Choosing where to invest your money is a serious business. The right choices can help you build enough wealth that you no longer have to worry about money.
On the other hand, the wrong choices can leave you in dire financial straits.
Many investors rely on social media for investment advice, according to a new study — “Investors in the United States: The Changing Landscape” — from the FINRA Investor Education Foundation.
FINRA surveyed 2,824 U.S. adults with investments outside of retirement accounts and found that nearly one-third — 30% — turn to social media sites “somewhat” or “a great deal’ to get investing advice.
However, this trend is somewhat troubling. Social media is littered with bad suggestions and theories from people who likely don’t know any more about investing than you do.
Following are the most popular social media platforms for investing information.
1. YouTube
Survey participants who use this site for investing information: 28%
YouTube is full of videos made by folks who offer investing advice. Not all of this information is bad, but separating the wise tips from the know-nothing babble is not easy.
That is especially true for those with limited knowledge about investing.
2. Reddit (tie)
Survey participants who use this site for investing information: 17%
People turn to Reddit to discuss whatever is on their minds, and that includes investing. Much of the time, there is no way for those who use Reddit to know the true value of the information they find there.
That makes relying on Reddit for investing dicey at best.
2. Facebook (tie)
Survey participants who use this site for investing information: 17%
Facebook is another social media site where it’s possible to get good investing advice, but it’s just as easy to fall prey to bad information that can put major cracks into your nest egg.
Once again, the great difficulty is separating the gold from the dross.
Other popular social media sites
Other popular social media sites for investing information include:
- Twitter: 16%
- Instagram: 14%
- LinkedIn: 13%
- Discord: 10%
- TikTok: 10%
A better way to invest
Rather than relying on iffy investing advice on social media channels, consider enrolling in the Money Talks News course Money Made Simple.
MTN founder Stacy Johnson offers 14 weeks of lessons on money basics in this course. You will learn how to improve your financial life in all the following areas:
- Budgeting
- Banking
- Credit
- Taxes
- Insurance
- Investing
- Real estate
- Estate planning
After finishing these lessons, you will be ready to manage money more efficiently while spending less time getting the results you want. As Stacy writes:
“Whatever your situation, understanding and learning to control your money is going to improve your life. If you’re rich, you want to stay that way. If you’re not, you want to get that way.”