The Rational Reminder Podcast

Episode 276: Darin Soat: The Problem with Finfluencers, and Why it Won’t Get Better Anytime Soon

Oct 26, 2023

53:57

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Darin Soat, aka Mr. How Money Works, reveals his real identity and discusses the problems with finfluencers and the lack of quality financial information on YouTube. Topics include the gamification of investing, creating passive income, and the negative impact of scammers and influencers on retail investors.

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Quick takeaways

Darin Soat, creator of 'How Money Works', aims to debunk financial myths and provide sensible information to help people make better financial decisions.

Sout highlights the challenges of competing with clickbait and the gamification of investing on platforms like YouTube, and encourages more voices to provide quality financial information.

Sout emphasizes the need for critical thinking and understanding that investing is a long-term strategy, cautioning against the harmful impact of following financial influencers blindly.

Deep dives

Darren Sout and the Importance of Dispelling Financial Myths

Darren Sout, the creator of the YouTube channel 'How Money Works', discusses his motivations for providing sensible information and debunking financial myths. With a background in investment banking, he aims to help people make better financial decisions and avoid scams and get-rich-quick schemes. Sout emphasizes the need to dispel misconceptions about personal finance and shares his research-based insights to promote informed decision-making. He stresses the importance of understanding that there are no easy ways to get rich quickly and highlights the dangers of investing in side hustles and passive income schemes. Sout also highlights the challenges of competing with clickbait and the gamification of investing on platforms like YouTube, and encourages more voices and creators to address these issues by providing quality financial information.

Introduction

2min

Darren: A YouTuber in the Finance Space

25min

Scammers, Influencers, and the Negative Impact on Retail Investors

10min

Misconceptions and Dangers of Side Hustles and Following Social Media Trends

6min

The Problem of Survivorship Bias, Wealthy Advice Misconception, and the Allure of Financial Influencers

3min

Clickbait, Gamification, and Misconceptions in Investing

8min

If you’re in the world of finance, you’d know today’s guest from YouTube — but you’ve probably never heard his real name. However, today and for the first time, he chooses to associate his actual identity with his YouTube channel! It’s an honour to introduce to you, Mr. How Money Works himself, Darin Soat. On his YouTube channel, Darin combines captivating storytelling with high-quality, sensible information that helps you to make better financial decisions. Today, he joins us to explain How Money Works, why he chose to create his channel anonymously, and how he feels after his grand reveal. He describes how his channel informed his career as an investment banker, and gives us his insider breakdown of how influencer businesses work. Then, we dive deep into YouTube as we explore the problems with today’s financial influencers (finfluencers), how these problems are carried through to the crypto market, why it’s rare to find high-quality financial information on YouTube, and everything you need to know about the gamification of investing, creating passive income, and the ins and outs of investing from the perspective of one of YouTube’s top finfluencers, Darin Soat!

Key Points From This Episode:

We’re thrilled to reveal the real identity behind How Money Works – Darin Soat! (0:00:42)
Darin’s professional background. (0:01:41)
A thorough description of How Money Works, straight from the source. (0:04:33)
Exploring Darin’s background in investment banking. (0:07:08)
How he chooses content for his YouTube channel. (0:11:05)
Why he created his channel anonymously, and how he feels after his reveal. (0:12:54)
How his channel impacted his work while he was still in investment banking. (0:14:54)
Darin’s summation of how influencer businesses work. (0:17:00)
The problems with today’s financial influencers on YouTube. (0:21:17)
How the aforementioned problems relate to the crypto market. (0:27:11)
His criteria for selecting sponsors for How Money Works. (0:32:03)
Why high-quality personal financial information is rarely seen on YouTube. (0:33:45)
Darin’s advice on side hustles and creating passive income. (0:36:25)
How financial influencers and the gamification of investing affect real-world investors. (0:40:11)
What everyone needs to know about investing, according to Darin. (0:50:38)