Personal Finance Advice Without the Nuance is Just Dangerous

“There’s no nuance on Personal Finance Twitter.”

That’s the reply I received after responding to a personal finance question posed by someone on Twitter a while back. It’s been bugging me ever since. Why? Because it’s mostly true. There is a significant lack of nuance in advice provided by self-proclaimed experts on social media.

In my opinion, personal finance advice without the nuance is just dangerous.

Yes folks, you’re in for another (brief) rant today.

What was the offending tweet? Honestly, I don’t remember the specifics, but the gist was this: If you do X before Y, than you’re an idiot who knows nothing about money. I responded that I thought the assertion was a little too generic and gave a common situation where I would pick option X. To be clear, I’m not clueless about money.

The individual tweet is not the point. The larger issue is that this wasn’t the first (or last) social media post I’ve seen giving blanket statements about what is right or wrong. I’ve seen hundreds like this on Instagram and Twitter.

I prefer shades of gray

I can’t help it. I’m a nuanced thinker and hate dealing in absolutes.

One of my pet peeves is when people peddle absolutes on social media to get more likes, followers or sell more of their own services using terms like “always” or “never.”

Very few things are always true or always false.

That’s not to say there isn’t a place for those terms. It’s just that there are usually shades of gray in any debate.  Nuance addresses those shades of gray.

The problem with the lack of nuance in social media, especially when it comes to personal finance, is that a lot of people use social media as their primary source of information. That means when someone with 50,000 followers says you should always (or never) do XYZ, their followers might base future decisions on that information. 

Telling someone that they should always invest, rather than pay down the mortgage is wrong. It’s just not true. Neither is it true that you should always pay down the mortgage, rather than invest. There are just too many scenarios where one option could be better than the other. And that doesn’t even take into consideration the psychological part of the equation, which is present in most financial decisions.

The same thing can be said for any advice that claims all debt is bad, the stock market will always go up, married couples should never (or always) combine finances, or lump sum investing is always better than dollar-cost averaging.

Personal finance is personal

Nuance is present in nearly every decision we make, which is why I try to qualify our financial decisions in my writing. It’s not that I’m wishy-washy on all topics. Rather I want to acknowledge that personal finance is truly personal. What is the right decision for me, won’t always be the right decision for you. And that’s ok.

The majority of personal finance topics I tackle on this blog are decisions we’re currently facing on our journey to financial independence. I share what I’ve researched, what we’ve done, and the reasons why one option might be better than another. I do this to help normalize the discussion about money, and in case that information is helpful or interesting to you. Although not perfect, I try to avoid speaking in absolutes. In many cases, I couldn’t pick with certainty the option that will be best for me, let alone tell you which will be best for you. 

Approaching a situation with absolutes, rather than nuance, is dangerous. It can lead to misinformation and misunderstanding.

The Dilemma: Simple is often better (especially on social media)

The exclusion of nuance in personal finance advice isn’t always out of maliciousness or ignorance. I believe most influencers are innocently trying to educate their followers within the limited confines of social media.

Additionally, I can admit that keeping it simple is often better for personal finance newbies. Adding complexities can confuse or discourage people early on in their journey.

My inability to separate nuance from financial decisions is one of the reasons I don’t focus on basic personal finance education in my own writing.

There is clearly a demand on social media for those who want to teach the basics and are able to simplify. However, I believe these people have a social responsibility to ensure that the information being shared is accurate and complete. It should also be clear as to whether such information is based on opinion or lacking nuance. 

That doesn’t mean that every possible scenario needs to be played out. I know that’s not possible. However, without addressing the possibility of additional complexities or alternatives, people might take away the belief that something is fact, or that a concept is black and white.

Takeaway

There is most certainly a lack of nuance when it comes to personal finance advice on social media.

If you’re a reader who relies on these sources for your financial learning, please keep that in mind. There are almost always alternatives or subtleties that can’t be conveyed in short form posts (or even longer blog posts). Just be aware of this fact, consult multiple sources and do your own research.

If you’re an educator or influencer on these forums, please acknowledge the existence of nuance where applicable, for the sake of your audience.

End rant.

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