really frustrates me is it's like, oh, little Johnny at the dinner table asks, mom, dad, how much do you make? And they don't ask that. And then teenage Johnny is like, how much is our apartment or our house worth? They don't ask that. Oh, can we like afford that? Don't ask that. And then suddenly you turn 18, you turn 21, One, you graduate from college and they're like, how do you not know anything about money? It's like, what do you mean? Every single time I offered to like have this conversation, you didn't want to have it.

58:47Vivian Tu:So what I really encourage people to do is like when you are going to the grocery store with your young child, help them, have them help count change or explain to them how tax works. Like, oh, if we buy only two things, you have to pay taxes on two things. And it's a lot less than if you have to buy a whole cart of stuff. For teens, it's like, hey, you're getting an allowance. We're going to tax some of this allowance. We're going to set some of this allowance aside. And this is actually what you're left with to spend on the movies and going out with your friends. Maybe for college age students, it's even like, hey, for that money that you made during your summer internship, let's sit down and talk about how we're going to invest this together.

59:26Vivian Tu:There are age appropriate conversations you can have at every single step. So making sure you don't miss out on those because a lot of people do. Thank you, Vivian. Now we're going to end with a quick rapid fire round. Ready? What is the biggest fad in the investing world right now? I don't even know how to explain it. There are now sites where you can invest, and I say that with huge air quotes, invest on outcomes. So you can basically gamble on who will win the New York mayoral election, or you can gamble on who will win the Super Bowl, or gamble on how likely it is that certain things will be said or tweeted by certain celebrities.

1:00:03Vivian Tu:That is not investing. That is very literally sports gambling with no sports involved. Like, I feel like we have to really make a clear distinction of like investing is buying and holding a diversified portfolio for a long period of time, not trying to finger to the wind, pick out some thing that's going to happen. What do you think is overlooked right now? I think boring stuff. I think it is still sexy to buy index funds. and people are like, oh, well, you know, we're at an all time high. It's like, yeah, I feel like we've been in an all time high for a lot of the time. That's because as there's more innovation, the economy can grow.

1:00:44Vivian Tu:That is the whole premise. I am not going to sit here and make a bet against America, but I'm also not going to sit here and be a dodo bird and put all of my money in domestic markets. Like diversify, buy index funds, be boring. What is your number one tip to a new creator starting out? Post it all. There's content that I put four hours into that gets one view. And there's content that I put four minutes into that gets a million views. And I'm like, this is so rude because I didn't even put makeup on for this one. Everybody thinks I'm ugly now, but that's fine. It just makes me laugh. Like you never know what's going to go viral and you never know what's going to hit.

1:01:15Vivian Tu:What's one thing that's always worth splurging on? For me, my sleep. I am really crazy about spending on my sleep. Like I have a purple mattress, silk sheets, like down pillow like blackout curtains like for me I am not someone who's like oh I only got five hours of sleep last night I can't function I need probably close to nine hours of sleep every night in like before I'm like a good person and so for me I always spend on sleep yeah I'm kind of the same way uh how do you mentally get in the zone before a big event oh I listen to rap music always like the one that you just sang earlier yeah I mean I oh my god I still can't believe I told you that uh but like right now i feel like any song that glorilla makes makes me feel like i could lift up a tree that is so funny what is some of the best advice you've ever received don't get botox off of groupon um and i and i say this a little tongue-in-cheek this is for my mentor what she meant by that is you either buy nice or you buy twice so that is a representation of spending right if you try to get cheap on certain things especially important things like things injected into your face, you might not end up with the outcome that you want.

1:02:24Vivian Tu:So sometimes it makes sense to make the initial investment by nice so you don't have to go and fix a problem later. Yeah. And very literally, it could be actually a big horror story. Yes. Well said. Vivian, thank you so much. I've enjoyed our conversation. Of course. Thank you so much for having me. Thanks for joining us on Behind the Business. For more stories on business and leadership, follow our show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. See you next week.

1:03:16To be continued... Sounds pretty good, right? Toast. Built for busy.

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