Following Financial Influencers Blindly

A 2023 study by the Financial Conduct Authority found that 62% of people who followed financial influencer advice ended up losing money. The incentive structure is broken: finfluencers earn money from views, sponsorships, and affiliate links — not from your portfolio performance. Many promote stocks they've already bought (pump and dump), recommend complex strategies to beginners (options, leverage, crypto), and show survivorship-biased results (showing wins, hiding losses). The antidote: read "The Simple Path to Wealth" by JL Collins, follow the Bogleheads philosophy, and remember that anyone promising 20%+ annual returns is either lying or taking extreme risk.