Queenie Tan is full of financial advice.
Her posts and videos have gained her15,000 followerson Instagram and42,000 followerson TikTok.
Her explainer on Australian tax rules for cryptocurrency capital gains has been viewed more than 360,000 times.
Her tips for first home buyers more than 400,000 times.
Both videos last less than a minute.
Queenies qualifications as a financial expert are slim.
She has worked as a marketing manager.
She says she accumulated close to A$350,000 in assets in five years.
Becoming a finfluencer can be highly lucrative.
On TikTok the hashtag #FinTok has been viewed more than 340 million times.
Another is Sara Rosalia, a Canadian teenager who as Sara Finance has attracted more than 670,000 followers.
Aspiring influencers are also finding financial content a successful formula on Youtube, Twitter, and Reddit.
It’s free, every week, in your inbox.
It rated 14% of them as misleading.
Musks twittering has also been instrumental in boosting the price of Dogecoin and sending Bitcoins price both upand down.
A social media influencer at their best will build an audience through solid financial advice.
The corporate regulator has expressed its concern about such advice because consumers lack any legal protection.
In Australia (as elsewhere), there are laws regulating the conduct of those running financial advice businesses.
Advisers must be licensed.
Qualifying for a license requires completing courses and passing exams,including on ethics.
To become a finfluencer, on the other hand, requires no specific expertise whatsoever.
Like the bloke at the pub?
Despite this, the Australian government has signaled it sees no need to do more to regulate finfluencers.
These are rather simplistic things for a minister in charge of the digital economy to say.
The bloke at the pub, for one thing, does not make money from his talk.
Three tips to assess finfluencers
This is not to say all finfluencers are suspect.
Their advice, such as Queenie Tans tips on saving money, may be very sensible.
They wouldnt be popular if there wasnt a demand for accessible financial information that itself doesnt cost a fortune.
First, dont assume a large number of followers makes someone worth following.
Popularity doesnt equal credibility.
Look at their background and educational qualifications.
Second, why are they sharing their secrets with you for free?
The Chinese philosopher Lao-tzu is credited with saying: Those who know do not tell.
This is as true now as in the 6th century.
Anyone touting a particular stock or product or strategy should be treated with suspicion.
Third, be wary of anyone promoting a get-rich-quick scheme.
Yes, it is possible to make huge returns on an initial investment.
But such windfall gains are the exception rather than the rule.
This article byAngel Zhong, Senior Lecturer in Finance,RMIT Universityis republished fromThe Conversationunder a Creative Commons license.
