KYLA SCANLON
Economics creator, coined "vibecession", author of In This Economy?
Kyla Scanlon is a 26-year-old who somehow became one of the most trusted voices in economics by making TikToks and coining the word "vibecession" — which then got cited by the Federal Reserve, Bloomberg, and the Wall Street Journal. She does not manage a fund. She does not have a PhD. She just explains the economy better than people who do.
Net Worth
$3 Million
Nationality
American
Time Horizon
Long-Term
Risk Appetite
4 / 10
CAREER & BACKGROUND
Kyla Scanlon started posting short-form videos explaining economics on TikTok and YouTube in 2021, while working at Capital Group as an analyst. Her videos — covering inflation, interest rates, and Fed policy in plain English with handmade animations — went viral.
By 2022, she had quit her finance job to go full-time as a creator. She coined the term "vibecession" to describe the disconnect between strong economic data and terrible consumer sentiment, and the term was picked up by major outlets including the New York Times and Bloomberg.
Her first book, In This Economy?, was published in 2024 by Penguin Random House. She has built a newsletter with tens of thousands of subscribers and speaks at major finance conferences alongside people twice her age with ten times her credentials.
COMPANIES & ROLES
Kyla's Newsletter (founder), formerly Capital Group (analyst), In This Economy? (author, Penguin Random House)
INVESTING STYLE & PHILOSOPHY
Scanlon is not an active investor in the traditional sense. She keeps her personal portfolio simple — mostly index funds and some individual stock positions.
She is transparent about this: her job is explaining the economy, not beating the market. She occasionally discusses her portfolio publicly to make a point about accessible investing.
She does not angel invest or run a fund.
THE PLAYBOOK
Risk Approach
Low to moderate. Scanlon is openly conservative with her own money.
She has talked about keeping an emergency fund, investing primarily in broad market index funds, and not taking unnecessary risks. She comes from a background where money was tight, and that shapes her cautious approach.
She would rather explain risk than take it.
Money Habits
Scanlon is not a big spender. She has talked about growing up in Kentucky without a lot of money and how that shaped her relationship with spending.
She lives modestly, saves aggressively, and puts money into index funds consistently. She has said her biggest financial luxury is being able to work for herself.
BIGGEST WIN
Building one of the most influential economics media brands in the world — from her apartment, with no institutional backing, before turning 26. Getting "vibecession" into the national vocabulary and having Federal Reserve researchers reference her work is something most PhD economists never achieve.
BIGGEST MISTAKE
Scanlon has been open about the challenge of monetizing a creator career sustainably. She turned down brand deals that felt wrong and has talked about periods where the income was inconsistent.
She has also discussed the mental health toll of being a public figure in finance, where people get very angry about economic opinions.
FINANCIAL PHILOSOPHY
The economy affects everyone, so everyone deserves to understand it. Scanlon believes financial literacy is a public good, not a privilege.
She thinks the finance industry deliberately makes things confusing to maintain power, and her entire career is built on the opposite — radical clarity.
FAMILY & PERSONAL LIFE
Single. Based in Los Angeles.
Originally from Kentucky. Very open about her Midwestern upbringing and how it grounds her perspective.
EDUCATION
Western Kentucky University (BS in Finance). No graduate degree — went straight into Capital Group.
BOOKS & RESOURCES
In This Economy? by Kyla Scanlon, Kylas Newsletter (weekly economics breakdown), The Deficit Myth by Stephanie Kelton, Narrative Economics by Robert Shiller
QUOTES (6)
The economy is just vibes until someone puts a number on it. And even then, the vibes still matter more.
We are in a vibecession — the data says the economy is fine but everyone feels like it is terrible. Feelings are economic indicators too.
The finance industry makes things complicated on purpose. If everyone understood how simple investing actually is, half of Wall Street would be out of a job.
You do not need an economics degree to understand the economy. You need curiosity and someone who will explain it without jargon.
Inflation is just a fancy word for everything getting more expensive. That is literally all it means.
The Federal Reserve is basically a group of very smart people guessing about the future with slightly better data than the rest of us.
NETFIGO SCORE
Proprietary 5-dimension investor rating
Risk Appetite
Contrarian Index
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