Protecting yourself from financial misinformation on the internet

The internet is a deeply valuable resource containing information on anything and everything as far as the eye can see (read: be searched for in a browser). While there is a lot of beneficial information out there, it is imperative people check their sources to ensure the information they’re reading is factual and accurate, especially when it comes to money.

In this week’s episode of Money Glow Up, our host Tiffany ‘The Budgetnista’ Aliche speaks to Vivian Tu, Founder and CEO of Your Rich BFF, about wealth hacks, and verifying sources to make sure the things you’re doing to build your wealth are safe, successful, and most importantly legal to do.

“If [a wealth hack] feels too good to be true, too easy to be true, it probably is,” Tu advises.

So what is the best way to protect yourself from financial misinformation? Tu says to trust your gut and do the research. “If [financial influencers] say something and it makes you feel a little weird in your stomach, just use the sweet old Google machine and double check. Are other reputable sources writing about this and saying that it is a verified thing to do?”

While there are so many new ways for people to reach a wider audience online and teach them how to hack their way into more wealth, teachers and students need to play by the rules.

“It's truly about how you are explaining [wealth hacks], repackaging it, and showing it to a new audience so that they understand it for the first time,” Tu says. “The rules are made up by the IRS. The rules are made up by the US government. So we wanna make sure that anything that you see online can be verified by a number of other reputable sources.”

To learn more about Tu’s work, tune into this week’s episode of Money Glow Up.

Step into the classroom with Money Glow Up every Thursday at 12pm ET with Tiffany Aliche—aka The Budgetnista—to jump-start your financial journey.

Money Glow Up is produced by Lauren Pokedoff.