In our quest for financial stability and success, we often seek advice from friends, family, and even so-called experts. But in a world filled with a vast sea of financial advice, some of it will inevitably be... well, less than stellar. We’ve all heard our fair share of terrible money tips, ranging from the mildly unhelpful to the downright disastrous. It’s often said that experience is the best teacher, but when it comes to literally the thing we need to buy food and keep a roof over our head, learning from the money mistakes of others can save you a whole lot of heartache (and cash).
Guess what? There’s so much trash out there about this topic that we created a compilation of the worst financial advice people have ever received straight from this thread that had us in disbelief. These stories will have you cringing and probably nodding in recognition as you remember the time your Aunt Edna told you to invest your life savings in Beanie Babies.
As you scroll through these tales of financial folly, you’ll likely relate to the well-meaning but misguided advice that has crossed your path. From the friend who swears by bad budgeting techniques to the coworker who insists on sharing their poor investment advice during every coffee break, we’ve all encountered those who unwittingly steer us towards financial blunders.
But fear not, dear Pandas! This collection of bad financial tips is more than just an entertaining journey through the land of misguided money management. It’s also a valuable learning opportunity, as you’ll find financial pitfalls to avoid and gain some insights into making smarter financial decisions.
#1
"Don’t be a programmer. Your job will get outsourced to India." - my dad when I told him excitedly as a teenager that I tried coding and loved it. I ignored his advice and I’m now a programmer and still love it. Oh, and the pay is great too. I am now making a lot more than he ever did."
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27points
#2
"My mom told me that my priority was to find a rich man to marry off to, not work on my career.
She's a stay-at-home mom with bad spending habits, and my dad works a 12-hour job just so we can get by.
I love my mom dearly, and that advice may have been applicable in an era when women were only ever expected to raise children, but it's not 1850, so I'm going to work on my career first."
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27points
#3
"Don't make more money, you'll go up a tax bracket and end up paying more taxes so you'll end up making less overall."
This isn't how taxes work, people. If you go $1 into the next track bracket, only that $1 is taxed higher. You can't make less money by making more money."
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25points
#4
"My aunt took me to a car dealership when I was looking to buy my own first car. I was looking at the clunkers I could afford, but she said I should be looking at the new cars. She said, 'The total price doesn’t matter because you make monthly payments.' I suddenly understood too well why she had always been so financially unstable."
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24points
#5
"I remember 10 years ago people told me not to buy a house, that it was a waste of money and renting was cheaper. I didn’t listen and bought my house for $250,000. Now comparable homes in my neighborhood are selling for $650,000-$700,000. The rent in my city has more than doubled, almost tripled.
Today, if I had listened to that advice I would not be able to afford to live anywhere near my city, renting or owning. A one-bedroom apartment in my city costs more to rent now than my mortgage payment on a 4 bedroom house."
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24points
#6
"Had a professor in this kind of bootleg college. He clearly took the job as a favor, he was some Wall Street type. He said he doesn't get why students who are young and have no assets don't just borrow a ton of money to pay for college, then declare bankruptcy, since they have no assets anyway.
Aside from wrecking your credit, student loans aren't dischargeable by bankruptcy."
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22points
#7
"Legit got told to, 'Don't buy food, it's a useless investment'. Like what the hell?"
TheAlePower comments: "$tarve."
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21points
#8
"Spend it quickly or it’ll get stolen."
Coming from someone with a history of losing and blowing their money.
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19points
#9
"Invite me to go to a really expensive restaurant where you can spend easily 250$ without drinks at a time. I only had 700$ in my bank account and had not paid for my car, groceries, and stuff, because 'Come on, we only live once.'"
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19points
#10
"Someone told me they turned down a promotion/raise to stay in a lower tax bracket."
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19points
#11
"One of my uncles once told me that I never really had to pay my phone bill. He suggested that I simply jump to another carrier and let the first company cut me off. His life has turned out exactly as you'd imagine."
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18points
#12
"So when I was 24, I was financially struggling. I had a job that worked me a lot of hours but only paid me $10 an hour.
My parents talked me into buying a brand new 2004 4-Door Honda Civic, the pre-interest price tag on it was about $25,000. A few weeks after getting it, my hours got regulated and it took one entire paycheck to make the monthly note on it - I could not afford the insurance on it. I very quickly realized my parents were bad at money."
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18points
#13
"About 5 years ago, I had a friend who was trying to convince me to study through a private college because they gave her a free iPad.
She never finished the course but kept the iPad (you only got to keep it once you pay your fees and graduate. Mind you, the price of the course included the iPad so it wasn't free).
So last year, 4 years later, I get a call from the college asking for her contact info. She put me down as a reference and they were chasing her down because she still owed her fees and wasn't entitled to keep the iPad."
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18points
#14
"Just put your holiday trip on a credit card."
"I live in Australia, and everywhere is far to get to. My friend went to Egypt and other parts of Africa and Europe, and it was not cheap. He put the whole thing on credit cards and is still paying it back, to this day, 6 years later."
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18points
#15
"Once you cut up the credit card, you don't have to pay it. My cousin is not doing so hot. I'm pretty sure there are warrants out for his arrest in several states."
kaykez22 replied: "I work for a bank. The number of times I get customers to tell me, 'I just got a phone call saying I owe you but I canceled my card!' I tell them we never received a notice that they canceled it. And they say, 'But I cut it up!' Dude. If cutting bills up would solve anything, life would be great."
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17points
#16
"Saving money attracts bad luck." "Do not save or else, you’ll end up using it for an emergency."
"It’s a Filipino superstition that saving attracts an emergency. Do not save so that you don’t experience an emergency. Being frugal is frowned upon. What if an emergency happens and they have no savings?
They 'borrow' money from frugal people and if you say 'no' to them because you know they spent their money on useless things they will say 'You can not bring all your wealth to your grave'".
"I choose the people to who I lend/give money."
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17points
#17
"My father would tell me to max my credit card on a new car and if they asked for payments just say, 'F*** em', what are they going to do?'
My father is several levels of debt hell deep that he's trying to get out of now, but he's at least trying."
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16points
#18
"I got 90 dollars and my 11-year-old son told me I should buy 90 dollars worth of kazoos. No real plan past that."
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16points
#19
"Not exactly what the question's asking, but my mom has an aunt who thinks the bank is just giving you free money when you use the ATM."
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16points
#20
"My cousin bought a camper, went camping once, and then decided camping wasn't for them. Rather than selling it, they decided to just stop making the payments and let the bank come and get it. Which, eventually, they did."
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16points