Eduardo Feldberg had always wanted to be a successful YouTuber, but he believed that his dream would come true through music, which is his what he studied. Little did he know that an unpretentious video, in which he explained how to use amortization to pay off a 30-year loan in just five years, would go viral and make the number of subscribers on his channel rise from 30 to 230 thousand.
At the request of his followers, he continued publishing tips on how to deal with money, focusing on those with less financial means. That’s how he earned the nickname Primo Pobre, in comparison to Thiago Nigro, owner of the Primo Rico channel.
Eduardo embraced the title and made it the name of his channel, which already has almost 2 million subscribers.
In this interview, Eduardo spoke with João A., a 16-year-old student at Etec Getúlio Vargas, about his career, and also gave advice to young people who want to get rich.
How did you become interested in financial education?
I never wanted to talk about financial education, because I wasn’t an expert, I didn’t have a background in economics, and I had never studied investments. What I talked about on my channel was about topics that I learned from life, like not living to try to impress others and about saving a little money thinking about tomorrow. I used to put my money in a savings account, which is the worst investment in terms of return. After the success of the video about amortization, my subscribers started asking for more content, so I started studying about investments — and I loved it. Now I teach people about investments.
For a long time I talked about our mind, because there are many people who are in poverty, have a terrible salary, are unemployed or lost everything during the pandemic. But most people who follow my channel admit that they have faced difficult situations because they made bad decisions with regards to their money. Those who want to pretend they are a playboy will continue to be miserable in poverty.
Are you self-taught in many trades?
Yes. I learned a lot on YouTube, how to edit videos and create websites on various platforms. I earned more setting up websites than I did with my regular job, thanks to what I learned watching videos on the internet.
What was the hardest part of becoming an influencer?
It was reconciling my regular work with the channel. I worked as an administrative assistant at a school during the day and, at night, I got some extra income giving private music lessons, creating a website, playing in a wedding band and producing and editing videos for my channel. The hardest part was managing all of this, in 2021, because I couldn’t quit my job without being sure that the channel’s growth would be maintained.
Now I no longer need to work with a formal contract, teach music classes and have a wedding band, because I worked really hard for a year to now have my dream job.
Nowadays, do you consider yourself rich?
If you earn more than three thousand reais, you are already at a level that most Brazilians are not. I already earn more than that, so I have a very good life. There are a lot of people who criticize me saying I’m a fake, because the channel is called Primo Pobre (Poor Cousin in English), but I’m not poor. At no point did I say that I was poor, there is even a video on my channel in which I talk about how much I earn. I am the Primo Pobre (Poor Cousin) because I speak to the poor. I don’t want to make millionaires become billionaires, I want to teach those who are broke to have a better life. I want to talk about the importance of not showing off — showing off is one of the things that most imprisons poor people in poverty.
In my early teens, I had this mentality of having the most expensive things to impress people at school. But, from the age of 15, I realized that I was living to impress others instead of seeking a better quality of life. When I turned that switch, I began to evolve and I started to be able to save money.
Do you think there is a right age to start investing?
As from the age of 10, it’s good to already start studying. It’s possible to know about finances from reading, listening to podcasts, watching videos or reading publications such as the TINO Econômico newspaper itself. You can start learning about finances when you are still a child, as long as the content is accessible for that age group.
What inspired you to write the book Deixe de Ser Pobre!?
The book was a personal accomplishment. I wrote it in two months. I wrote it with the purpose of being a simple book for simple people, who don’t have any financial education and have never learnt about this.
Since it was launched, in August 2023, is has been on Amazon’s bestsellers list and was amongst the three most sold books in Brazil for one week. I hope this year it will sell even more.
And what advice would you give to a youngster who wants to save money?
To study about financial education and make the most of the fact that they don’t have many expenses to begin to save up. I’m not saying they can’t enjoy life, but, if you save a little bit every month, it is possible to put together a good amount before the age of 30.
