4 AI Money Tips Experts Say Could Wreck Your Finances — and What To Do Instead
Written by
Laura Bogart
Edited by
Kristen Mae
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Turning to ChatGPT for advice is becoming increasingly common. Whether you’re looking for a dinner idea, a quick explanation or help writing a tricky email, AI chatbots such as ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or Copilot have become useful tools for many people. They’re always ready and available to help with the most common or trickiest personal issues — including your personal finances. But should you trust their advice?
Not always. While AI can provide basic, factual answers around topics where there’s an abundance of information online — such as understanding your FICO score — many financial experts are leery of its insights in more specialized areas or on issues that require a deeper understanding of your personal financial situation. Following AI’s advice in these instances could prove disastrous.
To learn more about common AI money tips that could lead you astray, GOBankingRates talked with a few experts who shared what you should do instead.
Maximize Deductions To Lower Taxes
Sharad Gondaliya, a business tax expert and CPA at Gondaliya CPA, works with individual clients and small businesses to help them optimize their tax strategies and build smart long-term financial plans. One of the common pieces of AI-generated tax advice he’s encountered — and is none too pleased with — is the suggestion that you should maximize your deductions to lower your taxes.
“That may sound smart on paper, but it’s often not the right thing to do,” he said. “AI doesn’t take into account personal or long-term goals, like how some deductions can lower your qualified business income deduction or make it harder for you to get financing in the future.”
Instead of relying on AI, your best option is to meet with a tax professional who can discuss your current circumstances and goals — and give you a more personalized approach.
“They should know your specific goals, how much money you make and the rules in your state,” he said. “Every time, a personalized tax strategy is better than a generic one.”
Form a Corporation To Save Money on Taxes
Another frequent piece of AI-generated advice Gondaliya has encountered is that all freelancers and small-business owners can save money on taxes by forming a corporation.
“In some situations, that may be true, but AI doesn’t take into account things like self-employment income, payroll needs or state-level fees,” he said. “An LLC taxed as an S-corp might work for some small-business owners, but for others, it might make things more complicated and cost more to run without saving much.”
These generalized misconceptions are exactly why he says, “People and business owners shouldn’t take AI’s advice as gospel; instead, they should use it as a starting point.” He reiterates his advice for business owners to talk with a certified public accountant before making any tax decisions.
Have a Year’s Worth of Expenses in Your Emergency Fund
Asher Rogovy, chief investment officer of Magnifina, has a unique relationship with AI, since he was an early adopter of ChatGPT. He’s well aware of how it can work most effectively — and where its advice falls short.
“ChatGPT is trained on data samples of published writing, so its advice is rooted in the most common ideas, not necessarily the best,” he said. “In essence, it tells you what it thinks most people would like to hear. In general, the advice suggested is not bad advice, per se, but it also isn’t particularly clever, nuanced or personalized for any individual client.”
One perfect example of this tendency is the way AI will commonly recommend ensuring that your emergency fund covers six to 12 months of expenses. Rogovy says that, given ample liquidity and the speed of electronic transfers, the idea of an emergency fund may be “somewhat outdated” — let alone one with a year of expenses that could otherwise be invested to build wealth.
“We often advise maintaining a general-purpose investment account, which could be used for emergencies,” he said. “But because of such a strong precedent, emergency funds remain frequently included in general financial advice.”
Rogovy says he’s seen this advice appear in many articles that even predate AI. He attributes this to certain similarities between human thought and AI — that both tend to recycle what they’ve read most often.
Make Specific Stock Purchases
If anyone knows what AI can and can’t do wisely, it’s Arie Brish, a technology and business executive and investor for almost 50 years. His book on commercializing innovation, “Lay an Egg and Make Chicken Soup,” includes discussions about the opportunities, issues and risks of AI.
Now a professor at St. Edward’s University, he uses AI to guide research for his investment strategy — though he’d never use it for specific stock recommendations.
Asking AI to pick individual stocks can be dangerous because AI models learn from past patterns, which aren’t always perfect predictors of the future in a dynamic stock market. Essentially, you’d get strong historical simulations that might not hold up in real-time, unpredictable market conditions.
“I won’t ask, ‘What stock should I buy today?’ My questions are research in nature, such as, ‘Stock XYZ dropped 20% today — why?'” he said. He’ll also ask for research into changes at certain companies, such as a CEO firing or new leadership structure.
“I make my own decisions after my AI-assisted research provides me with the information I need,” he said.
The Bottom Line
Using AI might help you discover new recipes or a turn of phrase that softens the blow in a message, but you’ll always be better off turning to qualified professionals about your finances. AI can be a helpful starting point — not a substitute — for personalized, well-informed financial guidance.
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