Networth and Chill with Your Rich BFF

Download Vivian’s financial companion app Ask Dolly HERE!

Tariffs, wars overseas, painful gas prices, and consumer expectations at an all-time low have a lot of people bracing for the worst, and yet the U.S. economy still hasn’t crashed. Vivian breaks down why things haven’t broken yet, what the scary headlines get wrong about recessions, and exactly what to do with your money before the next downturn hits, because eventually, it always does. In this episode, Vivian covers:

1. Why we haven’t crashed (yet): The difference between a recession and a crash, why the economy is cyclical by design, the data behind everyone’s nerves, and how a low-firing, low-hiring job market, a decade of cheap debt, AI investment, and big-spending wealthy households are keeping things afloat.

2. Your recession playbook: Why you shouldn’t pull your investments when the market dips, how big your emergency fund should be right now, which debt to pay down first, the index funds Vivian actually buys, and which industries tend to hold up best when the economy slows down.

3. Your questions, answered: How recessions actually end, whether to buy a home or what happens to your rent in a downturn, if your friend with all cash is suddenly richer than you, where stimulus money comes from, whether it’s a bad time to start investing, and the odds that all your money just disappears.

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Got a financial question you want answered in a future episode? Email us at podcast@yourrichbff.com.
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Download Vivian’s financial companion app Ask Dolly HERE!

Political ads are everywhere this time of year, but the people paying for them are a lot harder to spot. Running for office in America can cost anywhere from $1,000 to over $1 billion, and a growing share of that money is legally designed to stay hidden until after the votes are counted. Vivian breaks down elections like an economist would, as a market for attention, trust, and power, so you can figure out who’s bankrolling the people asking for your vote before you head to the polls this midterm season. In this episode, Vivian covers:

1. Following the money: What it really costs to run for office from school board to the White House, the four ways money reaches a candidate, how much you can legally donate in 2026, and how super PACs got so super.

2. Where the money hides: Pop-up super PACs that dodge disclosure until after Election Day, dark money routed through nonprofits, the Supreme Court ruling that just lifted limits on party coordinated spending, and a speed-run of campaign finance history from George Washington’s punch and cider to today.

3. What you can actually do: How to look up any candidate’s donors for free, whether it’s still worth donating if the system feels rigged, first financial steps for running for local office, how other countries handle campaign cash, and whether all that campaign spending is actually good for the economy.

Look up candidates financials at https://www.fec.gov/data/ or on https://www.opensecrets.org/ (formerly followthemoney.org)

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Got a financial question you want answered in a future episode? Email us at podcast@yourrichbff.com.
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Download Vivian’s financial companion app Ask Dolly ⁠HERE !

You can send out 300 applications and hear nothing back, unemployment is only down because people are giving up on the job hunt, and the folks who do have jobs feel like they have nowhere else to go. In this episode, Vivian sits down with Workhap CEO, and Get Hired, Get Paid, Get Happy author Sho Dewan to talk about how to land a job in a bad market, get paid what you’re worth, and maybe even like your job again. Vivian and Sho discuss:

1. Getting hired: The state of the job market today, the most common resume mistakes and how to fix them, applying in the age of AI resume reviews, interview strategies for the socially anxious, and how to get taken seriously for a role in a brand-new industry.

2. Getting paid: How to negotiate a raise when your company swears there’s no budget, telling a bad season apart from a sign it’s time to leave, and whether the highest-paying jobs really have to be in major cities.

3. Building your own opportunities: What actually counts as networking, making connections without being a nepo baby, when to ask for a favor and how to word the outreach message, and Sho’s translations of corporate-speak like “we’re like family” and “unlimited PTO.”

Get Sho’s book Get Hired, Get Paid, Get Happy HERE!

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Got a financial question you want answered in a future episode? Email us at podcast@yourrichbff.com.
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Our president launched a memecoin, Congressional representatives pulled in over $635 million in stock gains last year, and political candidates are placing bets on their own races. In this episode, Vivian breaks down the not-so-secret ways public officials are cashing in on their positions, why it's a problem on both sides of the aisle, and what you can actually do about it.

1. Trump's $2.2 billion year: Crypto 101, how blockchain works, why memecoins are so volatile, how $TRUMP and World Liberty Financial made up about $1.5 billion of his income, and why he profits whether the coin goes up or down.

2. Congress and the stock market: Nancy Pelosi's portfolio outpacing the S&P 500, the 2025 top earners Richard Blumenthal and Michael McCaul, what the STOCK Act already bans, and the new Stop Insider Trading Act.

3. Prediction markets and politics: The Polymarket bet on the Venezuela raid, suspicious wagers on military operations, George Santos and Kalshi, the Senate's new ban, and what the K-shaped economy means for everyone not trading on inside info.

Download Vivian’s financial companion app Ask Dolly HERE and let us know what you think!

Learn more about the Nancy Pelosi stock tracker at https://pelositracker.app/portfolios/nancy-pelosi

See which members of Congress traded the most in 2025 at https://www.commoncause.org/articles/congress-made-over-635-million-in-stock-trades-while-americans-struggled-see-who-traded-the-most/

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Got a financial question you want answered in a future episode? Email us at podcast@yourrichbff.com.
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Why does an $8 latte suddenly come with a 20% tip prompt? In this episode, Vivian dives into how tipping in America got so out of hand, who you absolutely have to tip, and when it's totally okay to skip the tip when the iPad swings your way. Plus, what the new "no tax on tips" policy really means for service industry workers.

1. How tipping took over America: European roots, post-Civil War racism, Pullman railcars and hotels, the 1966 tip credit, the $2.13 sub-minimum wage frozen since 1996.

2. Who to tip and how much: 15-25% for sit-down service, a few bucks per service for valets and housekeeping, counter orders and salaried professionals, wedding vendor tipping, tipping etiquette abroad.

3. What's next for tipped workers: budgeting on an unpredictable income, the pros and cons of no tax on tips, bias in tipping, the shift toward service charges and banning the sub-minimum wage.

Download Vivian’s financial companion app Ask Dolly) HERE and let us know what you think!

Check out Prof G Markets at https://www.youtube.com/@ProfGMarkets

Follow the podcast on Instagram and TikTok!

Got a financial question you want answered in a future episode? Email us at podcast@yourrichbff.com.
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