There’s more to the world of Reddit personal finance than r/wallstreetbets. Keep reading as I share 10 Reddit personal finance communities in which you can find sane, healthy discussions about investing, saving, and more.
Top 10 Reddit personal finance communities
1. r/personalfinance
With more than 14 million members, r/personalfinance is among Reddit’s largest personal finance communities. Most threads fall into one of these categories:
- auto
- planning
- employment
- housing
- credit
- debt
- investing
- retirement
- budgeting
- insurance
- taxes
- saving
In other words, you’ll find discussions concerning just about every personal finance topic imaginable on r/personalfinance. The subreddit’s moderators also maintain an extensive wiki containing helpful information for investors of all ages.
Generally speaking, the r/personalfinance community is fiscally conservative. You won’t find many people there talking about day trading meme stocks or HODLing Bitcoin.
Great r/personalfinance threads to start with
- If you’re ripped off by any bank, internet company, or insurance provider, here’s how to get your money back. (Read)
- I made a spreadsheet for people who don’t know how to budget. (Read)
- Don’t reveal your salary requirements during a job interview. (Read)
- It will cost your employer more to replace you than to give you a raise. (Read)
- It’s not a sale if you didn’t plan to buy the item in the first place. (Read)
2. r/investing
Members of r/investing primarily discuss stock market trends and seek portfolio management advice. Moderators maintain reading materials and other resources for investors with various levels of experience.
When it comes to risk tolerance, r/investing is fairly balanced compared to other Reddit personal finance communities. While threads about risky strategies such as leveraged trading don’t play well on this subreddit, you’ll still find chatter about picking individual stocks. You’d rarely see that condoned on r/personalfinance.
Great r/investing threads to start with
- If in 2001, you bought $399 of Apple stock instead of buying the original iPod, today that stock would be worth ~$62,000. (Read)
- Emotional involvement has never been this high. Please understand the risk involved. (Read)
- If you want to learn how to trade, please DON’T listen to people who made all of their gains this year. They have no clue what they’re talking about. (Read)
- I am no longer picking stocks. It’s ETFs for me. (Read)
- A story about the Dot Com bubble, some profit taking, exit strategies and money vs capital. (Read)
3. r/FinancialPlanning
If you’re looking for a Reddit personal finance community of people who love planning ahead, check out r/FinancialPlanning. This subreddit’s 249,000 members primarily help each other think through important financial decisions related to retirement, homeownership, and more. Users also often share their wins that come as a result of good financial planning.
Because financial planning is such a personal topic, you’ll find many different opinions and approaches in r/FinancialPlanning.
Great r/FinancialPlanning threads to start with
- A gentle reminder about life. (Read)
- Capital gains, explained. (Read)
- Why are so many Americans living above their means? (Read)
- Thank you to everyone that encourages saving up an emergency fund. (Read)
- Quick story about “pay yourself first.” (Read)
4. r/StockMarket
r/StockMarket is another investing-themed subreddit. Its 1.8 million members focus on stock market analysis, commentary, and memes.
The typical r/StockMarket member appears to be a fairly aggressive investor. Posts about more conservative investing strategies rarely play well on the subreddit.
Great r/StockMarket threads to start with
- The stock market is easy. (Read)
- I analyzed 9,000+ trades made by U.S. Senators in the last two years and benchmarked it against the S&P 500. (Read)
- Investing is a long-term game. (Read)
- How to identify bad stocks (Read)
- How to read a candlestick (Read)
5. r/financialindependence
r/financialindependence is a subreddit with 969,000 members interested in achieving financial independence. Threads range from personal success stories to questions about how to become financially independent.
Members have a variety of economic backgrounds and philosophies. Part of what makes r/financialindependence interesting is seeing how everyone handles their unique circumstances while working towards financial independence.
Great r/financialindependence threads to start with
- What do you do that you earn six figures? (Read)
- If you make a decent income, it becomes all about lifestyle creep. (Read)
- Officially retired at 27 (Read)
- I’m the woman who wanted to quit my finance job to work at Starbucks (Read)
- The definition of rich is having passive income greater than your burn. (Read)
6. r/Fire
r/Fire is a subreddit dedicated to the financial independence/retire early (FI/RE) movement. In case you’re unfamiliar, the FI/RE movement advocates for investing very aggressively so you can retire young (many proponents are in their 30s).
Threads in r/Fire vary from personal success stories to discussions about how to achieve FI/RE in different situations.
Great r/Fire threads to start with
- Don’t be discouraged by young people who seem to be doing way better than you (Read)
- Tenants ruined my FIRE journey. Cautionary tale! (Read)
- Former drug addict turning things around, just passed my first $100k (Read)
- How I went from $24k a year to $225k in six years (Read)
- You’ll get bored. (Read)
7. r/careerguidance
r/careerguidance is a subreddit with 410,000 members trying to make the most of their careers. Posts range from questions about managing work relationships to ensuring you’re being compensated fairly.
Great r/careerguidance threads to start with
- Can we all agree to normalize gaps on resumes? (Read)
- Does anyone else get anxiety when looking at LinkedIn? (Read)
- Am I wrong to want more work life balance instead of grinding my way up? (Read)
- Anyone else feel incompetent the first six months of a new job? (Read)
- 120% pay increase or a career? (Read)
8. r/ynab
r/ynab is a subreddit dedicated to the popular budgeting tool You Need a Budget (YNAB). It’s not just a platform for promoting the application, though. r/ynab’s 132,000 members have general budgeting discussions you’ll likely find useful regardless of how you organize your finances.
Great r/ynab threads to start with
- I broke $1 million net worth today. (Read)
- After nine years I’m a YNAB millionaire. (Read)
- After 10 years carrying around credit card debt, today I made my last payment. (Read)
- Have you noticed YNAB vs. Dave Ramsey? (Read)
- I said no to my kids. (Read)
9. r/RealEstate
If you’re interested in purchasing real estate (either for your primary residence or investment purposes), join r/RealEstate. It’s a subreddit in which members discuss everything related to buying and selling property.
Most topics fall into one of these categories:
- buying a home
- selling a home
- house hacking
- becoming a real estate agent
- mortgages
Great r/RealEstate threads to start with
- Epiphany in an insane market (Read)
- How we landed our dream home in this market (Read)
- This housing market is insane and unsustainable (Read)
- An exercise to avoid setting yourself up for failure as a first time buyer in a competitive market (Read)
- We dodged a bullet. Always get all the inspections. (Read)
10. r/CryptoCurrency
The final Reddit personal finance community I recommend checking out is r/CryptoCurrency. Cryptocurrencies have taken the financial world by storm over the past few years. r/CryptoCurrency is a great place to learn more about the technology and the people who invest in it aggressively.
Threads in r/CryptoCurrency range from cautionary tales about defunct projects to heated debates about whether cryptocurrencies are really the future of finance.
Great r/CryptoCurrency threads to start with
- You hear about the kid who put $500 into a memecoin and made $100k but you don’t hear about the hundreds who put $1,000 in and are left with $0.10. (Read)
- What are some ways to earn crypto daily? (Read)
- I’ve retired thanks to crypto. (Read)
- There is a chance crypto never reaches mainstream adoption. (Read)
- Your coin isn’t pumping because it’s a great project. It’s pumping because we’re in a bull market. (Read)
Now that I’ve shared some great personal finance-related subreddits, here are some tips for making the most of your time spent browsing them.
Seek out opinions from both sides of every debate
Every subreddit is biased in some way. If you’re not careful, you may find yourself accepting the dominant dogma of whatever subreddit you spend the most time in. Avoid this by seeking out a diverse range of opinions.
One easy way to find dissenting opinions is to look for comments and threads with low (or even negative) upvote counts.
Remember Reddit isn’t a substitute for real financial advice
No matter how smart someone sounds on Reddit, don’t rely solely on their opinion when making important financial decisions. You should always follow up with a licensed professional to ensure that advice is actually right for you.
Keep this in mind even as you become more experienced managing your money. Good advice from a licensed outside observer is invaluable.
Get familiar with any new subreddit before asking questions
One of the biggest pet peeves people have on Reddit is newcomers who don’t perform basic due diligence before starting threads. You can avoid this and increase your chances of having meaningful conversations by understanding a subreddit’s topic and what questions have already been asked there before contributing.
Don’t bother getting into arguments
Arguing with people online is universally a dumb idea. This is doubly true when it comes to money. Everybody feels strongly about money because it’s such a personal topic. Consequently, you’ll never convince them to see things your way. If something really rubs you the wrong way on Reddit, just downvote it and move on.
Conclusion
I hope this article has given you a few leads on Reddit personal finance communities worth exploring. For more personal finance content, check out some of my other articles here.
