Vivian Tu says investors carrying credit card debt need to stop and pay it off first. The math says she’s right

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.

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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.

Why the math works against you

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.

Tu puts it this way, “You will not invest and make more than you would save by paying off your credit card debt.”

This isn’t just advice from a TikTok-famous money expert like Tu. The Securities and Exchange Commission makes essentially the same point. “No investment strategy pays off as well as, or with less risk than, eliminating high interest debt,” the agency says.

FINRA advises people who are eager to start investing to get the financial basics under control first. That includes paying down high-interest debt and building an emergency fund that covers three to six months of expenses so an unexpected bill doesn’t send you straight back to using your credit card.

Read More: Vanguard reveals what’s coming for U.S. stocks — and it could be bad news for this group of investors

Not all debt gets the same treatment

You don’t need to be completely debt-free before you can start building wealth, experts say.

Tu, for example, draws the line at high-interest credit-card debt. Lower-interest debt, including some student loans, are okay to carry while investing. Her rule of thumb is if your student loans carry rates above 7%, you should prioritize paying them down. Otherwise, you could potentially keep making payments while putting some money into investments.

Juggling lower-rate debt can make the decision of whether to prioritize repayment more complicated. Throwing every extra dollar at a relatively inexpensive loan means that money isn’t going toward other goals, whether that’s building emergency savings or investing for retirement.

One way to do both is to take advantage of your 401(k) plan through your employer. The SEC notes that participating in a company retirement plan can be worthwhile when an employer matches some or all of your contributions, which essentially adds free money from your employer money to your retirement savings.

Also note that some forms of debt, like a mortgage or student loans, carry interest that you can potentially deduct on your tax returns. This adds a few more dollars to your pocket to either invest or knock down balances you owe.

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This article originally appeared on Moneywise.com under the title: Vivian Tu says investors carrying credit card debt need to stop and pay it off first. The math says she’s right

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