How to Know Which Financial Advice to Take and Which to Ignore
Not all money advice is equal
The vast majority of us are dealing with a pretty constant case of information overload.
It’s been estimated that an average person living today processes as much as 74 GB of information on a daily basis: roughly the amount of information that the brain of a highly educated person consumed in a lifetime, 500 years ago.
When it comes to money advice, that’s a problem. Personal finance is complicated. For every piece of advice you read online you can probably find a contradictory one somewhere else. Here’s what to do before even seeking out advice about your personal finances, so you know what to embrace and what to ignore.
Know Where You Are
While not all online sources make it immediately clear, personal finance advice is usually aimed at a specific audience. There’s no one-size-fits-all solution to financial issues, because we’re all coming from very different places.
A lot of the advice you’ll find online simply won’t apply to you, so you need to have a way to figure out what does and what doesn’t. Cash stuffing isn’t a budgeting idea for the super wealthy. Home ownership isn’t an option for many younger or low-income individuals.
