+47 votes
by (12.4k points)
What’s the worst financial advice you’ve ever been given?  
What’s the worst financial advice you’ve ever been given?

42 Answers

+12 votes
by (1.1k points)
 
Best answer
Go to college.  
by (3.1k points)
@fad3508 , I agree 100%. Education is an investment. They don’t tell you that there’s bad investments out there. I tell younger people to look at it just like that. What’s your ROI and how long does it take to receive it. Sometimes it’s very worth it while other times you burn a bunch of cash. What’s worse is it can never be forgiven currently. Considering that, student debt is VERY scary imo.  
by (1.1k points)
@richthofen I don’t regret it. Best years of my life, but financially it’s not a great investment for some areas of study at least
by (3.1k points)
@fad3508 , I’m not saying that college isn’t a great thing. All I’m saying is it needs to be well thought out and all the variables need to be pondered on heavily. I’ve seen a lot of people spend a lot of money and make very little.  
by (760 points)
@fad3508 agreed!  
+30 votes
by (9.7k points)
Invest in gold
+21 votes
by (2.1k points)
Put my mortgage on a credit card
+28 votes
by (620 points)
First year of a big kid job at age 21- told to meet with a financial advisor with the most ridiculous fee structure. I did have an initial meeting, but I had a bad feeling about it and ignored the 100 phone calls/emails that followed, thank goodness!  
+32 votes
by (1.5k points)
Dont worry about it yall make more.  
+34 votes
by (590 points)
Put it all on black!  
+34 votes
by (3.4k points)
Not go to college; engineer now.  
+33 votes
by (860 points)
Pay cash for everything
+33 votes
by (570 points)
To take out as much student loans as I needed.  
+15 votes
by (11.5k points)
For me personally, I would say to put everything on cash. However, my disclaimer is that I also believe that for some people, that advise IS the best for their realities and situation. My husband and I have a proven record or not spending more in a month than we can pay back that month. Not everyone can do that and those people should not utilize credit.  
+34 votes
by (2.3k points)
It wasn’t financial advice exactly, but I spent probably $4k and three years trying to get my CPA license before realizing that I hated the work you needed a license to do and also that I didn’t want to be an accountant for the rest of my life. The other part of that would be the advice that “working for a good company is better than starting your own business”. Maybe it is but I haven’t found that so far
by (330 points)
@vitellus3 If you don’t mind sharing, what are you up to now in terms of work?  
by (2.3k points)
@duologue65085 I’m working as an accountant for a healthcare company (while I’m building a product business (enamel pins and buttons and fun accessories you can put those things on) and writing a course about accounting basics for small business owners). No one cares about a CPA license in the healthcare industry  and we pay a CPA firm to do the tax return and answer tax related questions!  
by (2.3k points)
Also for context, I do have an MBA, so that helps make up for the lack of a CPA license in the healthcare world. I didn’t pay for my MBA so I can’t really speak to whether that was a worthwhile cost, but it DID help me get my current job.  
by (330 points)
@vitellus3 Very cool. Thanks for the reply. Best of luck with your business and your accounting course!  
by (2.3k points)
@duologue65085 sure thing! Thank you!  
by (480 points)
For your second part, I've done both. I've started a business and it's satisfying. Starting is easy, maintaining its difficult. And you have to do the boring stuff as well, accounts, taxes etc. I also work for a very good company and a great boss, so much that I don't mind working, and I have the backing of a strong company, bigger clients and I have less stress. I live both but I think I prefer with a company right now. My opinion might change in the future
by (2.3k points)
@clynes677 see I hate clients and love the “boring stuff” in my own business. I spent like four hours yesterday pouring over numbers just for fun. I wouldn’t say that starting a business is easy, but I’m also of the mindset that it’s not a business until it makes money ‍♀️ as long as you enjoy it, I think it’s a personal choice, but my point was that I was actively discouraged from starting a business in college and then got stuck in a job I hated with a crap salary and no vacation time. I’m with a much better company now but it’s still not my dream
+31 votes
by (2.6k points)
"Hot stock tips". From anyone. Fortunately I learned this in college when we were playing the stock market game for my personal finance class.  
+19 votes
by (6.7k points)
Staying loyal to a job/company will pay off.  
+1 vote
by (5.3k points)
That one needs an actively managed portfolio (versus using low cost index funds managed on your own) and that 1% in fees for such services is fine.  
+12 votes
by (590 points)
"You're going to be in debt for the rest of your life, so just put it on the credit card. "
by (600 points)
@giulia oh god that’s horrible
by (590 points)
@citole21656 Don't worry - I did not take their advice. lol
by (8.4k points)
I tell myself that sometimes. It's hard not to give into it.  
by (590 points)
@xanthic stay strong!  
+8 votes
by (5.5k points)
You need a college degree to make money
+8 votes
by (910 points)
“Don’t pay off your mortgage. You need a tax write off. ”
+22 votes
by (900 points)
Don’t worry about your credit score you just need to pay cash for everything that’s nice until you want to buy a house and your score is 500
+29 votes
by (620 points)
Go to school, it’s worth it. It will open so many doors.  
+23 votes
by (500 points)
You don’t want a credit score
+34 votes
by (1k points)
“New cars are an investment”
+5 votes
by (2.3k points)
One that I’ve heard and corrected is the idea that having a balance on your credit card will help your score / paying off your card will hurt your score.  
0 votes
by (340 points)
Paying $375. 00 for 3 pillows so I could get the 18 month 0% interest financing on my bed.  
by (8.4k points)
Don't be offended. I can see doing something like that when I was younger.  
+22 votes
by (3.4k points)
Step dad “that’s what BK is for”
+36 votes
by (3.4k points)
You don’t need school, start at the bottom and work your way up
+19 votes
by (4.6k points)
Net worth doesn’t matter just keep your payments as low as you can and don’t worry about the rest. You will always owe somebody.  
+22 votes
by (5.3k points)
For all the knocks on college degrees, I'll throw some support to them. My college degree + grad degree went a long way toward getting me a state government job which provides really great benefits for me and my family. The two year master's was $35k, and I got half of it paid for with a fellowship. Because I have a master's, that put me in a higher pay grade when I got hired, and likely helped me get hired in the first place. School can be super expensive or moderately affordable, depending on where you decide to go, and there are opportunities for scholarships, fellowships, etc., to help pay for it. You can learn a ton if you commit to it, and the resources are endless. I would say it's totally worth it if you know what you want to get out of it and if you're driven to get the most out of the resources available to you. If you don't have direction and go to college that way, you'll probably end up feeling it was not worth it.  
by (6.4k points)
@isotope66 having a degree gained my 3 automatic ranks and double the paycheck, plus other privileges & responsibilities when I joined the Army. It can make a huge difference in some careers. I think the important thing is knowing where you want to go in life and choosing a school that has a good ROI so you don't wind up with unnecessary debt
by (5.3k points)
@tentacle47 totally agree with you, and thank you for your service! Knowing what you want to get out of the degree makes a tremendous difference. When I went to college, I had general ideas of where I wanted to be. When I went to grad school, I had a definite plan. Looking back on it, I got so much more, from an academic and professional development perspective, out of grad school for those reasons.  
+7 votes
by (7.9k points)
They suggested we took out at fixed rate mortgage when interest rates were 6%! We decided it was a bad idea and stuck with variable and they fell to 1% saving us loads
+6 votes
by (1.9k points)
File for bankruptcy. I didn't do it and I am so happy I didn't . Now I am debt free. Took me a long time but I did it!  
+21 votes
by (1.2k points)
Spend more. You deserve it
+18 votes
by (1.1k points)
Go to college
0 votes
by (5.1k points)
"You'll always have a car note and a house payment. " We have neither.  
+3 votes
by (6.6k points)
Pyramid scheming.  
+5 votes
by (4.4k points)
Rent to own house. Still pissed
by (110 points)
@erma86900 I would like to know about your experience with rent to own house because I was looking into the possibility of doing that. I'm still on the research process before signing any paperwork.  
by (4.4k points)
@coridon6899 admittedly I was young, naive and did little to no research. In addition the job I had when I signed the paperwork tanked about a month later so it was the perfect  storm.  
by (4.4k points)
If it’s a place you want to buy anyway and are just waiting to get secure, it can be a good option. If you’re not in a positive financial position it can backfire
+23 votes
by (1.3k points)
Car payments
+27 votes
by (6k points)
Pay me $2500 and I’ll tell you what’s wrong with your marriage and how to make it financial sound. I didn’t take the offer but man was that like awful.  
+26 votes
by (1.7k points)
Buy a new car over a 2-4 year used car
+3 votes
by (3.2k points)
Play it safe and stay at your current job
+41 votes
by (6.9k points)
Time shares. nuff said
by (6.6k points)
@endive9 this! This is worse than my original answer!  
+26 votes
by (8.4k points)
Open a credit card account and pay it off every month (I'm not one of those who could do the pay it off part consistently).  
+4 votes
by (7.6k points)
- My mother talked me into buying a new car when i was 18. Growing up we always had crap cars that lasted a short period of time. When i was 16 my dad had a decent job and she had her first new car. So of course, she wanted me to get my own new car when i first got a legal job. - Keeping my job, after 3 years i should have left, but the money was pretty good for a 22 year old. And i kept it, i should have quit and passed over on that "it is a safe job" crap. Now 10 years , still here, and now i have the golden handcuffs :( well more like bronze for me, but still.  
by (6.6k points)
@capri its never too late to get out of there. Take a chance if you are able to.  
by (7.6k points)
Well that was like 11 years ago when i started the job. I am now almost FI, just another 3 years left hahah. Goal is to quit, then come back as a part time contractor or something :)
+28 votes
by (520 points)
Keeping a credit card balance roll over helps your credit score. such blasphemy ! Ofc I corrected them because they were well misinformed
The Personal Finance Group is where you can always find questions, answers, advice, reviews & recommendations from other community members about investments, budgets, retirement, credit, and personal finances.

Related questions

...