How Neha Nagar is demystifying personal finance through simple content

Considered as one of India’s first finance influencers, Neha Nagar has left a digital footprint on millions of Indians by demystifying personal finance. She has encouraged financial literacy by using humor, film references, and relatable storytelling to help her followers understand the subject.

With over two million followers on Instagram and a growing YouTube community with 388,000 followers, Neha has become an influential voice in the digital finance space. Beyond her online presence, Neha is an entrepreneur and an MBA graduate. Her achievements are testament of her journey of hard work and determination. 

In 2022, she was featured on the cover of Forbes India’s Top 100 Digital Stars. More recently, was recognised by Hurun as the most followed women finance influencer in India, achieving remarkable success.

Early life

Neha grew up in a small village called Kachheda in Uttar Pradesh, where education for girls wasn’t considered a priority. She completed her MBA from Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University. Neha recalls being very active during this time, and would participate in several programmes such as dance and music.

Neha’s first step into the corporate world came even before she completed her MBA. In late 2017, she joined IIFL Wealth. There, she was introduced to the world of stock markets, managing high-net-worth clients and learning money-management. She stayed for about 1.5 years, sharpening her financial skills before eventually taking a leap into entrepreneurship.

Neha started her content creation journey in an unexpected way. In 2019, she started a small taxation help business that would provide many different types of services to people, such as property agreements and tax filings. But when lockdown had hit, the business saw a sudden client deficit.

She had to think differently. That was when she stumbled upon a new idea. “I started scrolling TikTok,” she recalls, “and I realised there wasn’t a single person making videos on finance. So, I thought, why not I should start creating content around it.” 

The initial goal was to get clients for her taxation business. Neha remembers her first video being about explaining the Aatmanirbhar Bharat scheme during Covid. And to her surprise, it went viral overnight. 

“I used to think that anyone doing business would know these types of things but that was not the case,” she tells HerStory. This made her realise the information gap. After posting a couple of videos, the response came faster than she expected as Neha gained popularity instantly.

“I was not a struggler as a content creator, from my first day my videos started getting popular,” she says. Within a few days, her videos reached millions of views. For Neha, however, the number of views was not the most exciting part. “I was very happy that I was getting clients more than views.”

Storytelling with a difference

As her followers grew, Neha experimented with many different styles. From memes to music, characters, and Gen Z-inspired skits, her interests shaped her storytelling. “The more you show your personality on screen, the more engaging it feels. I really like Bollywood, so whenever I wanted to make content engaging, I would refer to characters I liked,” she explains.

When asked about how she chooses her content, she states, “The audience teaches us, and we learn from the audience.” She and her team carefully scan the comments section to identify the gaps and strategize to fill them.

In 2022, Neha received one of her biggest surprises, an invitation to be on the cover of Forbes India’s Top 100 Digital Stars. “I first thought it was fake. Then they called me directly. I never thought I would be on the cover,” she laughs. 

These recognitions, she admits, have boosted her credibility. But for her, the greatest reward is the trust she has built. “Over these five years, I’ve gained a lot of trust from my audience. More than these achievements, the real impact is when people come up to me and tell me about the changes they’ve made in their lives because of my videos,” she tells HerStory.

Increase in her influence came with a slew of brand collaborations. But Neha made one rule clear: she would only partner with credible companies. “I am very proud to say that I never promoted a product that doesn’t exist anymore. You will never find a video I made in which I chose the wrong product,” she says.

Before collaborating, she performs complete business and brand analysis. Her commitment to quality means that if a video feels wrong, she will take it down and will reimburse the financials.

In just five years, Neha has helped many people take finance seriously. Despite her entrepreneurial ventures and brand partnerships, she is clear about her priority. 

“My whole focus has always been on content creation and will be in the future. I love it,” she says.