[BTS #3] 5 Mistakes Financial Education Gurus are Making
And how Earn Out Loud PRO is avoiding them to make you a better investor.
Welcome to the 3rd edition of the Earn Out Loud PRO behind-the-scenes newsletter. Last week, I shared an overview of the type of content PRO subscribers will get.
Today, I want to highlight some mistakes that I think the financial education industry and its content creators are making.
Social media and seminars have endless voices offering advice on personal finance, investing, and trading. The problem with those resources is that the free content doesn’t teach you how to invest or generate consistent profits from trading.
That’s by design. The content shared on social media and at seminars isn’t created to teach. Its purpose is to motivate you to take an action: pay for a course, like a post, follow the influencer, etc.
On the other hand, some of you have taken paid courses and left the class with the creator’s “proven formula to make money” instead of the knowledge needed to generate investment income on your own—without their framework.
As an engineer, I used to work with frameworks every day of my career. Like any other framework, a financial framework will rarely create long-term success because it only works when certain conditions are met.
Earn Out Loud PRO won’t simply teach you frameworks to follow. Instead, you’ll learn why markets do what they do!
Consider children questioning worldly frameworks by endlessly asking, “Why?” This helps connect information, create meaningful associations, and build a deeper understanding of the subject. Likewise, understanding the why behind financial concepts will significantly enhance your skills as an investor or trader.
Three core components go into any educational resource:
Content: What’s being taught, and how good is the teacher at teaching it?
Packaging: How is it set up, and how do students consume the information?
Accountability: What about the course helps students complete and take action on it?
A great educational resource does all three exceptionally well.
So, where do the financial education industry and its content creators go wrong? Why aren’t more of you confidently investing your money and generating income, especially if you’ve paid money to learn how?
Here are 5 reasons that I can think of:
They teach financial frameworks, not financial principles. Always eager to improve, I took four financial education courses in 2024. Every last one taught a “framework” that I immediately threw out.
Inability to teach complex ideas. We’ve all met brilliant people who can’t articulate information they know very well.
The content is anecdotal. “I did this, and you can too” sounds good, but transformative content will be well-researched and include examples from individuals and other businesses.
Unrealistic expectations: It’d be great if a shortcut to wealth existed. It doesn’t. No matter your path—investor, corporate, or other—there is effort and consistency that you must give. Most paid resources overpromise and underdeliver.
Exorbitant prices: Seven years ago, I paid $4,500 to learn trading techniques—the content wasn’t worth it. An Earn Out Loud reader once paid $300/month for a trading mentor—it wasn’t worth it. Both prices were predatory toward young traders and left us feeling abused.
I have found it invaluable to know what I want to avoid while creating Earn Out Loud PRO.
Today’s Lesson:
When deciding which business to invest in, choose the company that best sets their customers up for success.
Example:
Amazon has a simple, effective, and hassle-free return policy. I have never had an issue returning a product to Amazon. One of the many reasons I keep spending money at Amazon is because I trust that I will always be prioritized as a customer.
Amazon’s net income for Q3 of 2024: $15 billion.
Chances are, other customers trust Amazon the same way I do.
On the other hand, my wife and I all but sued Bed Bath and Beyond for refusing to correct a $2,000 mistake they made on an item. We got a law office involved, it took us three months to resolve the issue, and it delayed our home renovation.
Bed Bath and Beyond’s net income for Q3 of 2024: (-$393) million
Chances are, other customers distrust Bed Bath and Beyond like we do.
Remember, every part of a business must work cohesively. Pay closer attention to companies that understand this and execute exceptionally.
We’ll talk soon,
Isaiah from Earn Out Loud