Rich AF

Vivian Tu, an ex-Wall Street trader and financial literacy creator known online as "Your Rich BFF," wrote this personal finance guide to share the wealth-building strategies she learned working among the rich. Tu contends that the American dream is dead because the financial system was designed by and for wealthy people, who have passed money secrets through exclusive social circles for generations. Her goal is to make those secrets accessible to everyone, especially women, people of color, LGBTQ+ individuals, and first-generation Americans.

Tu traces her own path to financial knowledge. She grew up in a frugal Chinese immigrant household where clipping coupons and buying generic products were treated as the keys to wealth. When she began her career on the J.P. Morgan equities trading desk, she was one of only two people on a team of 30 to 40 who were not white men. The other, an Asian woman who became her mentor, transformed Tu's understanding of money by teaching her practical strategies never covered in school, including how to contribute to a 401(k), a tax-advantaged employer-sponsored retirement savings account. After leaving Wall Street for a sales role at BuzzFeed, Tu noticed friends constantly asking her the same financial questions she had once asked her mentor. On January 1, 2021, she posted her first TikTok video, which went viral within hours, and over three years her community grew to 6 million followers.

Tu opens the book's argument with an analogy. While playing a Hamptons-themed Monopoly game with friends, one player dominated by exploiting a little-known lending rule buried in the instruction booklet. Tu draws a parallel to the financial system: Everyone technically has access to the same information, but only those who learn the strategy behind the rules gain an advantage. She argues that the education system's failure to teach personal finance is not accidental but serves to keep the working class dependent on low-wage labor.

Tu outlines eight characteristics of how rich people think. They prioritize making money work for them rather than laboring harder. Their wealth comes from assets like stocks, bonds, and real estate, not salaries alone. They do not spend to impress others, instead investing in income-generating assets. They maintain an abundance mindset and freely share financial tips and connections. They think long-term, embrace delayed gratification, and actively seek to deploy capital. And many wealthy people today, particularly baby boomers, benefited from far more favorable economic conditions than younger generations face. Tu also critiques conventional money advice, citing a 2021 study finding that well-being continues to rise with income well past $75,000, and addresses how race, gender, and sexual orientation compound financial disadvantage.

The book's first actionable section focuses on earning power. Tu introduces a foundational principle: A person can only save as much as they earn, but they can always earn more. She narrates her own career to illustrate how environment matters as much as effort. At J.P. Morgan, she thrived under supportive managers who advocated for her advancement. When a restructuring placed her under a manager who stole her work and made racist and sexist remarks, she recognized the dead end and left. At BuzzFeed, she found a meritocratic culture, eventually earning $625,000 in her second-to-last year.

Tu identifies three skills for maximizing earnings: selling transferable skills by viewing career moves as scrambling across a climbing wall rather than climbing a single ladder; networking constantly, because employees who stay at one company for more than two years earn 50 percent less over their careers; and recognizing when a workplace will never reward your talent. She provides a detailed script for negotiating raises and discusses non-salary compensation including stock options and flexible work arrangements. She covers side hustles while warning against multi-level marketing (MLM) companies, citing a Federal Trade Commission report finding that at least 99 percent of MLM participants lose money.

Tu reframes budgeting as an empowering planning tool rather than a punitive exercise. A budget, she argues, is a plan that enables indulgence rather than restricting it. She walks readers through a spending audit: gathering recent statements, categorizing expenses, and color-coding each as red (inflexible necessities), yellow (necessary but flexible), or green (discretionary). She presents four methods: the 50/30/20 method, which allocates 50 percent of post-tax income to needs, 30 percent to wants, and 20 percent to saving, debt, and investing; zero-based budgeting, which assigns every dollar a job; reverse budgeting, which prioritizes saving before other spending; and half-payment budgeting, which splits bills across two paychecks. She also introduces value-based spending, dividing a purchase's price by one's hourly wage to assess whether it is worth the labor, and argues that every budget should include nonnegotiables, personal indulgences that bring disproportionate joy. She addresses the cultural pressure to give money to family, particularly in immigrant communities, providing scripts for setting boundaries.

Tu argues that saving is the foundation of financial security because it eliminates the desperation that leads to poor decisions. She recommends high-yield savings accounts, which at the time of writing paid 4 to 5 percent annual interest compared to roughly 0.07 percent from traditional accounts. She details two types of savings: emergency funds covering three to six months of expenses, and sinking funds for planned big-ticket purchases. She provides a negotiation script for reducing recurring bills.

Tu tackles investing next, stating three core truths: It does not have to be complicated, it does not require genius stock-picking, and investing, not saving, is how people get rich. She presents an Investment Flowchart with three layers: where to invest (at brokerages, the platforms where investors buy and hold investments), in what type of account (retirement accounts like 401(k)s and individual retirement accounts [IRAs], education savings accounts known as 529 plans, or general brokerage accounts), and in what investments (from low-risk government bonds to high-risk cryptocurrency). She explains concepts like employer matching on 401(k) contributions, the difference between traditional and Roth IRAs, and health savings accounts as a "triple threat" where contributions, growth, and qualified medical withdrawals are all tax-free. For beginners, she recommends target-date funds, which automatically rebalance as retirement approaches, and index funds, which track broad market indices like the S&P 500, a benchmark measuring the performance of 500 large US companies.

The final chapter covers credit, debt, taxes, and long-term planning. Tu argues for credit cards over debit cards for everyday spending because they offer fraud protection, rewards, and credit-score building. She explains how credit scores are calculated and offers tips for improving them. She reframes debt as a morally neutral tool, noting that rich people routinely borrow at low interest rates to invest at higher returns. She presents three debt-paydown strategies: the snowball method, targeting smallest balances first; the avalanche method, targeting highest interest rates first; and debt consolidation, replacing multiple debts with a single lower-interest loan. She explains marginal tax brackets and discusses when to hire financial professionals, recommending certified public accountants for self-employed individuals, estate attorneys for anyone who needs a will, and certified financial planners for complex situations.

Tu introduces the FU number, her rebranding of the financial independence, retire early (FIRE) concept, as the investment total needed to live entirely off returns. The formula divides annual spending by an assumed 4 percent return rate, so someone needing $100,000 per year would need $2.5 million.

Tu closes with a reflection on inherited money habits, recounting her father's refusal to let her fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) based on an unfounded belief that applying for aid would hurt her college admissions chances. Citing research that money habits form as early as ages seven to nine, she presents four corrective truths: Wealth is not made to be hoarded, spending is not inherently shameful, money spent to impress others is wasted, and complaining without acting accomplishes nothing. She recommends therapy to unpack deep-seated financial beliefs and asserts that financial independence is a collective goal: Everyone deserves access to the tools for financial empowerment.