Recently, the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM) warned investors against making decisions based on tips from financial influencers. Those influencers have become very popular, and they not only share knowledge about investing, but also about pensions, student loans and mortgages, for example. What does this advance mean for our financial well-being?
Trend watcher Farid Tabarki distinguishes two trends among financial influencers. "There is a large group that is involved in learning how to handle money properly. That makes me very enthusiastic." That is absolutely necessary, he says. For example, research by Nibud shows that 32 percent of Dutch households are dealing with payment arrears. "People who train each other financially seems to me to be a very positive development." On the other hand, there is a group of financial influencers who focus on making money, the trendwatcher explains. "Investment tips, cryptocurrency… That can be useful, but you never know for sure what someone's motives are for giving those tips. There may be revenue models behind it that are not in your favor." 'Too easy to call everything bad' Media scientist Roel Lutkenhaus can imagine that people are misled by financial influencers. "But I find it too easy to say: 'everything is bad'. There are also many people who give sincere tips. For example, I think the Young Investing podcast is very good. It falls into the category of someone who has stuck in the topic, and the podcast makes it to simply share his tactics and knowledge. I don't see any dark edges in that." But those dark edges are there. A good example of such an influencer is Madelon Vos, who, unhampered by experience and knowledge, provides her followers with one-sided information about Bitcoin in particular via her podcast every week. Week after week, her technical analyzes mislead her followers. Few can see through her chatter and seductive smile. Nor does she take any responsibility for her opinion. She never reflects on what she has said in previous episodes of her podcast. The most shocking part is that she discusses tweets from others and gives her one-sided opinion about them. Everyone wants to be successful, the behavioral scientist explains the popularity of financial influencers. "Making, getting rich, for example through crypto, is popular in youth cultures. People won't just take something from everyone, but certain financial influencers have built a strong relationship with their followers." Research by mobile broker BUX shows that one in five young people obtain investment knowledge from influencers. According to Lutkenhaus, the solution lies mainly in media literacy. "It's up to the government to make people resilient, so that they don't just fall prey to people who may not have the best intentions for their followers." Fishing out the bad apples isn't always easy. "I always tell myself: if it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn't. If people promise you golden mountains based on a few mouse clicks, it's not very credible. Don't take such influencers to seriously."
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