27 Feb

Ignore the Experts! Why You Should Get Personal Finance Info from Average People

Written by Kathryn Vercillo on February 27, 2010

Finances. It’s a topic that strikes fear in the heart of many people. Money is something that many of us have come to think of as a complicated thing that requires the help of experts to sort through it. We hire accountants to help with our bills. We look for personal finance bloggers who have experience in the finance industry. We ask coupon queens about their inside tips for saving money when grocery shopping. While all of this information is important and interesting, it probably shouldn’t be the bulk of where you get your personal finance tips. Instead, you should be looking at what average people are saying about money to make more sense of it in your own life.

5 Top Reasons Average People are Best for Personal Finance Advice

There are many reasons that you want to get at least some of your information about money from average folks like yourself. Here are five of the big ones:

The tips are practical. It’s interesting to find out how money-saving experts have gone to the extreme to reduce their spending. However, the way that many experts choose to live their lives isn’t congruent with how the average person spends their days. You may want to be frugal and you may want to start a savings account but it might not be right for you to do extreme saving or to serious investing right now. Real people offer practical tips about saving money.
The information is easy to understand. There are admittedly some very, very good personal finance books and blogs out there written by experts who know how to write in a language that the average person can understand. However, there are also a lot of those sources that are tough for the average person to follow. They use terms and approaches that you need a finance education to make sense out of. Average people speak and write in a way that you can easily understand even when the topic is one like money which can feel confusing. Their writing is often humorous or anecdotal. For example, Emma Lunn, a blogger over at Money.co.uk starts some of her posts off with explaining how in her life she even came to be thinking about the particular finance issue that she’s about to share in her post.
The array of topics that you can discuss is much broader. Most finance experts are experts in one specific area of finance – taxes or investment or home buying, for example. When you get information from them, it’s on this one niche topic. It contrast, you can talk to the average person about anything. Finance blogger Joe McCarthy writes about everything from budget travel to faking that your clothing is fancier than it is so that you can fit in with posh crowds and still stay on a frugal budget.
You can connect with these people. Finance experts provide some great information but it’s usually a one-way street. They’re too busy with their work to respond to your emails or calls. Average people are more accessible. Whether it’s a co-worker or an independent blogger, you can actually ask questions about the information the person has to offer to get a better sense of whether or not it’s right for you.
Their help is free. If you want to live frugally then you should look for ways of getting the information that you want without spending money. Hiring finance experts to help you figure out your money is going to be a costly service. In contrast, you can often get free tips and advice from the average people that you already know.

Money and Confidence in Yourself

There is another very important reason to think about getting financial information from average people more often than you get it from experts. This reason is because it’s not necessarily healthy to assume that the people who understand money have to be finance experts. Every single one of us uses money. We all struggle with different aspects of it and learn different tips about using it. When you give a sense of magical power to people who understand money, you’re really discounting your own ability to be your own best financial advisor. It’s important that you feel like you’re in control of your finances and that starts with becoming confident about your ability to understand money.

Exceptions to the Rule: When to Use Experts

Although it’s important to turn to average people for information about money issues, you don’t want to rule out using experts entirely. For one thing, you can always use more education about money and finance experts can help round out that education. For another thing, there are just some issues where it might be better to consult a professional. The most obvious example of this is when it comes to legal issues with money including income taxes. Although an average person might be able to help you out with this in a bind, you probably don’t want to take your chances when it comes to such a complex and high-risk area of your money. In this case, it’s probably worth the cost to consult a professional. Other exceptions to the rule include getting expert advice when you’re considering making a major financial move, are engaging in a risky investment or need to really get personally-tailored financial planning help. Trust your gut.

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