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We have all had this friend who volunteers to help with a housework or assignment and whose “help” only makes the situation worse.
It’s the dude who says he’s helping you move, but his back problem mostly limits him to complaining. By the time you figure out the cost of accepting his help, it will be too late to exonerate you.
I am very concerned these days that consumers and investors have a lot of “these friends” when it comes to how and where to get their financial advice.
That’s because a quarter of millennials get their investment advice through podcasts and social media, according to a new survey by Marcus by Goldman Sachs.
That shouldn’t come as a surprise – and not just because Edison Research says there are now around 80 million Americans listening to podcasts every week – because the same Marcus poll found that large chunks of Americans think investing, saving, and managing debt is “overwhelming” feel. “Mainly because they feel uninformed and struggle with their decision making.
However, if you have difficulty balancing your personal expertise with your financial responsibilities, you may also have difficulty deciding who to follow.
This column has been trying for the past few weeks to resolve trust issues related to the information you read (http://column.moneylifeshow.com/2021/09/15/learn-who-your-source-is-before -your -Trust money ideas) and the consultants you hire (http://column.moneylifeshow.com/2021/09/22/you-need-a-process-not-luck-to-find-the-right – Financial advisor /).
But the decision of whether to trust a favorite blogger, podcaster, celebrity financial advisor, or journalist who has become a radio host – and that means to me – is tarnished by the modern world and the changing technologies we are accepting in our lives.
Not so long ago, when the mainstream media was the dominant source of information and people were getting personal financial news from the local newspaper, business talk radio show, or trusted television source, there was a divide between advertising and information, and the ads were clear delimited.
In decades as a newspaper and online finance columnist for what are now considered old media organizations, I have never been offered money to be featured in my column. I wasn’t even offered mutual setbacks, a promise to support their work if I mentioned them in mine.
My employers sold ads and paid my salary without affecting my work; I’ve covered everything I think the audience should know with no regard to offending / endorsing advertisers.
I still do that today. Financial journalists (I am a past president of the Society for the Advancement of Business Editing and Writing) are still preoccupied with ethics and ideals; I can’t turn this off.
These standards aren’t the norm as blogs and podcasts become major sources of financial information, with personalities in attendance – including many now established money celebrities – who are mostly concerned with growing audiences and filling their own pockets.
If you want to overcome debt problems, retire at the age of 40 or 50, invest in cryptocurrencies, become a trader, find the next big dividend stock, or just find anything financial, there is someone on the internet telling you to follow their model / Example to do it.
There’s no denying that there is a lot of great content out there that is inspiring, entertaining, fun, and very informative.
But there’s a dark side between those success stories that are rarely discussed, the cross-promotion deals in the back room, the scraping back and the influencing that are often a stepping stone to financial success in the new media.
I do an hour-long midweek podcast talking to some of the brightest people in the money world about all things finance, but I keep getting asked to swap “appearances” with newbies and virtual strangers – someone who wants to be on my show and something is appearing on them – and through “affiliate marketing” deals where I could earn payments to get people to try a product, subscribe to a newsletter, or just follow certain links.
There is basically nothing wrong with affiliate marketing; know what to look for, and you’ll find it on podcasts offered by National Public Radio and virtually every major news agency. Many affiliate deals are harmless, simple links in traditional advertising.
Likewise, I appear on podcasts that are hosted by others – and have some of these people with me – even though I care about the quality of the guests (and their programming) rather than doing things for the public’s sake.
But I also understand what moves me to perform in new and different circles, because every gig seems to bring me people who are hoping to hire me as a financial advisor (which I don’t) or to join the audience of my show in hope to learn more.
And affiliate deals can cross a line, too: there have been cases where podcast hosts steered audiences into everything from bad, unnecessary service to Ponzi schemes. Even when it is clear that a referral is being bought and paid for, consumers need to be extremely careful.
It’s one thing if your favorite podcast host makes money taking you to a website they believe in – where they think you can get real help – but another if their motivation is purely financial The reward is that he receives from your click.
Forget “fake news” for a moment and think that “fake news” looks so real that experts often can’t tell the difference.
I realize this can look like the pot is talking about the color of the kettle.
I’m in the money talk business to make money. Although I live by traditional journalistic standards, my show – Money Life with Chuck Jaffe – cannot be successful without sponsors. We are picky about the few we work with; We don’t do affiliate marketing deals. I’ve found marketers with the biggest affiliate payouts trying to convince bloggers and podcasters to sell junk harmful to consumers. My ethics and morals are not for sale.
But the more Americans rely on new sources of financial information, the more pressure these websites, shows, and individuals will be pressured to blur and cross the line.
If you are relying on financial information that you heard or read somewhere, consider its source. Trust, but check, because it is you and the person who gives bad advice who will bear the financial consequences.
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