Saw a guy on a forum claim you can't learn real investing from online posts

I was reading through a thread on one of the big personal finance boards yesterday, and this one user went on a rant. He said, 'If you're getting your stock tips from a forum, you're just gambling with extra steps.' He basically argued that all the talk about ETFs and dollar-cost averaging on these sites is just noise from people who have never actually managed real money. It got me thinking about my own experience. I started with a $500 account three years ago based on advice from a forum, and it's grown steadily by just following a simple plan I read there. That guy's take feels so out of touch. For a lot of us, these forums are the only free place to ask questions without some advisor trying to sell us something. Has anyone else built a decent portfolio starting from zero with just forum advice, or was that guy right?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_dylan23d ago

Wait, he said you can't learn from forums but then trashed ETFs? That's wild. Those are the most basic, proven long term holds out there. My whole Roth IRA is in index funds because of a forum post from like 2010.

sage_perry23d ago

Remember my buddy who got a "real" financial advisor? Guy put him in a bunch of high fee mutual funds that barely moved. Meanwhile, I just copied a simple three ETF split from a forum thread. Guess whose account is bigger now after five years? That advisor was so mad about "free internet advice" while his own picks were garbage.

jesseb2023d ago

I mean, it's the same old gatekeeping thing. People who had to pay for info back in the day get mad that it's free now. My simple ETF plan from a forum is doing just fine.