Don't Take Financial Advice from a Five-Year-Old

I’ve never taken financial advice from a five-year-old and neither should you. There’s a good reason for this. Five-year-old's don't give opinions about IRA's and stocks. But even if they did, I still wouldn’t listen to them. Not because they don't have worth as people, but they lack the necessary knowledge for any kind of insightful commentary and the language to express meaningful concepts about the subject. They’re ignorant.

Extending this kind of label to adults seems rude though. When a full member of society gives their opinion we're supposed to take them seriously and listen to them. Democracy is built on this ideal and is guided by the Golden Rule. If I hear you out, you should hear me out. The rights I have are the rights you have. Even the ideas that lack insight and eloquence deserve this respect out of principle.

This is a good heuristic to live by if we want a just and respectful culture, but it doesn't mean that those around us are actually any different from a five-year-old giving financial advice— and we're not exempt from this. Not because we don't have the capacity or potential for knowledge and communication, but because each are gained and refined over time. Lacking these values could be the result of a deficient moral character, but most often it's because attaining these qualities in a noteworthy way takes a lot of time and intentional action. 

Rome wasn't built in a day and neither are our abilities. We may have opinions that stem from our uniqueness, but this doesn't mean they're insightful. This isn't a disheartening point either unless we're unwilling to put energy into cutting our teeth against those that have relayed their better ideas more effectively.

I will extend this point into another post about art.