With increasing financial pressures, an employment slowdown and wages that don’t increase inline with the inflation or rising costs, it’s no wonder we’re all looking at ways to extend our revenue streams beyond our salaried jobs.
We’ve talked extensively about passive income opportunities, a way in which to legitimately earn extra money by putting your valuable skillsets and craftsmanship skills to use. But a rise in passive income “trends” shown on social media makes it look like earning millions on a side hustle is as easy as imaging it. Whereas, in reality, for a side hustle or passive income stream to be successful, it takes significant skill, upfront time and even investing capital.
Related read: Passive Income Streams: Separating Fact from Fiction
Everyone seems to tout the benefits of a side hustle. But how realistic is it to turn that dream into a sustainable income? We put this question to the experts!
To uncover which TikTok personal finance trends carry the greatest hidden risks, and to evaluate the reliability of much of the platform’s financial advice, the team at BestBrokers analysed trending hashtags and post counts, ranking 15 viral personal finance trends based on the number of posts using the three hashtags most commonly associated with the trend. For the most popular trends, the team conducted additional analysis of the top 10 most liked videos from the past six months.
Alongside more familiar, but often misleading, hashtags like side hustles, forex trading, and passive income, TikTok has become a breeding ground for trends that blur the line between money management and magical thinking. Data shows that ‘money manifestation’ ranks as the fourth most misleading financial trend on the platform, with 1.7 million posts tied to its three most popular hashtags. Equally pervasive are extreme frugality movements such as the viral ‘no-spend challenges’, which together account for millions of views and likes.
In the second half of 2025, these trends have only deepened: TikTok creators are now promoting manifestation rituals tied to astrological dates, while a swelling ‘No-Buy 2025’ movement urges young Americans to reject consumerism altogether. To financial experts, it is a curious contradiction: Gen Z is embracing both spiritual shortcuts to wealth and ascetic pledges of radical frugality, two sides of the same digital coin.
Here are a few key takeaways from the research:
The 10 most-liked money manifestation videos on TikTok have drawn over 25 million views and 3.5 million likes.
One of the most popular clips, ‘Money is coming, new home is coming’ (4M views, 489K likes), claims prosperity can be spoken into existence, while steering users to a ‘digital income system’. Another hit, ‘I want a Mercedes’ (3.4M views, 390K likes), suggests luxury cars can be manifested, not purchased.
Affirmation content is just as viral. Videos like ‘Money Manifestation Affirmation’ (2.4M views, 173K likes) and ‘Money loves me’ (2.7M views, 169K likes) push the idea that repeating phrases attracts wealth. A ‘Get rich money candle’ (46K views, 520K likes) blends witchcraft with finance, suggesting a flame can improve your bank balance.
The most provocative is ‘Wealthy people don’t have jobs’, the top performer with 4.9M views and 807K likes. It tells young viewers that employment and wealth are incompatible, reinforcing hashtags like #MoneyTok and #HowToGetRich that glamorise risky, unverified income schemes. This narrative often steers young viewers toward highly risky, unverified schemes frequently promoted on the platform, such as complex Forex and crypto day-trading apps or expensive, low-value ‘done-for-you’ dropshipping courses – all while masking the real financial risk and low barrier to entry for scams.
Extreme budgeting and no-spend challenges have drawn 21M views and 1.7M likes. Some clips turn thrift into entertainment, while others push it to parody, like reusing the same teabag as proof of ‘frugal level’.
The ‘underconsumption’ trend dominates TikTok’s personal finance scene, with videos framing minimalism as both financial strategy and stress relief. Yet hits such as ‘My frugal dinner today’ (3.2M views) and ‘No-spend day in NYC’ (296K views) reveal the tension between theory and reality, showing that even extreme saving is often staged as a performance for millions, turning financial restraint into entertainment.
“These viral TikTok trends reveal more about Gen Z’s psychology than practical finance: they blend ritualised hope, social signalling, and performative self-discipline, reflecting a desire for control and identity through money. The popularity of both manifestation and extreme frugality suggests young users are experimenting with symbolic or gamified approaches to wealth, rather than traditional financial literacy, and this could normalise superficial financial habits while increasing susceptibility to risky schemes. If these patterns continue, we may see a generation more influenced by virality and peer validation than sound financial planning, with long-term implications for debt, investment behaviour, and economic decision-making.” Comments Paul Hoffman data analyst at investing research platform BestBrokers.com
It’s not all doom and gloom, though. This is essential research which highlights the concerning fabrication on what is genuinely needed to earn revenue outside of employed work in a modern world. Yes, the resources available to us, particularly in the techsphere, do make new ventures more accessible, but it can still take significant graft, skill, time and expenditure to get started. If you are considering your options for a new income stream, start by determining the skills you do have and how these can be turned into a business opportunity; find the gap and provide a unique solution with the unique talents you bring to the table.
