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Useless financial advice

January 28th, 2008 at 07:26 pm

Lil Monday Rant!

I don't consider myself to be a genius or anything, but I'm so tired of the watered down financial tips that are abundant on the internet, news, magazines, etc. these days. I suppose it could be helpful to someone who doesn't have much common sense or is seriously in debt, but not for those of us who are already pretty careful with money.

For example, I am tired of hearing about the "latte factor". I don't buy a latte everyday, so I can't give it up and save the $4.00 and invest it for 40 years to wind up with an extra $1.5 million (or whatever number they come up with). I already have a 401k, Roth IRA, six months of living expenses in a savings account,pay off my credit card monthly, funds saved up for my next car, furniture, vacation, etc etc.

Where is the advice for this type of person?

9 Responses to “Useless financial advice”

  1. Maismom Says:
    1201552503

    Good for you to achieve all these savings!

    Well, it is true that I don't learn much from regular financial advice websites anymore. I learn more from real people who hang out in frugal people's community.

  2. Ima saver Says:
    1201557667

    Just keep doing what you are doing! The $20 challenge has helped me to save more by banking the money that I get from using coupons, store cards, etc.

  3. Broken Arrow Says:
    1201559792

    Indeed, you are doing quite good!

    Usually, once the financial house is in order, and if all the usual retirement vehicles are finally exhausted, then perhaps it's time to head out into the wild, wild world of taxable investing.

  4. disneysteve Says:
    1201566993

    Congrats on taking care of all the basics and then some when it comes to managing your finances. Where is the advice for folks like you and me? It is in publications like MONEY magazine, Kiplinger's Personal Finance, Smart Money, the Wall Street Journal, Barron's, etc. I'd subscribe to one or two of those, especially the first 3 I listed.

    The reason all that other advice is out there is because the majority of Americans aren't following it and they need to keep hearing it.

  5. M E Says:
    1201570530



    Ummmm, didn't I just vent about the same thing a few days ago????????????? @@ OY!

  6. daylily Says:
    1201575009

    I totally agree with you. This very thing has frustrated me. I get so tired of reading the personal finance section in my newspaper because every time I do I think 'Duh.'

  7. baselle Says:
    1201580808

    Yep. You're at the intermediate step where you want to build and maintain a little fiscal empire. You have some money and you get a bit of it continually, so you have to figure out the best of the best places to hold it (also relative to the other places you have $s), keep it growing, and not lose any of it.

  8. Amber Says:
    1202028861

    I must say that I understand exactly what you are saying but it was those sites that got me started on kicking the habit of incurring unnecessary debt which eventually led me here

  9. thriftorama Says:
    1202241660

    I sometimes have to write those stories for the personal finance section. (I'm a financial journalist by day) and let me tell you why they are all so dumbed down. Because the editors at newspapers seem to think that's the level that people are operating on. I can't count how many times I had to rewrite the same advice in different formats! They figure the paper is going to a mass audience, so they can't really write anything to in-depth or complicated. The topics have to have mass appeal. For more in-depth financial work, you have to go to specialty publications, like Bankrate or Kiplinger.

    Also, even business editors aren't always financially savvy. I can't tell you how many have repeatedly asked me about really basic financial concepts. Even the college educated are often lacking a basic understanding of the financial world. It's scary.

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