273. Vivian Tu (Your Rich BFF) on the Real Habits That Keep You Wealthy Long-Term

Financial Feminist

Her First $100K

Education, Self-improvement, Business, How To

4.7 • 6.6K Ratings

🗓️ 3 February 2026

⏱️ 60 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

If you’re making good money and still feel broke, stressed, or behind, something is off and it’s not you. Today, I’m joined by my friend Vivian Tu, former Wall Street trader, CEO and founder of Your Rich BFF, and New York Times bestselling author of Well Endowed, to talk about what it really takes to get rich and stay rich. We’re calling out why paying your bills and saving is not the finish line, how optimization culture keeps high earners trapped in a constant game of “never enough,” and how to start using your money as a tool to buy time, freedom, and real security instead of status symbols. This episode is about ditching performative wealth, building systems that quietly grow your money, and finally feeling powerful, calm, and in control of your financial life. Vivian’s links: Website: https://www.yourrichbff.com/ Grab your copy of Well Endowed: http://richbffbook.com/ Visit ⁠https://herfirst100k.com/ffpod⁠ to stay up to date and find any resources mentioned on our show! 00:00 Intro 00:51 Money traumas from childhood & the Chinese buffet story 03:17 How money narratives dictate everyday decisions 06:16 Knowing the price of everything but the value of nothing 08:14 Money as a tool to buy your best life 10:47 What comes after financial basics (Finance 2.0) 13:01 Building infrastructure vs. working harder 15:38 Strategic spending: "Do I want this or do I want people to know I have it?" 18:33 The sleep investment story 24:48 Why HENRYs (High Earners Not Rich Yet) feel stressed 28:21 The B-plus life trap & lifestyle inflation 31:24 Wasted opportunity, potential, and time 33:20 Kids will make you poorer - childcare costs 36:10 The prenup with built-in raises for childcare 37:34 Unpaid labor & the "good mom" trap 38:53 Cooking as unpaid labor vs. celebrity chef art 40:06 Speaking kindly to yourself about money 42:31 Making peace with your own financial timeline 45:07 The all-or-nothing mindset is killing progress 49:56 15 minutes is better than no minutes 50:17 Book takeaway: Chase security, stability & freedom Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're doing everything right. You're making good money. You're paying off your debt. You're maybe even
0:04.1	investing, but it still doesn't feel like enough. Today we're talking about why and how to go from
0:08.8	financially frozen to financially fearless. On a global mission to make the financial industry
0:13.4	accessible for all, my friend and yours, Vivian 2 is a former Wall Street trader turned expert,
0:18.6	public speaker, host entrepreneur, New York Times bestselling author,
0:21.9	and the CEO and founder of Your Rich BFF. And today she returns to financial feminists to talk
0:27.7	about why paying your bills and saving isn't the finish line. It's actually just the starting point.
0:32.4	Why optimization culture can leave high earners feeling perpetually behind. We also talk about
0:37.4	using money as a tool
0:38.5	to buy time, freedom, and security, not status, strategic spending, asking, do I want this,
0:44.7	or do I want people to know I have it? And reframing the self-talk around money, perfection,
0:49.3	and timelines. Let's get into it. But first, a word from our sponsors. This newly independent podcast is
0:56.9	brought to you by Squarespace. Squarespace was the first investment we ever made in her first
1:00.8	100K, and it is the thing that I probably recommend most to business owners when they ask me what
1:06.1	tools I should use. You need Squarespace because you need a beautiful website that works. You also need
1:11.2	SEO tools so that you can get discovered and your business can get out there. And you can post
1:16.1	anything on Squarespace from courses to coaching, anything that you need to sell, you can do on
1:22.8	Squarespace. Head on over to Squarespace.com slash FFPod for a free trial. And when you're ready to launch your brand new
1:28.4	website, use offer code FFPod to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain.
1:35.4	I miss school. That may be kind of controversial to say because so many kids are like,
1:41.0	I hate school, but I was always the kid who loves school. And I have a feeling you might have been the kid who love school too, because you're here
1:47.6	learning on this podcast. And Masterclass is the best thing I've found since school. If you love learning,
	...

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