Is this the missing link for cheap, effective financial advice?

The Financial Advice Association of Australia (FAAA) has launched a digital campaign targeting “finfluencers” and urging people to talk to licensed financial advisers instead.

For those who can afford it and seek advice at the right times, I agree – quality advice can be invaluable. But here’s the reality: financial literacy is low for many Australians, and most people don’t even know if the advice they’re getting is truly suited to them.

Financial advice can seem like a maze to navigate, leaving people to turn to less trustworthy online sources.Credit: Simon Letch

Add to that the millions of people who simply can’t access affordable advice, and you’re left with people either trying to figure things out on their own or, worse, turning to influencer content that might not serve their best interests.

If we’re serious about building financial confidence in Australia, we need to look beyond pointing fingers at finfluencers. The real solution is self-help financial education – a nearly empty space where people could access unbiased, practical information without the sales pitch.

Here’s the catch: the financial advice industry isn’t set up to champion self-help education. A more financially literate public might not need advice as often, and that reality doesn’t drive revenue.

Instead of just criticising finfluencers, we should be learning from their approach – asking ourselves why people are turning to them in the first place.

Finfluencers pose a risk to everyone, but instead of just calling them out, maybe the financial advice industry could learn lessons from them.

Let’s face it, most available financial education is dry, overly complex or too disconnected from the real-life decisions people need to make. Why aren’t we investing in self-help financial education that’s engaging, accessible and genuinely useful?

We need to fill the information gap with resources that empower Australians to make confident financial choices, not just create a bigger queue for advice services that are already unable to cope with the current levels of enquiry.

Imagine having programs and resources that people could turn to as life changes, helping them recognise when they need advice and when they don’t. Most people need advice only at pivotal times, not every year, and the industry can’t realistically serve everyone one-on-one.

Filling this gap with engaging education would mean equipping more Australians to make smarter decisions on their own terms, without relying on influencers who might not have their best interests at heart.

Just the other night, my 16-year-old son floored us at the dinner table. We were discussing how important homeownership can be for a secure retirement, and he suddenly said, “I’ll never be able to buy a house.”

We stared at him for a moment. “Of course you will!” we said, almost in unison. “You just need to understand how it works – get some reliable skills, a job you enjoy, and eventually save up for a deposit for a house you can afford – then the growth in value of your first house helps you gradually get a bigger house one day.”

But he was unmoved. “No, the message on TikTok is clear – I won’t ever be able to afford it.”

He’s not going to get financial advice until much later in life – does that mean he doesn’t deserve to learn? But where can he learn? His school doesn’t teach it, financial advisers don’t teach it, and mum and dad aren’t exactly ‘cool and current’ in his eyes.

It’s not just TikTok. On Facebook, retirement finance groups are popping up everywhere. However, look a little closer and transparency is lacking. These groups invite consumers to post their personal financial situations, sparking a flood of comments from members and “expert” financial advisers – some of whom may be there purely for lead generation, possibly even paying for access to the community without disclosure. And the other commenters certainly aren’t qualified to offer advice.

How would consumers know? They’re left to sift through a confusing mix of opinions, unsure whom to trust. Many end up reaching out to one of these advisers lurking in the groups, which is concerning.

I run a large retirement group on Facebook myself, and, full disclosure, I also recently published a self-help book on retirement. In my group, we’ve learnt the only way to keep it clean and safe is to ban personal financial advice conversations entirely. Other groups are taking a different, riskier path. Regulators and perhaps even the industry body, it appears, aren’t watching at all.

Whether there’s a vested interest involved or not, that’s for the industry to regulate – if they’re concerned. But one thing the FAAA and I agree on is that what’s missing is the ability for everyday Australians to recognise these influencers and call them out in their own heads and decide what right is – something commonly referred to as “self-help”.

If we truly want to help Australians build financial security and financial confidence, we need to address these hidden biases and start closing the education gap now. But perhaps for different reasons that the FAAA is calling out – it’s not so everyone lines up for advice every year.

ASIC has warned “finfluencers” – social media influencers, often with large followings, who focus on money matters – about their legal obligations.Credit: Brett Carlsen/Bloomberg

It’s so people understand their choices, can make their own decisions, and get the right types of advice at the right times of life.

Here’s how I see it: there are three distinct spaces. First, we have financial advisers, who are gradually turning what was once a product-focused industry into a true profession grounded in personalised advice.

Then, there are the finfluencers – individuals profiting by sharing financial opinions or pushing specific products. This is not only illegal at present, but also poorly policed, with abuses happening widely online.

Finally, we have the almost empty space of true, quality financial education – a space where unbiased information could empower people to make informed decisions, including knowing when to seek advice and when to dig deeper themselves.

The reality? Finfluencers pose a risk to everyone. But instead of just calling them out, maybe the financial advice industry could learn lessons from them – and step up with quality, entertaining, educational resources for those who can’t afford or don’t need personal advice yet.

And super funds? With their reach, they could do more than throw a webinar or dump information online; they could bridge the gap by making financial literacy genuinely useful, easy to understand and (dare I say it) interesting.

It shouldn’t all be about pushing people into the advice queue that’s already full – it should be about giving them the confidence to make smart financial decisions day-to-day.

Let’s make financial education engaging, accessible and genuinely helpful. Because if we’re serious about empowering Australians, we’ve got to make it something they actually want to learn.

Bec Wilson is the author of bestseller How to Have an Epic Retirement. She writes a weekly newsletter at epicretirement.net and is host of the Prime Time podcast.

• Advice given in this article is general in nature and is not intended to influence readers’ decisions about investing or financial products. They should always seek their own professional advice that takes into account their own personal circumstances before making financial decisions.

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