A new podcast is taking aim at the personal finance advice that dominates social media, bookshelves, and seminar stages, asking a simple but rarely examined question: does any of it actually work? Have You Tried Being Rich? launched September 1 with hosts Dria Benjamin and Kristin Geosits, both financial experts, who promise a no-BS approach to money advice. The show's premise is to take widely repeated financial tips—like cutting small daily expenses, buying assets, or building passive income—and subject them to rigorous scrutiny, separating what genuinely changes financial outcomes from what merely sounds plausible.
The timing matters. Personal finance content has exploded into a massive industry, with influencers, authors, and course sellers incentivized to offer simple, certain answers. That environment, the hosts argue, rewards confidence over accuracy and often ignores critical factors like income level, debt burden, housing costs, and stage of life. By pushing back against one-size-fits-all advice, the podcast enters a growing conversation about the limitations of popular money wisdom and the harm it can cause when presented as universal truth.
Each episode focuses on a single piece of advice, starting with the strongest version of the argument before examining the math and the missing context. The first three episodes tackle the "Latte Factor" (the idea that skipping small purchases leads to wealth), the teachings of Robert Kiyosaki's Rich Dad Poor Dad, and the promises of multi-level marketing. At the end of each episode, the advice faces a "BS Meter" with three possible verdicts: "This Gets You Rich," "This Won't Hurt," or "You'll Die Trying." This framework provides listeners with a clear, repeatable way to evaluate other financial claims they encounter.
"Financial advice gets repeated like it applies equally to everyone, and it just doesn't," Geosits said in a statement. "Income matters. Debt matters. Housing costs matter. Your obligations, opportunities and stage of life matter." Benjamin added, "If skipping coffee were the secret, every office break room would be full of millionaires." Their approach is not to replace one set of rigid rules with another, but to encourage critical thinking about which advice fits whose circumstances.
The implications extend beyond individual listeners. As financial advice proliferates online, the ability to distinguish between helpful habits and overhyped solutions becomes a crucial skill. By modeling that skepticism, Have You Tried Being Rich? offers a counterweight to the certainty peddled by many finance gurus. New episodes are released every two weeks and are available on major platforms including Spotify and Apple Podcasts. The show's website, beingrichpodcast.com, provides additional information and episode links.
