Financial Experts Urge Caution as 57% of Americans Regret Acting on Online Advice
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Every scroll brings another promise: get rich with crypto, unlock secret tax loopholes, achieve financial freedom in three easy steps. But for more than half of Americans, these claims have proven to be perilous. According to a 2025 CFP Board report, 57% have made financial decisions they wish they could take back after trusting online advice, a costly consequence of an era when financial guidance is abundant but reliability is uncertain
YouTube, TikTok, and ChatGPT have become America’s new financial counselors, for better or worse. While these platforms deliver instant answers, they’ve also blurred the line between expertise and entertainment, leaving users to play detective with their own financial futures. The result: Americans now spend significantly more time verifying online advice than they did five years ago, according to the CFP Board, turning every money tip into a research project.
The question for most people isn’t whether to use online resources; it’s how to use them without getting burned. Financial advisors who guide clients through the aftermath of bad internet advice share their strategies for making decisions you won’t regret.
Financial misinformation can come in many forms. Pop-up ads touting deeply discounted vacation properties, ‘secret’ tax hacks, or lucrative crypto trades are just some of the rabbit holes to avoid clicking down.
“One of the most costly forms of misinformation involves taxes,” says Jonathan Dane, Founder & CIO of Defiant Capital Group. “I regularly see claims that you can ‘write everything off’ or use rental property losses to eliminate W-2 income,” he says. “These legitimate tax opportunities require specific qualifications most influencers never mention.”
“The most harm comes from the promise of big money with little effort,” says Ramiro Marmolejo, Founder of Financial Rubrics. “Crypto ‘guarantees’, secret tax ‘tricks’… by the time someone comes to me, they’re dealing with unexpected taxes or money locked up in ways they never intended or have substantial financial loss.”
A February report from the FINRA Investor Education Foundation linked isolation and loneliness to various forms of financial fraud, suggesting that a strong social circle can help people avoid making poor decisions based on online advice without a second opinion from someone they know well. In an age of doomscrolling, it is vital to have trusted people around who can flag when a money move sounds too good to be true.
This may be why, despite all the information technology at their fingertips, Americans still turn to those nearest and dearest to them when it comes to money matters. The CFP Board report found that friends and family are the top source of financial advice for Americans, with 55% saying they turn to them for guidance.
However, advisers warn that listening too closely to family members can have unintended effects. Marcus Griffin, Founder of Narrow Gate Wealth Management, says well-intentioned family elders often pass on outdated ‘money scripts’ to the young.
“These could be things like ‘stay with one company for life’ or ‘stocks are very risky,’ he explains. “While family and friends may not have conflicts of interest, it doesn’t always lead to the best advice.”
Derrick Alexander, Owner of Greater Works Wealth, sees risk in taking advice from loved ones who aren’t professionally accountable.
“People speak from personal experience,” says Alexander. “A good advisor, someone who has met hundreds of people, speaks from experience and repetition. It’s more objective.”
Trust in financial content also varies significantly by age group. The CFP Board found that nearly half of Americans aged 25-45 believe most, or all, online financial information has their best interests in mind (48%), while only a quarter of those aged 46-64 agree.
“Older investors tend to be more cautious because they have experienced more market cycles and have seen similar trends before,” says Omar Morillo, Senior Wealth Advisor at Imperio Wealth Advisors. “Their skepticism is understandable,” he adds. “Younger adults encounter a constant stream of polished financial content online, and presentation can be mistaken for credibility, which increases the risk of misinformation spreading.”
Some may be surprised to learn that only 32% of the CFP Board survey respondents said they frequently seek financial information from financial advisors.
However, as a trusted authority on money, advisors remain the gold standard: 74% of Americans are comfortable acting on an advisor’s guidance without seeking confirmation elsewhere, more than any other source by far.
The stark gap between the high trust placed in financial professionals and the much lower number of people who hire advisors could be explained by perceptions of cost. Unlike online search channels, financial advice is not free. Yet amid misleading online content, does everyone need professional guidance?
“Everybody, including financial planners themselves, can benefit from engaging with a financial advisor,” says Igor Aronov, Financial Planner at FAR Financial. “Simply having another set of eyes, especially if they have specific knowledge, would be very helpful to uncover blind spots or validate decisions.”
“I don’t believe everyone needs a financial advisor. Plenty of people love managing their own money and are quite good at it,” says Mike Hunsberger, Owner of Next Mission Financial Planning. “I do think if it isn’t something you love, you should at least engage a financial planner every few years for a check-in to make sure you’re on track.”The internet isn’t going away, and neither are the financial influencers flooding it with advice of varying quality. What can change is how Americans consume it.
Whether relying on family wisdom, hiring a local financial advisor, or conducting self-directed research, the common denominator is the same: question everything, verify sources, and remember that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. In a digital age where anyone can claim expertise, your skepticism might be your most valuable financial asset.
