Amid the latest economic downturn, sugar babies are asking their daddies for stock market advice and taking on vanilla jobs to recession-proof their incomes.

When Nikki Saryan called one of her former sugar daddies in March, she wanted to talk about money, just not in the way he expected. Though there was a time when she pulled in $20,000 a month and was treated to first-class trips to New York City, Saryan now needed investment advice.

Specifically, Saryan wanted to know what stocks to buy, “like where exactly I should safely put my money or if I should even put it in the stock market at all,” she tells WIRED. Instead, her sugar daddy, a finance guy in his late sixties, suggested a slow-growing, low-risk investment account with Charles Schwab that would be a safer bet than Wall Street. Considering that a Truth Social post by President Donald Trump can cause global markets to rise and fall in an instant, he might have a point.

“He told me not to invest in any stock right now, to calm down and relax, because everything is kind of going to shit at the moment,” she says.

During this latest economic downturn, where the cost of living has spiked for everyone and hiring is at a historic, pandemic-era low, sugar relationships—arrangements where one person provides financial support and gifts in exchange for romantic companionship—have, for some, become an essential survival strategy. But the sugar being exchanged is no longer just monthly allowances and luxury travel, it’s also financial expertise.

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