10 Personal Finance Newsletter Success Stories [2024]
Looking to make money while helping others achieve financial freedom? Start a personal finance newsletter.
A personal finance newsletter is an online publication delivered regularly to subscribers that provides insights, tips, and advice on managing money. You’ll share practical strategies on budgeting, investing, saving, and debt management, catering to everyone from the financially savvy to those just getting started.
With a growing interest in financial education, the demand for accessible and reliable financial content is booming. Your newsletter can attract a dedicated readership by offering unique, actionable content they can’t find elsewhere.
This business requires an understanding of financial topics, strong writing skills, and consistent effort to stay informed about market trends. Setting up and growing a subscriber base takes time and dedication, but the potential for residual income and making a real difference in people’s lives is substantial. Why not leverage your financial knowledge into a profitable and impactful business?
In this list, you'll find real-world personal finance newsletter success stories and very profitable examples of starting a personal finance newsletter that makes money.
1. Ramsey Solutions ($300M/year)
Dave Ramsey came up with the idea for Ramsey Solutions after experiencing a financial downfall that completely upended his life. Early in his career, Dave had significant success in real estate but lost everything due to mismanaging debt and declared bankruptcy at age 28. This personal crisis drove him to seek answers in financial stability and led him to turn to biblical principles for financial guidance.
He began helping others create financial plans, offering advice based on his own experiences of hitting rock bottom and climbing back up. He used his insights from formally studying the Bible's teachings on money management, which resonated with many who were also struggling financially. Ramsey initially tested his ideas by counseling one-on-one and eventually moved on to teaching classes and hosting a radio show, continuously refining his approach based on feedback and the success stories of those he helped.
One of the significant challenges he faced was navigating public skepticism and refining his methods to ensure they were both practical and spiritually grounded. Overcoming this and positioning himself as a trusted financial advisor taught him the importance of transparency and staying true to one's values. His journey emphasizes the need for personal experience and authenticity in building a business that aims to solve real-world problems.
How much money it makes: $300M/year
How many people on the team: 1200
Ramsey Solutions transformed a personal financial collapse into a $300 million annual empire, leveraging radio shows and best-selling books to reach over 20 million weekly listeners while offering products like Financial Peace University at $99, showcasing the power of resilience and strategic diversification in building a thriving business.
2. MarketBeat ($36M/year)
Matt Paulson, the founder of MarketBeat, came up with the idea for his business while working as a freelance writer in college. He discovered that stock investors were eager for real-time information and news about their investments, leading him to create a newsletter that provided convenient and timely updates. Over time, MarketBeat evolved into a financial media company, generating $8 million in revenue in 2019 and boasting 1.3 million email subscribers.
How much money it makes: $36M/year
How many people on the team: 17
Financial media company MarketBeat, founded by Matt Paulson, provides objective financial information and real-time market data to empower individual stock investors to make better trading decisions, generating approximately $8 million in revenue in 2019 and ending the year with over 1.3 million unique email subscribers due to a freemium model with 75% of revenue from advertising and 25% from subscriptions.
3. The Good Life Companies ($24M/year)
Founder Conor Delaney came up with the idea for Good Life Companies after realizing the need for a comprehensive financial services organization that catered to independent financial advisors. The business started as a service-oriented entity offering client transition services, but quickly expanded to include real estate, marketing support, administrative services, and more. The company's unique approach and ability to adapt to advisors' needs have allowed it to attract and retain customers successfully.
How much money it makes: $24M/year
How much did it cost to start: $500K
How many people on the team: 60
How one financial services company, Good Life Companies, went from a multi-faceted service organization to a nationally recognized brand with $25 million in revenue, averaging 50-75% growth per year, by providing independent financial advisors with the support, infrastructure, and real estate necessary to operate their practices and meet all needs, along with investing in marketing strategies and expanding their offering to multiple broker-dealer channels.
4. Contrarian Thinking ($3M/year)
Contrarian Thinking is a premium membership community that teaches people how to add cash-flowing income streams to their portfolios and achieve financial freedom.
Codie Sanchez, the founder of Contrarian Thinking, came up with the idea for her business after experiencing numerous career changes and realizing that money was the key to solving problems. After working in finance and investing, she decided to blend her love for writing, investing, and teaching others to create a company that helps people achieve financial freedom. Through her premium membership community, Contrarian Cashflow, she teaches members how to add more cash-flowing income streams to their portfolios and build the life they have always dreamed of. With over 100,000 newsletter subscribers, a community of 1.5 million people, and a run rate of $3 million this year, Contrarian Thinking is empowering individuals to challenge the status quo and shape their own destinies.
How much money it makes: $3M/year
How much did it cost to start: $5K
How many people on the team: 4
Contrarian Thinking is a premium membership community that teaches its 1.5 million members how to implement cash flow strategies to achieve financial freedom, with a current run rate of $3 million and a goal of $50 million ARR in five years.
5. The Ways To Wealth ($468K/year)
R.J. Weiss started his blog, The Ways To Wealth, with a small niche idea of posting investing reading lists. However, after reading income reports from other financial bloggers and realizing the potential in affiliate marketing, he dedicated eight months to doubling down on the site and making it a success. Through a combination of organic search, paid ads, and viral Pinterest traffic, the blog now earns over $30,000 in monthly revenue.
How much money it makes: $468K/year
How much did it cost to start: $100
How many people on the team: 1
This case study outlines how R.J. Weiss created The Ways To Wealth blog, earning over $30,000 in monthly revenue from a mix of affiliate and advertising revenue with a team producing 15-20 hours of work per article to teach hundreds of thousands of visitors each month how to save and make more money.
6. Alpha Letter ($420K/year)
Alpha Letter is an investment newsletter that focuses on finding small out of favored value stocks Wall Street won't touch.
In 2020, the founder launched a successful parody finance website called The Stonk Market. After gaining traction with viral tweets and amassing a large social media following, they leveraged this audience to launch Alpha Letter, a paid investment newsletter. Within 12 months, they grew their subscriber base to 82,000 individuals and generated over $200,000 per year in paid revenues.
How much money it makes: $420K/year
How much did it cost to start: $0
How many people on the team: 0
An anonymous founder started Alpha Letter, an investment newsletter that focuses on finding small out-of-favored value stocks, and using viral marketing techniques, grew their free subscriber base to 82,000 individuals and now brings in around $30,000-35,000 in revenue per month across all their properties, with their short-term goal being to get each property to $50,000 in revenue per month.
7. TSOH Investment Research Service ($192K/year)
The TSOH Investment Research service is a subscription-based platform providing transparent and in-depth equity research for long-term investing.
Alex Morris, a former equities research analyst, launched the TSOH Investment Research service after seeing the false sense of expertise and questionable decision-making in the finance industry. With the goal of providing complete transparency, Morris offers deep dive equity research and portfolio updates to subscribers, which has resulted in the service generating ~$17,000 per month in subscription revenues as of May 2022. Morris credits the success of his service to his decade-long presence and network-building online, as well as the power of the internet and his community on financial Twitter.
How much money it makes: $192K/year
How much did it cost to start: $500
How many people on the team: 1
TSOH Investment Research Service generates $17,000 per month after a year of launch, offering deep dive equity research on new companies, updates on current holdings and names on the watchlist, investment philosophy discussions, and periodic portfolio updates for a monthly or yearly subscription fee.
8. Money Geek ($120K/year)
Michael, a former personal finance professional, started Money Geek after a marketing company convinced him to blog for client recruitment. Dissatisfied with their content, he took over and saw the blog skyrocket to 250k monthly page views within nine months, ultimately generating over $10k a month.
How much money it makes: $120K/year
How much did it cost to start: $2.5K
How many people on the team: 0
Your Money Geek blog grew rapidly to over 250k monthly page views in nine months, leading to the creation of a white-glove, paid mastermind program to help site owners drive traffic and revenue for their own blogs.
9. Ticker Nerd ($48K/year)
Luc and his business partner Sam started Ticker Nerd after realizing the need for a more effective way to keep up with stock information. They decided to apply the model of another tool, Exploding Topics, to stocks by finding trending stocks through social mentions and conducting sentiment analysis. With a landing page, they were able to generate over $1,000 in sales within a week, validating the idea. They pivoted their approach, built relationships with Product Hunt members, and had a successful Product Hunt launch that resulted in around $5,800 in monthly recurring revenue. They continue to grow organically, implement an affiliate program, and have plans to offer new products and education components.
How much money it makes: $48K/year
How much did it cost to start: $100
How many people on the team: 0
Ticker Nerd is a monthly subscription service for investors that surfaces and analyzes trending stocks before the hype train arrives, and now has $4.5k in monthly recurring revenue from its newsletter without spending a single dollar on advertising, having validated the business via subreddits and organic Product Hunt launch strategy.
10. Money Talk ($1.92K/year)
Qin Xie, a journalist and editor based in London, launched her reader-funded newsletter, Money Talk, during her furlough period due to the pandemic. After coming across a post about the future of journalism on Substack, she saw an opportunity to write about personal finance, a topic she was already familiar with and interested in. With low overhead costs and a desire to equip herself and others with knowledge on handling finances during a recession, she quickly launched the newsletter and has received positive feedback and early success.
How much money it makes: $1.92K/year
How much did it cost to start: $0
How many people on the team: 1
Qin Xie launched Money Talk, a reader-funded newsletter on personal finance, in May 2020, and made £100 in the first month, chiefly promoting it on LinkedIn.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
