Meet Mrs. Dow Jones, Your Favorite Financial Pop Star
Research has shown that finance is one of the most difficult topics to understand, especially for young people. Often labeled “boring” or “hard,” many do not begin to comprehend financial basics until later in life when they are forced to manage their own money. This lack of financial skills has for some led to significant issues such as an increase in debt or insufficient savings for retirement.
Meet Haley Sacks, also known as Mrs. Dow Jones (in reference to the stock market). As a “financial pop star,” she produces finance-related memes and videos that aim to educate her followers, often millennials or Gen Z, about various financial concepts through a pop culture lens. Looking at her social media profiles, one will notice references to everything from the Kardashian/Jenners to “The Office.” Sometimes these will be paid advertisements, a recent example being a meme-format testimonial for the financial service Wealthfront. The meme displayed a photo of Jennifer Coolidge from “The White Lotus” on HBO Max making a toast. The caption read: “When you find a way to invest that doesn’t require you to manage your own portfolio,” referencing the company’s ability to make investing easier.
On September 28, Sacks launched an online course called Finance Is Cool University, Start Here: The Ultimate Money 101, which is priced at $150 and is designed for people who want to better understand their finances. Lessons are pre-recorded and are designed to be taken at one’s own pace, specifically 20 minutes a day so as to avoid burnout. The format is similar to a web series, whereby each video explains lessons within a module (there are six modules). Additionally, Sacks is releasing her personal financial management system, “The Money Book,” which she developed herself. It is compatible with Google Sheets and automatically creates things like debt payoff plans and emergency fund needs. Essentially, users apply what they learn to their own finances by working through “The Money Book.”
The series serves as a way for Sacks to continue to promote financial literacy, or the ability to understand and effectively use different financial skills, including budgeting, investing, and personal financial management. As a creative, young woman with a big sense of humor, Sacks brings a new face and perspective to finance, a field traditionally seen as a man’s club. Mrs. Dow Jones leverages this persona in order to make finance more accessible and enjoyable for her audience, and her course is a giant step in that direction.