About 43% of the U.S. population watches short videos on TikTok. The network has advice about every conceivable subject, and personal finance is one of them. There’s a lot of advice about spending, savings, and investing, and not all of it is great.
It’s often given by people with no expertise who may give advice that’s harmful. According to BestBrokers, these are the most harmful trends in personal finance on TikTok.
1. Side Hustle
Many people need a side hustle these days, but the information about them on TikTok can be misleading. Side hustle hashtagged posts number more than 3.33 million, making them highly pervasive among the financial advice given.
2. Passive Income
Having money coming in passively sounds great, but it very rarely materializes. In reality, a great deal of time and effort can go into trying to set up a passive income that never happens. The hashtagged posts number about 1.63 million.
3. Money Manifestation
This is a practice where people mix spirituality with finances and wish for more money. The goal is to picture it clearly to make it appear in your life. This passive action is generally unhelpful. Posts with related hashtags number 819,400.
4. Cryptoinvesting
There are some people who make some money investing in cryptocurrencies, but people often lose their investments. This advice on TikTok often comes from people with little actual experience with it. There are about 353,000 posts with related hashtags.
5. Money Hacks
There aren’t a lot of hacks when it comes to money, but 271,400 hashtagged posts would have you believe otherwise. Many of these hacks aren’t good practices for staying in control of personal finances.
6. Money Affirmations
Similar to money manifestation, this piece of advice involves repeating affirmations to put yourself into a better financial mindset. More than 150,000 posts are circulating with related hashtags.
7. Findom
Findom is a type of fetish that has someone controlling someone else financially. The submissive person often sends money to the dominant person. This isn’t a great arrangement for the submissive party. There are 193,000 related hashtagged posts.
8. Cash Stuffing
This is a practice where envelopes are used to hold cash that’s meant for various expenses. Using cash can help people to spend less, but it’s got to be highly inconvenient. More than 150,000 of these posts are on TikTok.
Read More: Cash Stuffing: The Guide for Getting Started
9. Retire Early/Financial Independence
Many people on TikTok convince others that they can retire decades early. This is a goal outside the realm of possibility for many people. This and financial independence have more than 143,000 posts.
10. Quick Money
There’s a reason they call them get-rich-quick schemes- because all that scheming often comes to nothing. When people need quick money, they generally can’t count on the advice in this hashtag to help.
11. Credit Card Hack
Staying away from credit cards is some of the best financial advice. When you start getting wound up in credit cards, even when there are hacks, it often means a lot of money lost. There are more than 37,000 posts with related hashtags.
12. 100 Envelope
This is a way to save money every day for 100 days. At the end of it, savers have more than $5,000 saved in 100 envelopes. It’s an overly complicated and inconvenient way to save, but it’s garnered more than 31,000 posts.
13. No-Spend Challenge
It isn’t very realistic to not spend money. Everyone has regular needs that require spending money. This advice can be a setup for failure for many people. Nevertheless, it’s gotten almost 27,000 posts.
Read More: No Spend Challenge? This is Why It Won’t Work
14. S Corp
Incorporating a small business into an S Corporation is a useful way to cover liability for some businesses. However, many of the people suggesting incorporation have no business giving out financial advice. There are more than 12,000 TikTok posts about it.
15. Loud Budgeting
This trend is all about being very open about how you budget and what you spend your money on. It requires not spending money on frivolous things and instead putting money where it’s most important. About 2,700 posts reference this advice.
