{"id":258567,"date":"2025-11-12T13:01:08","date_gmt":"2025-11-12T13:01:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/258567\/"},"modified":"2025-11-12T13:01:08","modified_gmt":"2025-11-12T13:01:08","slug":"the-finfluencers-class-is-in-session-is-it-worth-paying-for","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/258567\/","title":{"rendered":"The finfluencer\u2019s class is in session. Is it worth paying for?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

There are many finfluencers that use their personal experiences to educate others. That can bear weight, as long as it\u2019s responsible advice, says Alyssa Davies from Mixed Up Money.Todd Korol\/The Globe and Mail<\/p>\n

How to slay the stock market. How to retire early. How to be rich. How to get out of debt.<\/p>\n

These are just some of the pitches that financial influencers, or \u201cfinfluencers,\u201d promise with their online courses, which can range in price from $25<\/a> to $1,000-plus<\/a>. <\/p>\n

As more content creators branch out into additional revenue streams, an increasing number of digital courses, webinars and pay-for-access community groups have popped up. <\/p>\n

A recent Ontario Securities Commission survey<\/a> found that while many people are skeptical of finfluencers, when someone finds a voice they trust, they tend to listen to them<\/a>. The survey said 35 per cent of retail investors made a financial decision based on advice from a finfluencer. <\/p>\n

Investors want advice in a volatile market. \u2018Finfluencers\u2019 are trying to fill the gap<\/a><\/p>\n

While finfluencer content can help improve financial literacy, not all advice is created equal. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere are people doing good work out there, so it doesn\u2019t mean you have to avoid it completely,\u201d said Errol Osecki<\/a>, an assistant professor of accounting at the University of Ottawa who is researching<\/a> finfluencers. \u201cBut be careful and a little bit skeptical when you go into these things.\u201d<\/p>\n

So how do you know if a finfluencer\u2019s course is worth the cost? <\/p>\n

See if the content resonates <\/p>\n

When deciding whether to take a course, see if the tone and subject matter resonate with you and your financial objectives. <\/p>\n

You also want to be clear about how you like to learn. Is the course live or prerecorded? A single session or multipart? Can you ask the instructor questions? <\/p>\n

Edmonton-based Sharizah Sculley has taken a few online courses from various providers, including ones on investing and debt repayment. She enrolled in an \u201cinvesting for beginners\u201d workshop offered by Alyssa Davies of Mixed Up Money because she said the content was accessible and non-judgmental. <\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Ms. Davies says personal finance course providers should be transparent about what they know and how they know it, what their course offers and how they earn an income.Todd Korol\/The Globe and Mail<\/p>\n

As a result, she developed the habit of investing each month \u2013 even with small amounts of money. <\/p>\n

The courses she has taken have also helped fill personal knowledge gaps, she said, as she wanted more control over her finances after taking out student loans. <\/p>\n

\u201cIn high school we had a class where you were given an income, a job, were told if you have kids or not and had to [create] a budget. That\u2019s pretty much the only finance I remember learning in school,\u201d Ms. Sculley said.<\/p>\n

Richard Coffin, the founder of personal finance YouTube channel The Plain Bagel<\/a> and an investment analyst for an Ottawa-based wealth management company, said there can be value in online courses, as long as they\u2019re offering tangible learning objectives versus vague promises, such as \u201cfinancial freedom\u201d or \u201chigh returns on investments.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to be careful when promises start to veer more into the \u2018get rich quick\u2019 type of offerings,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Check qualifications <\/p>\n

The OSC report found that finfluencers typically fall into three categories: unregistered individuals, unregistered individuals hired by financial firms and registered professionals. <\/p>\n

Mr. Coffin said people should think critically and ask themselves questions before taking an online course. Are there additional sources backing up the information this person is telling me? Is this person qualified to be offering this advice? What are their motives or conflicts of interest? <\/p>\n

He advises checking qualifications or designations a course provider has before enrolling. <\/p>\n

There are many finfluencers that use their personal experiences to educate others. That can bear weight, as long as it\u2019s responsible advice, said Ms. Davies, a personal finance writer, content manager and founder of Mixed Up Money<\/a>, who started writing about her financial journey while managing debt.<\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Just because a finfluencer offers a course, there is no guarantee that it will solve someone’s financial woes, ‘because so much of finance is doing the work yourself,’ Ms. Davies said.Todd Korol\/The Globe and Mail<\/p>\n

She said personal finance course providers should be transparent about what they know and how they know it, what their course offers and how they earn an income. <\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of times we conflate credentials with competence, but I think experience and integrity matter just as much,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

Mr. Coffin agrees that first-hand experience can be valuable in certain instances. A person who lifted themselves out of debt may be equipped to share budgeting advice, for example, but that doesn\u2019t mean they are the right person to offer a course on day trading.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe more advanced a topic is \u2013 when you get into stock analysis, stock trading, things like that \u2013 the more demand there should be for those credentials,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

There are professional courses for similar, if not more competitive, prices than the ones finfluencers sell, he pointed out, adding that courses from more established institutions typically have larger teams and stricter quality controls than an individual content creator may have. <\/p>\n

Think critically <\/p>\n

Be aware of any paid promotions within a content creator\u2019s financial advice. While working with a brand isn\u2019t inherently bad, and is a way many finfluencers make money, they should disclose paid endorsements.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlways understand what someone\u2019s incentives and conflicts of interest are before taking their information to heart,\u201d Mr. Coffin said. <\/p>\n

Ms. Sculley said that when deciding to take a course, she reads reviews to see what others got out of the program, regardless of how reputable someone may seem. <\/p>\n

Be realistic <\/p>\n

Taking courses to improve financial literacy can not only destigmatize money and normalize tough financial conversations, it can also teach skills needed to make changes. <\/p>\n

But no one is going to fix your money situation for you, Ms. Davies said. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf someone\u2019s offering a course, you have to accept the reality that there is no guarantee because so much of finance is doing the work yourself,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

\u201cYour budget isn\u2019t going to be automatically fixed because you spent $300. You actually have to sit down and take the time to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: There are many finfluencers that use their personal experiences to educate others. That…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":258568,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[84,4176,4174,4175,11749,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-258567","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-personal-finance","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-finance","10":"tag-personal-finance","11":"tag-personalfinance","12":"tag-r-fp","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom","15":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258567","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=258567"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258567\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/258568"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=258567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=258567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=258567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}