TORI DUNLAP
Her First $100K founder — saved $100K by 25, then built a financial education empire for women
Tori Dunlap saved her first $100,000 by age 25 on a nonprofit salary, turned that story into a TikTok following, and then built a multi-million-dollar financial education company called Her First $100K. Her book "Financial Feminist" is a New York Times bestseller. She's angry — in a productive way — about the fact that women are taught to coupon-clip their way to wealth instead of negotiating salaries and investing. She turned that anger into a business that teaches millions of women to stop being polite about money.
Net Worth
$5 million (estimated)
Nationality
American
Time Horizon
Long-Term
Risk Appetite
4 / 10
CAREER & BACKGROUND
Born in 1994 in Tacoma, Washington. Started tracking her savings obsessively in her early 20s while working at a nonprofit.
Hit her goal of saving $100,000 by age 25. Started Her First $100K as an Instagram account in 2019 sharing her savings journey.
Content went viral — her mix of practical financial advice and feminist perspective resonated with millions. Grew to over 5 million followers across platforms.
Published "Financial Feminist: Overcome the Patriarchy's Bullsh*t to Master Your Money and Build a Life You Love" in 2022 — NYT bestseller. Launched the Financial Feminist podcast — over 100 million downloads.
Built Her First $100K into a company with courses, workshops, and corporate partnerships.
COMPANIES & ROLES
Her First $100K (founder and CEO) — financial education company. "Financial Feminist" book.
Financial Feminist podcast. Online courses on investing, budgeting, and negotiation.
Corporate workshop programs.
INVESTING STYLE & PHILOSOPHY
Dunlap practices and preaches straightforward passive investing. She's a proponent of index funds, target-date retirement funds, and automated investing.
She doesn't pick individual stocks and actively discourages her audience from trying to beat the market. Her investment philosophy is: "the stock market averages 10% returns over the long term, so just get in and stay in." She focuses on what she calls the "big three" of wealth building — earning more, spending less, investing the difference.
THE PLAYBOOK
Risk Approach
Conservative in personal investing — she's a set-it-and-forget-it index fund investor. She doesn't trade, doesn't do crypto, doesn't do options.
But she took a big career risk leaving stable employment to build a media company from scratch. She also risks public scrutiny — being a young woman talking about money publicly attracts significant online hate and criticism.
Money Habits
Dunlap is transparent about her own finances, which is unusual for finance influencers. She's shared her income, savings rate, and investment portfolio publicly.
She lives in Seattle and is known for being frugal in practical ways while spending on experiences and travel. She talks openly about therapy and the emotional side of money — the shame, guilt, and anxiety that prevent people from engaging with their finances.
BIGGEST WIN
Growing Her First $100K from an Instagram account to a multi-million-dollar media company in under five years. Her book debuting on the NYT bestseller list.
Reaching over 5 million followers and 100 million podcast downloads. She's normalized financial conversations for a generation of women who were taught that talking about money is "unladylike."
BIGGEST MISTAKE
Dunlap has been criticized for sometimes oversimplifying complex financial topics and for her strong ideological framing — not everyone appreciates mixing feminism with personal finance. Some financial advisors argue her advice, while sound for beginners, doesn't adequately address more complex financial situations.
She's also been involved in online controversies and feuds that sometimes distract from the financial education mission.
FINANCIAL PHILOSOPHY
Dunlap believes the financial system is designed to keep women uninformed and financially dependent. Her philosophy is that financial literacy is a feminist act — that women who understand money have more choices, more freedom, and more power.
She's said "you don't need to be rich to invest. You need to invest to be rich." She advocates for aggressive salary negotiation as the fastest path to wealth.
FAMILY & PERSONAL LIFE
Single. Lives in Seattle.
Has been open about how her family background — middle class, not wealthy — shaped her drive to achieve financial independence early. She frequently discusses the intersection of personal relationships and money.
EDUCATION
Graduated from the University of Portland with a degree in arts and communications. No finance degree — she learned personal finance through self-education and experience, which she considers an advantage in connecting with her audience.
BOOKS & RESOURCES
"The Simple Path to Wealth" by JL Collins, and "Women & Money" by Suze Orman. Her own book "Financial Feminist" is aimed at women starting from zero financial knowledge
As an Amazon Associate, Netfigo earns from qualifying purchases. Book links above may be affiliate links.
QUOTES (6)
I saved $100,000 by age 25 on a nonprofit salary. Not because I'm a genius — because I had a system. Automate your savings, invest consistently, and stop buying things you don't care about to impress people you don't like.
Financial literacy is a feminist issue. Women who understand money have more choices, more freedom, and more power. Every woman who learns to invest is a woman who can leave a bad job, a bad relationship, or a bad situation.
You don't need to be rich to invest. You need to invest to be rich. Start with $50 a month. Start with $20. Just start. The compound interest doesn't care how small your first deposit was.
The financial industry was built by men, for men, using language that excludes everyone else. I'm not here to ask permission to be at the table. I'm building my own table — and everyone's invited.
I get hate mail every day from men who are angry that I teach women about money. That tells me I'm doing something right. Comfort zones and wealth don't overlap.
Your latte is not the problem. Your salary is the problem. Stop shaming people for small pleasures and start teaching them to negotiate raises, switch jobs, and invest the difference.
NETFIGO SCORE
Proprietary 5-dimension investor rating
Risk Appetite
Contrarian Index
Track Record
Accessibility
Time Horizon
Related Profiles
Head-to-Head
Compare Tori Dunlap vs another investor.