Browse > Home / Personal Loans / Should You Take Financial Advice From the Media?

Should You Take Financial Advice From the Media?

December 11, 2008

If you turn on the news or a talk show, chances are during these tough times you will find someone telling you how to manage your money. Sometimes you will find people telling you what to invest in, where to put your retirement funds, or even what you should be spending your money on. Why should you listen to these people or should you listen to them at all?

There are many different variables here. First of all, you should never take a stock pick from anyone and invest in it without first doing your research. Don’t invest in something just because someone famous told you that you should. The same goes for any advice you get. Don’t just listen and do it, listen, research it, and think about it hard before you put it into action.

Who is doing the talking? If you are simply listening to the conversation among talk show hosts or even news anchors who are talking about their opinions on finance, don’t put too much bank on their words. Why should you listen to someone who has less financial knowledge than you? On the other hand, sometimes they will have finance professionals speak on television such as Suzie Orman or local financial advisors. If someone has the knowledge and experience and your best intentions in mind, you can probably put in a little more value into what they say.

What are they talking about? Some segments on television shows are about where to invest your money and others are about how to save money at the grocery store. You should be able to distinguish between someone giving you some great ideas and someone giving you concrete financial advice. Save the advice on the markets and financial instruments to professionals on financial channels, or better yet, ask a financial adviser near you or learn about finance yourself. There are lots of great segments on television that give you great ideas to save money. Still, don’t get pulled in to buy something because they say it’s a good idea.

The main point here is to think before you act on any advice you hear or receive personally. This goes for more than just the media, too. Your parents may not be financial geniuses and neither is your neighbor. Listen to people you trust that really know what they are talking about. If you really want to do yourself a favor, you would gain your own opinion on your finances. Read books and do research on personal finance and investing. Check out the link below to get started.

by Samantha Asher

Written by paydayla · Filed Under Personal Loans 

Comments

Got something to say?