Richard Coffin (The Plain Bagel): “Finfluencers” and Behavioural Finance | TWB Podcast #7

Our guest this episode is Richard Coffin—better known to many as “The Plain Bagel.” Richard is a CFA and CFP professional working as a Portfolio Manager in Ottawa. He has nearly 1 million subscribers on his YouTube channel where he creates entertaining and educational videos on finance, investing and economics.

In this episode, Dave and Richard discuss the rise of “Finfluencers” in today’s social-media-driven world and explore the fascinating landscape of behavioural finance. They cover everything from the origins of “The Plain Bagel,” to the pros and cons of getting financial advice online, to the biases that affect us all and much, much more. 

Enjoy this fantastic episode featuring two of Canada’s top financial educators.

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Show Notes

00:00:00 – Intro & Disclaimer

00:00:55 – Intro to Richard Coffin

00:03:28 – Origin of “The Plain Bagel”

00:08:13 – Richard’s Work & Educational Background

00:12:13 – The Rise of Finfluencers

00:16:34 –   The Laws Around Giving Financial Advice Online

00:20:14 –  How to Evaluate Online Financial Advice

00:21:24 – Trusting Finfluencers More than Wall Street

00:25:20 – The “Beginner” Finfluencer

00:28:58 – Investing Courses

00:38:42 – Trustworthy Canadian Finfluencers

00:44:41 – It’s Easy to Fake Wealth Online

00:47:57 –  YouTubers Being Paid to Promote Stocks

00:55:27 – Behavioural Finance & Loss Aversion

01:02:56 – Confirmation Bias

01:06:35 –  The Skills Behind Creating Content People Enjoy Watching

01:08:46 – Recency Bias

01:13:41 – Framing Bias

01:19:02 – Conclusion