Tori Dunlap has created a following on TikTok by doling out financial advice.
Yet what she has to say may be surprising, given the social-media fueled runup in meme stocks, like Gamestop and AMC Entertainment earlier this year.
Dunlap, 26, doesn’t believe in trading the next hottest name.
“Investing shouldn’t be sexy,” the founder of financial education company Her First 100K said during the CNBC Your Money event on Wednesday.
Instead, she’s invested in index funds — and that’s where she’s staying.
“I want to be consistent and steady and build wealth over a long period of time,” said Dunlap, who boasts 1.8 million followers on TikTok.
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After saving $100,000 by age 25, Dunlap quit her marketing job. She turned full-time to financial education, which includes her TikTok and Instagram pages as well as a website, podcast and newsletter.
She makes her money via eight different sources of revenue, which includes speaking engagements, coaching and being an influencer.
Her goal is to empower millennial and Gen Z women to make smart financial decisions, and she’s trying to reach them where they are — on social media.
“One of the things that TikTok has done really well, of course, is make advice accessible,” Dunlap said.
“One of the things they haven’t done so well is glamourize investing and a lot of these more risky parts of the stock market.”
I want to be consistent and steady and build wealth over a long period of time.
Tori Dunlap
Founder of Her First 100k
That doesn’t mean she is completely staying away from any alternative investments. Her advice is just to be smart about it. She would put no more than 5% in speculative spaces, which she said includes cryptocurrency.
She hopes that women will not only become more financially aware and secure, but also use it as a way to make their voices heard.
“Really use your money as a form of protest,” Dunlap said. “You have so much power once you become financially confident.
“It is not just impactful for you but impactful for your community,” she added. “Always focus on how to better your own money in order to better the world.”
