Finance

Erika Kullberg's Secrets to Financial Success: What You Need to Know

Erika Kullberg now dedicates much of her time to educating 21 million followers across platforms like YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and her podcast about personal finance. But back in 2016, right after graduating from Georgetown Law, she was far from a finance expert.

“The day I graduated, if you’d asked me how much I had in student loans, I wouldn’t have been able to tell you,” Kullberg admits. “It felt like Monopoly money when I was taking out the loans.”

Upon realizing she had racked up $200,000 in student loan debt, Kullberg set a clear goal to pay it off in two years—and ended up accomplishing it ahead of schedule. Now, at 34, she's one of the most well-known personal finance influencers online, famous for her tagline, “I read the fine print so you don’t have to.”

"I dove deep into learning everything I could about paying off debt, good money management tips, and more—that’s what sparked my passion for personal finance," Kullberg reflects on her journey with student debt.

In a recent interview with Fortune, Kullberg shared her top money management advice for Americans in 2025, the common financial mistakes she sees Gen Z making, and the growing demand for her content—offering insights into the current state of personal finance education. Let's take a closer look.

How can Gen Z Americans improve their financial management? Kullberg points out that too many young Americans graduate without any significant personal finance education, whether in school or at home.

TECH

Syria Welcomes the World: A Landmark Tech Conference After 50 Years

While much of the world focused on a bold proposal from the U.S. president to reshape the Middle East, a group of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and tech leaders gathered in Damascus last weekend for a historic event. For the first time in 50 years, a post-conflict Syria hosted an independent tech conference as the war-torn nation seeks to rebuild its economy and infrastructure after a 13-year civil war.

“Our goal was to bring Silicon Valley to Damascus,” said Bassel Ojjeh, co-founder and CEO of LigaData, a Palo Alto-based company and one of the organizers of the SYNC 25 conference. The two-day event featured workshops and discussions on topics such as artificial intelligence and data security, with a focus on connecting Syria’s emerging tech ecosystem to Silicon Valley.

“We wanted to connect with entrepreneurs, industry leaders, and change-makers to exchange knowledge and create strategic partnerships,” Ojjeh explained to Rest of World.

The organizing group, made up of Syrian-American entrepreneurs and investors, has set an ambitious goal of creating 25,000 new jobs in Syria’s tech sector over the next five years.

Tech entrepreneurs attending the conference hope it will mark the beginning of efforts to improve infrastructure for investors in Syria. “We need to focus on job creation and enhancing internet infrastructure,” said Yazan Enayeh, a Syrian entrepreneur and founder of the Switzerland-based watch company L’Orloger.

The conference took place amidst the transitional government’s active diplomatic outreach, as it seeks to rebuild regional ties after ousting former President Bashar al-Assad in December. In the past month, Syria’s interim leader, Ahmed al-Shara, has met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman as part of his efforts to garner economic and humanitarian support. According to the Saudi state news agency, discussions between the two leaders included future plans for energy and technology collaborations.

Despite being organized in under a month, the event was a success, with Ojjeh noting, “We moved quickly to connect with people in Syria to discuss the country’s struggling tech sector. SYNC is still evolving, but the fact that we managed to host this fully booked conference just over a month after the regime fell speaks to the hopes and dreams of the people.”

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CRYPTO

Affluent SC Seniors Draw the Line with 'Doggone' Crypto Scams

Marianne, a retired healthcare worker, was on her way to meet friends for breakfast in November when her phone rang.

The caller, claiming to be from the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Department, informed her that she was in contempt of court for missing jury duty and could face jail time. He then transferred her to his supervisor, who told her she could avoid jail by paying a $7,500 bond before her court date.

Initially skeptical, Marianne, 66, eventually withdrew the money, a mix of $50 and $100 bills, from her bank and followed their instructions to deposit the cash into a Coinstar ATM at a local Food Lion grocery store.

However, the money Marianne thought would keep her out of jail was instead converted into cryptocurrency and transferred to the scammer’s digital wallet.

The caller, still on the line, then demanded another $3,000.

Feeling uneasy, Marianne called the sheriff’s office directly. When the dispatcher confirmed it was a scam, she broke down in disbelief.

“Oh, my God,” she said. “They got me. Doggone them.”

Speaking to NBC News on the condition that only her first name be used for fear of being targeted again, Marianne became a victim of a new crypto scam built on an old con. From Keystone, Colorado, to Sandy Springs, Georgia, law enforcement agencies are warning residents about impersonators who claim victims missed jury duty and must pay fines or face arrest.