Personal finance advice often sounds convincing, but does it actually lead to wealth? A new podcast, Have You Tried Being Rich?, launched on September 1, 2026, aims to answer that question by putting the internet's favorite money tips on trial. Hosted by financial experts Dria Benjamin and Kristin Geosits, the biweekly show takes a no-BS approach to examining claims like "stop buying coffee," "buy assets," and "start a business."
The podcast's premise is simple: take the financial advice everyone has heard, strip away the soundbites and success stories, and figure out what actually survives contact with real life. "Financial advice gets repeated like it applies equally to everyone, and it just doesn't," said Geosits. "Income matters. Debt matters. Housing costs matter. Your obligations, opportunities and stage of life matter. We want to talk about all of that, not pretend there is one trick everyone has somehow been too irresponsible to follow."
Benjamin added, "If skipping coffee were the secret, every office break room would be full of millionaires. We're not here to yell at people about lattes. We want to know why some of this advice sounds so good, who it actually works for and what gets left out of the pitch."
The first three episodes tackle deeply embedded American money culture ideas: spend less, think like the rich, and become your own boss. Episode 1, "Stop Blaming the Latte: The $5 Lie Keeping You Broke," examines the Latte Factor, the idea that cutting small purchases can dramatically change your financial future. The hosts dig into where the advice came from, why the math can look convincing, and the difference between encouraging better spending habits and blaming a $5 purchase for larger financial problems.
Episode 2, "Rich Dad, Poor Advice," takes on Robert Kiyosaki's Rich Dad Poor Dad and nearly three decades of "think like the rich" advice. The hosts look at what the book gets right about cash flow, ownership, and financial education before getting into the messier reality of leverage, rental properties, entrepreneurship, and so-called passive income. "Telling someone to 'buy assets' is one thing," the hosts note. "Having the money, risk tolerance, time and margin for error to actually do it is another."
Episode 3, "The Pyramid You Can't Climb: MLMs Won't Make You Rich," goes after multi-level marketing. The hosts break down why the MLM pitch can be so convincing, how recruiting spreads through friendships and social media, and what participant income disclosures look like once you get past the luxury cars and curated success stories. They also tackle the uncomfortable question: something does not have to be an illegal pyramid scheme to be a pretty terrible way to try to get rich.
At the end of every episode, the featured advice faces the show's BS Meter, with three possible verdicts: This Gets You Rich, This Won't Hurt, or You'll Die Trying. The show is not interested in replacing one set of rigid money rules with another. Instead, Geosits and Benjamin start with the strongest version of the advice, examine why people believe it, where it can be useful, what the numbers say, and where the argument starts to fall apart.
The podcast also examines the financial advice industry itself and the incentives that turn complicated financial decisions into simple rules people can repeat in a TikTok or sell from a stage. "Simple advice gives people something concrete to do, and sometimes that can be helpful," said Geosits. "The problem is when a useful habit gets presented as the solution to a much bigger financial problem."
New episodes are released every two weeks and are available on major platforms, including Spotify and Apple Podcasts. For listeners tired of guru worship and shame-based advice, Have You Tried Being Rich? offers a refreshing, evidence-based alternative that asks the question that probably should have been asked in the first place: Have you tried being rich?
