Vivian Tu has built a massive online following telling people how to grow their money. But she has a message for some would-be investors: Stop investing, at least for now, if you carry a specific kind of debt. The former Wall Street trader and content creator behind multimedia company, "Your Rich BFF," says you should jump on high-interest credit card debt before thinking about putting money into the stock market.
Jeff Bezos backs a platform that lets anyone invest in rental homes for as little as $100 — 6 ways to build wealth like a landlord without actually being one Dave Ramsey warns nearly 50% of Americans are making 1 big Social Security mistake. Here's what it is and 3 simple steps to fix it ASAP Millionaires under 43 hold only 25% of their wealth in stocks. Here's where their money is actually going During a recent episode of her Net Worth and Chill podcast, Tu answered a written question by a listener about how they can balance investing with paying down credit cards and student loans.
"I am a little alarmed because it sounds like you're already starting to invest while still having credit card debt," Tu said. "You should not be investing. You still need to pay off that credit card debt." In the same episode, Tu said that "the best day to start investing was yesterday, but the second best day is today." Still, this doesn't apply to those that carry credit card debt, whose interest rates can top 20%.
On average the stock market grows 10% each year. Chasing stock-market returns while a high-interest balance keeps growing in the background leaves you further behind. Credit-card interest is incredibly expensive and your investments have a pretty high hurdle to clear just to keep up.
"Credit card debt, unfortunately, is one of the scariest and fastest growing debts because it's anywhere between 20% to 30% APR every year," Tu said. Federal Reserve data shows the average interest rate on credit-card accounts assessed interest was 20.94% in May 2026. Compare that with the benchmark S&P 500 index, which is only up 13% since the start of the year as of market close on Aug. 14.
And unlike the interest piling up on your credit-card balance, future stock-market returns aren't guaranteed. If you're paying roughly 21% to carry credit-card debt while hoping your investments earn enough to outrun it, the math is working against you. Not paying off that balance likely eliminates all gains from investing in the market.
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