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Taylor Price wants to teach younger generations a lesson they won’t get in school — how to achieve financial independence, set themselves up for a secure retirement and reach their financial goals.
She does so using the social media platform TikTok.
In one video, Price — who has 1.1 million followers on TikTok — breaks down active versus passive income and how to pursue financial independence. “This is something they don’t teach us in schools — at all,” she said to her followers. “We’re taught growing up that you need to have a job for like 50 years to retire at 59 ½ or 65 years old and then you can finally start living and slowing down.”
In another post, she makes a joke — while putting on makeup — about how often she tells followers to open a Roth individual retirement account. “When I keep telling you that a Roth IRA may make you a millionaire and I continue to spread the word even though you heart it but don’t actually open an account. Persistence = key,” she wrote (using a key emoji).
She also shares videos that explain topics such as index funds and cryptocurrencies, as well as posts about the child tax credit, homeownership savings hacks and paying down student debt.
Price, who is 21, founded a financial literacy website called fifecta (previously known as TAP Intuit). She also earns money from her videos, and has partnerships with Betterment and Public. Price uses social media platforms alongside TikTok, such as Instagram and Twitter, to post content as well.
See: Young people should be investing in stocks — here’s why
Sharing messages about financial literacy wasn’t what Price planned to do with her life. She initially went into pre-med but realized in her first semester it wasn’t going to work out because of health issues. Her mom suggested she try finance, so she gave it a shot. She was learning about credit cards, retirement planning, cash flow statements.
“I was like, did I miss a chapter of life here? Or a semester? Were there prerequisites I had to do?” But the truth, as she learned, is that most high schools in the country aren’t required to provide financial education. (Less than half of states require any sort of personal finance lessons in high school.)
“Not everyone has a financial education,” she said. She started a blog, grew a community, went on YouTube and Instagram and joined TikTok when it became popular. Her tenth video on the social media platform, about financial education, went viral.
MarketWatch spoke with Price about the importance of sharing messages on retirement planning with younger generations, and how she does so in a creative manner through TikTok. The following interview was edited for clarity and length.
MarketWatch: Why do you use TikTok as a platform for discussing personal finance?
Taylor Price: It is easy, it is relatable and emotional. Being able to express yourself using short form video is easier than writing or using a single photograph. I also think video showcases a lot of experience, such as doing point-of-view content where you’re reenacting a conversation between a mother and daughter. It showcases a scenario of what could have happened.
MW: What are the pros and cons of TikTok as a tool to share these sorts of important lessons?
Price: Pros — Definitely being able to learn a more important or complex piece of content in a bite-sized video. I can translate a 120-minute lecture into a 30- or 60-second TikTok video. That’s a pro. Cons — there’s a lot of misinformation out there.
MW: Your videos are creative. What inspires your posts?
Price: It’s what comes on the fly. I listen to my community, and am active in the comment section. I am reading what’s the most-liked content, and I am able to answer in the form of a video. I don’t think creativity has a structure. It’s more sporadic.
MW: You mentioned misinformation. What are some examples of that — or are there any complex topics people have trouble with in general?
Price: I would say one of the most popular ones is the Roth IRA. There’s this misconception that it can’t transform your lifestyle in retirement, but I think it can. There’s also very contrary opinions on opening up a credit card or even investing in the stock market. My following is 18- to 25-year-olds, and their parents had problems in the recession, so [now] they’re not allowing their children to invest, or because of those results, it made them scared to invest. But people don’t realize inflation is beating you.
MW: Some would say TikTok should be the first introduction for young investors getting started on their personal finance journeys. What should they do after they see these videos?
Price: Begin to analyze your own budget and own personal finances and start keeping track of bank statements and credit statements. How can you invest without having a solid budget? There’s a money tree concept — we have our roots that are emergency funds and savings accounts, then it grows using primary sources of income, and then we get to branches which are not as strong but create passive or secondary or tertiary income. Young people need to prioritize budgeting, and create the habit of dividing income into different categories such as fixed expenses or discretionary.
Also see: Saving for retirement on TikTok? Gen Z invests differently
MW: For those who are 18 to 25 years old, retirement is far away and may not seem like a priority. How do you make it relevant?
Price: It’s not a priority when you’re thinking about yourself now. It’s hard for people to imagine being old and wrinkly or not working one day because of old age. The way I go about it is imagining you are this individual at this time frame, even putting a filter on your face, and saying this is what I would look like. I made a video where I was a grandma, I think in conjunction with Betterment, and I was talking to my granddaughter about retirement. Visualizing that this will be you one day helps the motivation.
MW: Another video of yours talked about financial independence. Why is it important to have messages about that?
Price: Elaborating on financial independence and freedom at a young age is important. The ages between 20 and 30 to 35 years old is when we are accumulating the most assets, so when figuring this out — in between lowering debt, accumulating assets like a car, a house, working on a college education — we don’t prioritize what the next step is. It’s important to understand when we get to 35 and above, it’s more about risk management and when talking about financial independence, it’s important to understand what you’re getting involved in. You may lose a job, or there may be another recession one day, or maybe a family crisis where you can’t work or someone in the household can’t work. This can affect your financial freedom.
