Here Are 5 TikTok ‘Tips’ That Could Wreck Your Retirement

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What if you discovered that the place you’ve been turning to for financial advice was only right half the time? Would you use it?

If you get your money moves from TikTok, that’s what you could be doing. One study found that 63% of the financial advice going viral on TikTok is misleading (1).

That’s right. Many of the money “tips” pulling in millions of views could be wrong — and the people posting them almost never mention the risks.

I won two Emmys reporting on personal finance, I’ve been a CPA since 1981, and I’ve been writing about money for 35 years. During that time, I’ve watched bad money advice quietly ruin more retirements than any market crash ever did.

The regulators are worried too. FINRA’s Investor Education Foundation found that people who follow financial influencers are far more likely to get burned by fraud than people who don’t (2). The SEC has flat-out warned investors not to be swayed by social media tips and testimonials (3). And roughly 27% of adults who took money advice from TikTok or Instagram later found out it was wrong (4).

Everything below is real advice I found being pushed on TikTok. I’m not linking to any of it — these folks thrive on attention, and I’m not about to hand them yours.

Here are five of the most popular “tips” aimed at people near retirement — and what each one gets dangerously wrong.

1. ‘Claim Social Security early — it’s going broke anyway’

This is the most common and most expensive bad take on financial TikTok. The fear is real. The conclusion is backwards.

Every month you wait past full retirement age, Social Security adds to your check — about 8% a year until you hit 70 (5). Wait from 67 to 70, and your monthly benefit jumps a permanent 24% (5).

Grabbing your benefit at 62 out of panic can lock in a smaller check for the rest of your life — even though most retirees come out ahead waiting. That’s a decision you can’t undo.

The right claiming age depends on your health, your spouse, and your other income — math worth getting right exactly once.

If you’re concerned about things like claiming age, this is the perfect time to find a second set of eyes in the form of a fiduciary financial advisor. It’s not very hard to do. Free sites like SmartAsset instantly match you with up to three fiduciary advisors — legally required to prioritize your interests.

They not only help with Social Security strategies, spot tax savings, and help with overall planning, but also, of course, offer expert investment advice. First appointments are typically free. $100K+ in investments? Get matched free in minutes.

2. ‘You can safely pull 8% from your savings every year’

This figure gets repeated constantly, often borrowed from a famous radio host. The trouble is the math doesn’t hold up.

Morningstar’s 2026 research puts the safe starting withdrawal rate at 3.9% — less than half of 8% — if you want your money to last a 30-year retirement (6). Even the classic 4% rule is now considered too generous by the researchers who study this.

Pull 8% during a down market early on, and you can run dry a decade sooner than you planned.

One solution is keeping a couple of years of expenses in cash, so you’re not forced to sell investments in a slump. And to earn as much as possible on those savings.

If you’re still at a traditional brick-and-mortar bank, you may be paying monthly checking fees while earning almost nothing on your savings. If that’s you, check out SoFi or other online banks offering a combined checking-and-savings account with no account fees and higher interest.

With SoFi, for example, with eligible direct deposit you can earn up to 3.80% APY on savings — many times the national average. (APY is variable and can change at any time.) New members who set up qualifying direct deposit may also be eligible for a cash bonus of up to $400, based on the amount deposited.

Terms apply — see details. Check out SoFi today.

3. ‘Move your retirement money into gold or crypto before the dollar collapses’

Doom sells. I understand the pull — I was a stockbroker during the Black Monday crash of 1987, and I’ve watched every panic since talk good people into the worst possible move at the worst possible time.

The numbers back the caution. Among people targeted for fraud, roughly 68% of social media users lost money — more than double the rate for those who steer clear (2).

Betting your retirement on one volatile asset because a stranger online said so isn’t a strategy. It’s a coin flip with your future.

If you do want some exposure to gold, that’s not a bad idea. Just do it with rules — inside a structured account, not off a hot tip.

A gold IRA lets you roll over an existing retirement account into one that holds physical gold, with the same tax treatment as a traditional IRA — or you can buy physical coins delivered to your door. (Minimum investment: $15,000.)

You can compare leading precious-metals providers on pricing, fees, and the rollover process, with this free comparison.

Always keep in mind, however, that investing in precious metals carries risk, including price volatility, and past performance doesn’t guarantee future results. This isn’t investment advice.

Quick aside — most internet financial advice comes from people who weren’t alive during the last recession. I’ve been writing about money for more than 35 years. Want rock-solid advice? Sign up for the free Money Talks Newsletter. Takes 10 seconds. No fluff. No spam.

4. ‘Just stop paying — send it straight to collections’

Scroll the credit-advice side of TikTok for five minutes and you’ll hear it: Don’t pay the debt, let it go to collections, the statute of limitations will bail you out. It’s one of the most common takes on the platform — and one of the most destructive.

Total household debt has climbed to $18.8 trillion in the United States, with credit card balances at $1.25 trillion and nearly 5% of all household debt now in some stage of delinquency (7).

Carrying high-interest debt into retirement, on a fixed income, is one of the fastest ways to fall behind and stay there. Ignoring it doesn’t make it vanish — it wrecks your credit for years.

The influencers telling you to shrug it off have never had to dig their way out. I wrote the book on this decades ago — it’s called “Life or Debt.”

If debt is the first thing on your mind when you wake up, you’re not alone — and you have options. For example, if you have $15,000 or more in unsecured debt, National Debt Relief is one of the most established debt-relief providers in the U.S. They’ve helped over 500,000 people, hold an A+ BBB rating, and are top-rated by ConsumerAffairs, Top Consumer Reviews, and others.

How it works: Fill out a quick form, and a certified debt specialist will review your situation. If they can help, they’ll build an affordable plan and estimate when you could be debt-free. There’s no upfront fee and no obligation to get started. They can help with most unsecured debt — credit cards, personal loans, medical bills, even some student loan debt.

5. ‘You don’t need an advisor — just follow me’

This is the tip hiding underneath all the others, and it’s the most self-serving one. These people profit when you watch, not when you win.

Remember that FINRA finding: Followers rated themselves experts while scoring 42% on the basics (2). Confidence isn’t competence.

There’s nothing wrong with learning about money online — I’ve spent 35 years putting it there. But taking orders from someone young, photogenic, and followed by millions — with no track record, no license, and no accountability — is exactly how careful people make expensive mistakes.

If you can use solid advice, and the money is big, don’t turn to TikTok. Use SmartAsset to find a fiduciary and get competent, professional, personalized advice.

Here’s the truth after more than three decades of doing this: The best money advice is usually boring. Save steadily. Don’t panic. Keep your costs low. Get real help for the big decisions. And get your online advice from people who have been around for a while.

And remember: The loudest voice in your feed is almost never the one worth listening to — and the flashier the promise, the faster you should scroll.

Don’t fund some influencer’s lifestyle with your retirement.

Sources: Fast Company (1); FINRA Investor Education Foundation (2); U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (3); CNBC (4); Social Security Administration (5); Morningstar (6); Federal Reserve Bank of New York (7).