A story we’ve run this week has made me think again about people’s use of AI, particularly when it comes to asking financial questions.
Most people will have financial questions on their mind: how do I find out what my pension is worth? Where is a good place to invest and so on.
There’s nothing wrong with this and I’m not against consumers seeking some financial education or guidance from AI assistants or even social media influencers, at least the better ones.
I’ve always had the view that what is holding many people back when it comes to personal finances is a lack of initial education and guidance. Many are stuck in a trap of inertia because they don’t know where to go or can't get some simple questions answered.
All this is true, but I’ve learned this week there is another factor which an interesting piece of research from the financial app Plum, which is planning a Targeted Support service, has uncovered.
Their survey of 2,000 consumers looked at where people would go to ask initial financial questions and interestingly financial advisers were top of the list at 19%, although only just 1% above AI assistants.
Plum found, however, that what holds back people from seeking more advice from any source is what they called: “judgment, jargon, and embarrassment.” These remain hurdles to people taking control of their money and this might be a factor in more people approaching AI assistants initially for money guidance. AI assistants don't judge, human beings do.
In essence, people are nervous about seeming to ask simple or dumb questions or wasting an adviser’s time. It’s human nature to avoid embarassment so why not just avoid appearing stupid when it comes to asking financial questions. I wonder how much this prevents people from seeking help at all - perhaps quite a bit.
Financial Planners and financial advisers generally have a potentially golden opportunity here to be the first port of call. Of course, planners cannot spend all their time fielding simple questions from the public but there may be a case to offer more pro bono workshops or money clinics to the public.
The annual Financial Planning Week campaign is a good place for this but perhaps an all year round effort to engage more with the public, to answer some simple questions, may pay dividends.
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Kevin O’Donnell is editor of Financial Planning Today and a journalist with 40 years of experience in finance, business and daily news. This topical comment appears most weeks, usually on Fridays but occasionally other days. Email: