There is so much financial advice out there. There is no governing body out there that regulates what is and is not harmful advice to give when it comes to finances. The only people who are held accountable in any kind of way are those who work with investments.

While someone offering bad investment advice is harmful, there is information that is published in actual books that is even more harmful than a potentially bad trade.

Here are some of the most harmful financial “tips” or “advice” that is given:

Debt is dumb

Do you want to be thousands and thousands of dollars in debt? No. However, contrary to financial advice given by certain financial bobbleheads, credit does matter and using debt appropriately can help your credit score. Debt can also help get you to where you are trying to go. Without student loans, I would not be where I am today. The difference between being smart with debt or dumb, is that as soon as I got my degrees and had the money, I paid off my student loans in record time. I would be a fool if I said I could be where I am without the assistance of debt.

You do not need a credit score

Technically you do not need a credit score, but if you do not, it is suggested that you have millions at your disposal so you can cash flow your entire life from vehicles to housing to everyday living. Let’s talk about housing. Technically there are banks who will manually write your mortgage terms which is necessary when you are not using a credit score. However, this will limit your power to negotiate because you can not just take your business elsewhere. There are not a lot of banks who are willing to do manual underwriting these days as it is very very time-consuming. Without a credit score, you are also ineligible to participate in any kind of point system offered by credit card companies. Some people maximize these benefits and travel mostly for free by using credit cards and paying them off at the end of the month. Without a credit score, you forfeit the possibility to partake.

You have to sacrifice everything to pay off debt

There is this false narrative that says you have to live off of beans and rice and have absolutely no life where money is spent on recreational activities while you are paying off debt. I do not know about you, but while paying off my debt was important, so was living a life of enjoyment. If you follow the advice of some of these financial gurus you will find that you can not truly start living your life until you are 65+.

I do not know about you, but I want to hike now.

I want to travel now. I want to try craft beers at my vacation locals now. I want fancy lunch dates with gal-pals NOW. If you can not enjoy this life you are living, how are you ever going to stay focused on the end goal? I found that allowing myself to live a little while paying off debt showed me the potential of how much more I would be able to do with my money when I was debt free. That’s how I stayed focused.

You only need a 1000 dollar emergency fund

I think this is only true if you live at home with your parents, and do not own a car or pet. For most adults, $1000 would barely cover a set of new tires. Saving $1000 is a good first step, but it is not enough. If you have any kind of deductible on your health insurance, homeowners or renters insurance, or car insurance, you are one accident away from accruing more debt if you only have $1000. How much is enough? That is something decided on an individual basis, but at minimum, it should be at least 1-2 months’ worth of bare-bone expenses. The more you can put aside, the better. The point of your emergency fund is to allow you to cash flow in the event of an emergency, and usually, those emergencies are much more than $1000.

Do not invest in retirement until you are debt free

This. Is. Nonsense. Most lending (aside from credit cards) is usually 8% or less. Most investments (401k’s, IRA’s, 403b’s, etc.) have a rate of return of around 10% which means by not investing you could potentially be losing money. Compound interest is what will help build your wealth and the longer you let it compound, the better your rate of return will be.

Not addressing your money mindset

It is not that people tell you to NOT do this, the problem is that they do not tell you that you SHOULD do it. People will tell you to do no-spends or give various advice that does not actually get you to the root of your problem. Do you have spending triggers, if so, what are they? Where do they stem from? These are all questions you should be asking yourself as you embark on a debt-free journey because if you do not face these issues head-on you will find it very difficult to succeed long-term with your financial goals.