What Andrei Jikh and Top Financial Influencers Really Earn From Content Creation

Roughly 20% of American adults turn to social media for financial guidance, and half of those get their insights from dedicated money content creators. But while audiences wonder whether this advice is worth following, a bigger question looms: how much are these creators actually making? Andrei Jikh and other prominent financial influencers have started pulling back the curtain on their earnings, revealing a landscape far more lucrative than most people realize.

Inside Creator Earnings: From Andrei Jikh to Graham Stephan

The income disparity between average social media creators and top-tier financial influencers is striking. ZipRecruiter reports the typical social media influencer earns around $57,928 annually, with TikTok creators averaging $131,874 and YouTube content creators hitting $120,226. But elite finance educators operate in an entirely different income bracket.

Money lawyer Erika Kullberg disclosed her multi-platform earnings from two years of content creation: TikTok (9.2M followers, 542M views) brought $5,756, while Facebook ($20,251) and YouTube (2.05M subscribers, 273M views) delivered $353,000. Notably, she earned nothing from Instagram despite 5.3M followers and hundreds of millions of views — illustrating how platform monetization varies wildly.

Humphrey Yang’s growth arc tells a different story. This former financial advisor documented his YouTube AdSense progression: $15,000-$20,000 in his first serious content year (2020), jumping to $100,000 in 2021, $120,000 in 2022, and $300,000 in 2023 from long-form monetization alone.

Andrei Jikh’s revenue breakdown shows why diversification matters. By mid-2020, his ad revenue hit $663,303 from just 2.67M YouTube subscribers. But that’s only part of the picture. In 2021, his full income stream included $1.164M in ad revenue, $1.747M from affiliate marketing, $187,525 from sponsorships, $214,474 from Patreon, and $108,257 from miscellaneous sources — totaling over $3.4M.

Graham Stephan, with 5M YouTube subscribers, shared that he earned $4,000-$6,000 daily from the platform, generating just over $2M in annual revenue. His lifetime earnings since 2016 exceed $5.4M. Meanwhile, Vivian Tu (Your Rich BFF) scaled beyond social media videos into a full business generating over $3M annually, with personal compensation around $300,000.

Platform Breakdown: How Much You Can Make on TikTok, YouTube and Instagram

Revenue potential fluctuates dramatically by platform and audience size. On TikTok, sponsored post rates range from $20-$150 for micro-creators (1,000-10,000 followers) to $1,200+ for those with over 1M followers. The Creator Rewards Program and TikTok Live offer additional income streams beyond sponsorships.

Instagram operates on a different model emphasizing engagement over raw follower count. Influencers with 10,000-100,000 followers command $100-$500 per post, while those exceeding 1M followers can charge $10,000 or more. YouTube remains the most generous platform, with creators earning $500-$1,500 on 10,000 subscribers and scaling to $5,000-$15,000 on 100,000 subscribers.

X (formerly Twitter) compensates creators based on engagement rates and follower size, with sponsored tweets earning $0.50-$1.50 per 1,000 followers — meaning a 100,000-follower finance account could generate $50-$150 per sponsored post. Beyond platform payouts, income streams include affiliate marketing, brand partnerships, ad revenue, product sales, and sponsored content.

Should These Earnings Be Questioned? Expert Takes on Creator Compensation

The justification for these earnings remains hotly debated among professionals. Chad Gammon, a Certified Financial Planner at Custom Fit Financial, expresses skepticism: “I would say for most cases, the earnings aren’t justified. Many influencers make money through affiliate marketing, sponsored content or platform payouts. There is a saying that if you’re not paying for the product, then you are the product.” He acknowledges some creators share genuinely helpful content but stresses understanding the financial incentives behind recommendations, particularly regarding product promotions.

Jake Falcon, a Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor and founder of Falcon Wealth Advisors, advocates for stricter standards: “While some financial influencers earn impressive incomes, I believe their compensation should be tied to the quality and accountability of their advice.” Falcon emphasizes that legitimate financial guidance requires licensing, regulation, and fiduciary responsibilities — safeguards absent from most social media creators.

The consensus among experts suggests that while creators like Andrei Jikh, Graham Stephan, and Erika Kullberg provide valuable educational content, the lack of accountability structures raises questions about whether such substantial earnings align with audience benefit. As financial content consumption continues growing, the conversation around creator credibility becomes increasingly critical for protecting consumer interests.