Written by: Corey Janoff
This post was originally published on our previous blog website on October 4, 2017 and has since not been revised and/or updated.
I saw a picture online the other day that made me laugh. A copied it to the left (or above, depending on your browser). It was a photo taken from the waiting room of a doctor’s office of a framed poster hanging on the wall. If you can’t see the image, the poster says, “Please DO NOT Confuse Your Google Search with my Medical Degree.”
The internet has done wondrous things for most of us. It has drastically increased access to information and the speed at which we can acquire that information. It has created a resource for self-education on any topic imaginable. We are now able to connect with other humans in ways not imaginable 50 years ago.
Too Much Information
The internet has become so successful at disseminating information that it can be difficult to discern what information is accurate and applicable to what we are searching for.
The common example is illustrated in the image at the beginning of this post. Let’s say you develop a rash on your arm. Before the days of Google and WebMD, what would you do about that rash? Maybe apply some Benadryl cream to it? If it persisted, you would probably schedule an appointment with your doctor or a dermatologist. The doctor would take a look, likely prescribe a prescription strength steroid cream, and nine times out of ten, the rash would go away within a few days. If it didn’t go away, or after examining you the doctor thought it was more serious, you would go through further testing and be given additional treatment. Problem solved (hopefully).
Today, if you have a rash on your arm, what do you do? Some of you may still apply some Benadryl to it. Many of you will also (or instead) immediately Google search rashes and try to find symptoms and images that match yours. It feels hot, it appears bumpy, when you touch it, it makes it itch more. Do you also have achy joints or have to go to the bathroom more frequently as usual? Why yes, now that you mention it, I think I do. OH MY GOSH, I HAVE CANCER AND IT’S IN THE LATE STAGES!!! EVEN WITH TREATMENT, WEBMD SAYS I ONLY HAVE A 5% CHANCE OF LIVING MORE THAN 6 MONTHS!!!
I’m sure doctors get annoyed when patients come in after already diagnosing themselves. Most of the time, the doctor can simply roll his eyes and let the patient know he is misinformed and proceed with examining the patient and diagnosing the ailment correctly. Sometimes though, the patient is convinced they have a certain disease or disorder and are seeking the doctor’s confirmation of their preconceived notion. If the doctor doesn’t provide confirmation of what the patient believes, the patient might argue, or seek another physician, since this doctor clearly doesn’t know what they are talking about.
An instance like this happened with my dad about a year ago. My dad is a vascular surgeon, so he specialized in all of the major arteries and blood vessels (except the heart). A patient came in who was convinced that his back pain was being caused by the varicose veins in his legs. After a quick examination, my dad told the patient he didn’t think the veins were causing the back pain. The patient began explaining, “Well I’m a massage therapist and I have advanced knowledge of the human body. Everything is connected and I’m highly certain that my back pain is being caused by my veins. I can’t think of any other reason for it.”
My dad responded with, “Well I’m a surgeon with 30 years of experience and I can tell you the veins in your legs aren’t causing your back pain. Nerves flow down, so if the veins are affecting your nerves, it’s not going to hurt your back. I can remove the veins if you want, but it won’t help your back pain.”
The patient left unsatisfied, still convinced the veins in his legs were causing the back pain.
This Applies to All Walks to Life
It’s not just doctors that encounter this problem. Attorneys face it when helping clients who come prepared after researching the law online. The problem is, the client may have read an outdated article or an inaccurate blog post (not to diminish my fellow bloggers out there).
I see it all the time in financial planning. The client will come to the meeting with an action plan already in mind and are merely looking for me to confirm that the plan they have come up with is the best way to reach their goals.
Client: “I want to become debt free as fast as possible, so I’m going to pay off my debts, starting with the debt with the smallest balance. Once that one is paid off, I will work on paying off the next smallest debt.”
Me: “I’m glad you are motivated to pay off your debts. You will actually pay them off faster if you focus your energy and efforts on the highest interest rate debt first, rather than the smallest balance. By doing it this way, your debts will be paid off about 8 months faster than if you use the smallest balance strategy.”
Client: “Well I read an article.” Or, “But Dave Ramsey says…”
Then why the heck are you talking to me!? Stop wasting my time if you don’t want my advice!
I am by no means an expert in all things financial planning. I’ll let you know if I am not well versed in a certain matter you have questions on. I’ll also be the first to tell you there are multiple paths that ultimately lead to the same final destination. Sometimes though, there are certain paths that will get you to the end goal faster than others. Do you want the scenic route or the more efficient directions?
Many people would retire tomorrow if they could. Most want to at least have the ability to retire by their mid 60’s. They also want to have fun while they are working, take vacations, live in a big house, drive a nice car, own a yacht, etc, etc. If retirement is top priority, I can devise a plan for you that gets you there within the time frame you want to get there. It will likely require some sacrifices along the way. That is the efficient path.
Some people prefer to take the scenic route though. I don’t care if I can retire by 55 if it means I will miss out on a lot of fun along the way. I would be perfectly content if I retire at 65 if it means I can take a couple of big vacations every year, have season tickets to my favorite sports team, and go out to dinner once a week.
There isn’t a right or wrong path. But it’s important the advice helps you get on the most appropriate path for your goals.
Where There is a Disconnect
You may have certain goals in mind and want to find the best way to reach those goals. The internet articles you read don’t know you. They can’t read your mind. They are giving advice to a certain type of individual. It’s on you to be able to discern if you are that individual. That can be a difficult task if you don’t have much experience in a subject.
A good professional, in any field, will get to know the client/customer/patient, learn their goals, concerns, hopes, dreams, and work with them to devise a plan to reach those goals. Reading advice columns online and applying it to your situation would be the equivalent of receiving the diagnosis and treatment plan from the doctor before the doctor examines you. If the stars align, it could work perfectly. But unless the advice is pertinent to the ailment, it may not work out well.
You may be getting your financial advice from some 23 year old journalist, with no background in finance, who was just assigned to the money column that week on whatever website you are reading. It’s the blind leading the blind!
Again, the internet has done wonderful things for all of us. I imagine it will only continue to improve our lives moving forward. But we have to remember the source of the information. How reputable is it? What is their background? Why are they recommending I do things a certain way? Are there other paths that lead me to where I want to go? And more importantly, is the information and advice presented to me after getting to know my situation and goals/concerns? Or am I trying to match my goals/concerns to the appropriate recommendations?
Disclosures:
These are the opinions of Corey Janoff and not necessarily those of Finity Group, LLC, or Cambridge Investment Research, Inc. Any examples are hypothetical and for illustrative purposes only. Nothing in this post should be construed as specific advice for your individual situation.
