The Two Worst Pieces Of Financial Advice (I Have Ever Seen)

There are a lot of helpful personal finance articles out there. Like, a LOT.

Hell, there are a lot of helpful personal finance articles here on Vocal. Cause, it turns out, there are an asston of really informed intelligent people on this platform trying to pass on their advice and wisdom.

They are to be read, digested, occasionally disagreed with, but overall appreciated.

But then, oh my friend. There are The Others.

*breathes deep, cracks necks, and settles in*

The Others are those who, while writing in the personal finance field, spew unmitigated bullshit. Now, most of the time this unmitigated bullshit is generic and not specifically actionable. They are to be Given A Look, and then we move on.

Who I’m calling out today (not specifically, but in general) are those who give advice that is actively and -this part’s important- ACTIONABLY harmful.

The Two Worst Pieces of Personal Finance Advice

Personal finance information runs the gamut from portfolio management to home buying to “make $100 dollars this week.” And the most harmful advice that I have ever seen is always, always to be found in the “make money quick” area.

Most “make $500 this week” articles are, quite frankly, bullshit. They recommend things that will do precisely jack to change your financial status in the given timeframe.

But there are two recommendations that I have seen over and over in this style of article that drive me utterly batshit, because they’re not just “not going to make you $500 this week.” They are going to actively make your financial situation worse. They are: gaming apps and using cash back credit cards.

Gaming Apps: A (Scathing) Review

“Download Bingo X and make money playing on your phone!” Fucker, Those. Apps. Are. Gambling.

Do you (the writer of this article) just not understand this? Have you read this piece of advice so many times that you’re just regurgitating what you’ve heard without examining it more closely or actually using them yourself? Cause here’s the thing — I fricking do.

I play the Bingo Clash app, because it has Bubble Shooter and that was my first childhood computer game addiction. It has massive nostalgia value. But I am also extremely aware that if you play for money (and they make it nearly impossible not to, psychologically) you are straight-up gambling.

When you gamble, in this app or others, the house. Always. Wins. It’s set up that way. If you play a $5 win game, you pay $3 to play. If you win, you “make” $2. If you lose, you lose $3. That make-lose ratio is constant over the increasing value of the win.

When you play this app game for cash, you always pay 1.5 of what you might win. And if you hit a statistically-perfect 50–50 win/loss ratio over the life of the game, guess who comes out in the hole?

Hint — it’s not the game.

Credit Cards: Using Them Wrong

Next, we come to the recommendation of “use rewards credit cards to make X amount of money quickly.” Now, I’m a huge fan of rewards cards. I have several, and I very much enjoy getting the rewards. But MY DUDE. I’mma say this really loud for those in the back:

YOU. DO NOT. USE CREDIT CARDS. TO MAKE MONEY.

Credit cards are for sending money out. That is their purpose. “Oh, awesome, I can get X amount of rewards on my card!” makes it sound like you’re being paid to use it.

Doodlebug, you are getting a small amount of your spent money back from the credit card company. That is what’s happening here.

Do you know how much you will have to spend in order to get however-many dollars in rewards this week from a 2% back rewards card? How about even a 5% back rewards card? YOU WILL BE SO MUCH FURTHER IN THE HOLE.

Seriously, lovely one — do not try to get quick money from rewards cards unless, and this is a really big unless, you already have a large purchase coming up and you don’t already use a rewards card.

Credit card companies are not paying you. They are making it slightly more attractive for you to pay them. They are not a costless source of income, and representing them as such is irresponsible in the extreme.

Conclusion — This Is Messed Up

Other than the blatant shenanigans of actively-harmful advice, what really gets me about these is the kind of person these recommendations are geared to. Aka, people who really, really need that amount of money.

The very financially stable are not googling “make $300 in a week/two weeks/month.” People are recommending gambling apps that will lose people money and overspending for rewards to people who are trying to find out how to make a relatively small amount quickly.

They probably need to for an upcoming bill, to pay off their credit card, for their kid’s birthday, for Christmas. And you’re telling them to go get massively addicting to a gaming app where they will lose their money or spend a lot to get a ridiculously small return as responsible personal finance advice.

Go sit in a corner and think really, really hard about what you just did.

To frame these two items in particular as a viable way out of a hole to people who are probably in one is messed the eff up. Don’t do it.

The end.