Some Advice About Advice
Good advice is free and it's worth the price
There’s a Yiddish story I like reading to my kids about a fishmonger. I think it contains a really important lesson about taking advice, and it goes something like this:
Moshe has a fish store. Business is a little slow, so he decides to hang a sign to attract more customers.
The sign says, “FRESH FISH SOLD HERE DAILY.”
Pretty soon he gets a knock on the door. It’s Lenny from down the street.
“Hey Moshe,” Lenny says. “Love the new sign. But why does it say ‘sold?’ You’re not giving it away for free, are you?”
“Excellent point,” says Moshe, and he paints over the word “sold.”
Sooner or later, Irv walks in and says, “Moshe, congrats on the sign! You know, it doesn’t have to say ‘here’ - where else are you selling fish?”
“Can’t argue with that,” says Moshe, and he paints over the word “here.”
Mrs. Goldstein walks in next and says, “Moshe, would you sell old fish?? You don’t need a sign to say it’s ‘fresh!’”
Unable to counter this logic, Moshe paints over the word “fresh.”
Later that afternoon, the mailman points out that the word “daily” was superfluous, as anyone could see that Moshe was open for business every day.
Dutifully, Moshe paints over the word “daily.”
Now the sign just says “FISH.”
As he’s closing up shop, Boris the baker next door notices the sign and says “why do you just have a sign that says ‘fish?’ Anyone walking by can see (and smell) that you sell fish!”
And so, Moshe just takes down the sign altogether.
A few weeks go by, and Moshe is talking with his cousin Mordy about the fish store.
“Business is a little slow,” Moshe laments.
“So, nu?” says Mordy. “Why don’t you hang up a sign?”
(Cue the eyerolls….)
While on its face this story is just kind of a joke about a foolish character, we can actually learn a lot from it.
Everyone’s got advice to give. A lot of it - like Moshe’s fish - stinks. Or at the very least, is not right for you.
Online research definitely gets you part of the way there. But Grok doesn’t know you like I know you. (Although it may actually know a lot about you I don’t want to know…)
At some point, we’re going to have to recognize that the random people who get in our ear are not experts in everything, and ChatGPT’s financial advice seems to grow more vague and non-committal the more specific our questions get.
Select a human advisor you trust, who knows YOU, and listen to his or her advice. I can’t believe I need to make this argument, but it’s 2025. A human has empathy. A human cares about you. A human knows you, not just your browsing history. And a human who is an experienced financial professional with a Stoic worldview and an affinity for Yiddish folklore can help you in ways no talking head or chatbot can.