#7 — Richard Coffin (The Plain Bagel): "Finfluencers" and Behavioural Finance

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. 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