Business Innovators Radio - Episode #46 – Bad Social Media Financial Advice – The 15 Minute Financial Feast Podcast-With Mark Triplett & Troy Westendorf

Episode Date: July 12, 2023

We believe that every dollar has a purpose and a timeline. When and how your retirement assets will be used should be understood before making important financial decisions.The Triplett-Westendorf Purpose and Timeline 5 Step Planning Process (PT5) begins with Discovery.Understanding where you are now, and then defining where you want to go (Your Purpose) and when you want to get there (Your Timeline), programs your financial GPS. Our Purpose and Timeline 5-step process (PT5) programs your financial GPS.Learn more: http://triplett-westendorf.com/ | https://mypt5.com/The 15 Minute Financial Feast Podcasthttps://businessinnovatorsradio.com/the-15-minute-financial-feast-podcast/Source: https://businessinnovatorsradio.com/episode-46-bad-social-media-financial-advice-the-15-minute-financial-feast-podcast-with-mark-triplett-troy-westendorf

Welcome to the 15-minute financial feast podcast, bringing you 15-minute segments to help you retire with purpose on time. We're serving up food for thought and bread for the head. Are you hungry to learn? Here are your hosts, Mark Triplett and Troy Westendorf. Welcome to another episode of the 15-minute financial feast. Today, you are listening to the audio from a live television interview where one of our favorite local news station anchors asked us questions about a financial feast. topic on the minds of many hardworking folks in our community who are trying to make good decisions and get ahead. Well, tackling your finances can be intimidating and figuring out where

to start can also be overwhelming. But the advice you see on social media may not always be accurate. Keep that in mind. So joining us now is Mark Triplett with Triplett Westendor Financial Group to talk us through all of this. Thank you so much for joining us this morning, Mark. Thank you for having me. All right. So we all know social media sometimes. can just sort of be this black hole of information that sometimes is not necessarily true. So when talking about the financial advice, where is all of this coming from, Mark? Well, where is it not coming from? Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, Snapchat, you name it.

A lot of different sources, a lot of different content from folks who, some who know what they're talking about, but many who are not experts in this area. And actually, shockingly, I found a survey that was done in June of 2021. And a third of the respondents actually said that they take in social media content when making financial decisions. And 32% of those respondents also said that they trust social media influencers and celebrities for financial advice. Yeah. And on top of social media, we also have all these apps right at the palms of our hands. How are apps changing the way that we manage our money, the way we invest, and sort of just the advice that we get? Well, technology is making it really easy and inexpensive to get started.

Apps like Robin Hood, Acorn, E-Trade, they all have their pros and cons. And while understanding concepts about investing and how to grow your money, those are all good things, really understanding what you're doing and what you're getting into and how to do it is really, really important. And I think some of those apps kind of fail in those areas. Right, and you talk about, you know, it's important to kind of know what you're doing, and you already kind of touched on this, but as far as the social media goes, it can be very good, it can be bad. So how is social media right now kind of steering us in the wrong direction? Well, there are a lot of positives about social media, but I think three of the things that I would point out

that are probably going in the wrong direction is, number one, saying that it's easy or making it look easy. Look, we can't predict the future, even as financial professionals. And having a balanced portfolio is so important. But with some of these social media apps, you're more likely to end up with high concentration of one investment type or one asset class as opposed to broad diversification. I say a big one is actually living on credit card debt or this fear of missing out. We're constantly bombarded with views of the best parts of everybody's lives on social media. And that can end up driving folks to spend more just trying to keep up with the Joneses than what they actually should be spending. So I'd recommend that you track your charges to your credit card and your debit card, just like you would if you were going to write it down in a checkbook.

that'll help you from getting into trouble. And last is sharing get rich quick ideas. A lot of folks are wanting to make you a millionaire. All you have to do is give them your money. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. So you might want to avoid those. All right. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

All right. Thank you so much for all the advice this morning, Mark. Thank you for joining us. You're welcome, Chinu. Thanks for having me. You've been listening to the 15-minute financial-face podcast. Remember, every dollar has a purpose. and every dollar has a timeline.

If you have questions about today's topic, schedule a call with a team member. Visit www.mip2.com. Until next time, be sure you're taking steps to retire with purpose on time. Mark Triplett is an investment advisor representative of

and advisory services offered through Royal Fund Management LLC, an SEC registered investment advisor. Nothing contained in this program should be considered an offer to buy or sell securities. Different investments have different risks associated with them,

and not all investments are appropriate for all investors.