Meet the Hamilton man who brings financial tips to the masses on TikTok

Nathan Kennedy proudly calls himself a total finance nerd."

The 26-year-old Hamilton man loves talking about all things personal finance, including tax-free savings accounts, negotiating salaries, mutual funds and credit cards.

And he's amassed a huge following doing so.

You might have seen Kennedy (@newmoneynate) on TikTok, where he can be found providing tips and tricks about finances and careers to his nearly 525,000 followers, as well as those who stumble upon his content.

Kennedy picked up an interest in finance when he was young, and for that he credits his mother, who never shied away from talking about money with him and his siblings.

I didn't know a lot about it, but I knew it was important," he said. And that we didn't have much of it."

That fascination only grew when Kennedy was studying business administration and management at Western University. However, it wasn't fuelled by his course work.

Staring at a maxed-out credit card and a pattern of poor financial habits, Kennedy soon realized something had to change. He started seeking out podcasts, because they broke down information in a way that was easy to understand and consume.

Kennedy said while the folks behind the microphone weren't experts, they opened his eyes to things he'd never considered about finance, totally reshaping how (he) saw the world."

Soon enough, he was talking the ear off anyone who would listen about money. That led him to start his own podcast in 2019, New Money with Nathan Kennedy."

The podcast focused on all things personal finance for folks in their 20s, including financial independence, investment funds, credit scores and inflation.

It's been really cool to share my own experiences," said Kennedy. And really just give people the tools to do more research for themselves."

His work in content creation has slowly evolved over the years, with Kennedy turning his primary focus to TikTok, where he has his largest audience and his scope has grown.

Since April 2020, his videos have accumulated an estimated 10.5 million views as well as hundreds of thousands of comments. They touch on everything from real estate and the stock market to the labour market and job interviews.

Content creation has become a full-time job for Kennedy, who was able to quit his sales position at PepsiCo in October 2021 to focus on being a creator.

However, that could change with the implementation of Bill C-11, which is awaiting a final vote in the Senate and is likely to become law in the next several weeks.

The bill will require big tech companies that offer online streaming services - such as YouTube, Netflix and Spotify - to contribute financially to the production of Canadian content and to boost its availability on their applications and websites.

If companies don't comply, they could face steep penalties from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, which will be in charge of enforcing the new provisions.

Kennedy said his major concern with the legislation is the lack of clarity" when it comes to how it will impact smaller-scale Canadian content creators.

People are worried there isn't going to be as much opportunity," he added.

That said, Kennedy has come to terms with the bill passing - and says he's going to continue sharing personal finance information regardless.

He says one of the most satisfying things about his work is the impact he has on those who consume his videos.

For instance, some viewers have thanked him for helping them negotiate job terms or pay off their debts, while others have told him that they opened a savings account or started putting away money for their retirement on his advice.

Some people might think that's small, but to me it's monumental," said Kennedy. It's their win, but if I can be a small part of it, it's just so cool."

With files from The Canadian Press

Fallon Hewitt is a reporter at The Spectator. fhewitt@thespec.com