I just read a VOX article about the financial advice people are getting from random videos on TikTok. The examples are horrifying. TikTok is not a reliable place for consistently sound financial advice.
Don’t get me wrong, TikTok is awesome and offers all kinds of funny, interesting and educational videos. My wife uses it for recipes. My friend used it to learn card tricks…ok, ok that was me. TikTok is cool and there is good advice on there, but how are regular people supposed to know what’s good advice and what’s bad advice, if not an outright scam? And it’s not just TikTok, there are scams and sales pitches masquerading as financial advice everywhere.
Financial Scammers Use TikTok
Bad financial advice gets people in trouble far faster and easier than they can get out of it. It can even cost people their life savings (remember Bernie Madoff?) It doesn’t even have to be an actual scam to lead people down a dangerous path. Sometimes it’s well intentioned advice that could land people in trouble with the IRS, or have them making options trades that could wipe them out, or even advice that’s good for some people but terrible for someone else with no way to know which group you’re in.
Employers Can Help By Offering Professional Coaching
Some TikTok videos may offer reasonable financial advice, but it’s impossible for the average person to know who to trust. People used to face the problem of not having access to financial advice, it was only for people who could afford to pay an adviser for it. The problem now can be much more dangerous; there is financial advice everywhere but how do you tell the difference between what’s right for you and what could leave you bankrupt? Employers can help by offering financial coaching to their employees. BrightDime’s coaches aren’t pitching their own insurance products, or touting their trading app offer code to get new signups. Our coaches are there solely to be advocates to our employee clients. Now, more than ever, trust is the most valuable thing we can offer. Employers should ensure that their financial wellness solution only has the best interest of the employees in mind when helping them find a smart financial path.