Good Decision/Bad Decision: Proof of Concept and Oversharing on the Internet
Good Decision/Bad Decision
Today’s subject will hopefully be part of a regular series of Monday (sorry, fell behind this week) posts. As you recall, I recently started Gratitude Wednesdays. This series will focus on my past decisions to shed light on some financial and emotional wins and losses. My hope is to discover what I did right, and help others avoid my mistakes. Whether epic fail or triumphant victory, these were my decisions. The topic for today is oversharing on the internet and proof of concept.
Proof of concept (PoC): evidence, typically derived from an experiment or pilot project, which demonstrates that a design concept, business proposal, etc., is feasible.
Personal finance blogs are very common these days. It seems every morning I read great new content on my twitter feed. As a community, we are quick to post about our victories and origin stories. We talk gloriously about how we achieved or are in the process of achieving financial independence.
But the other day, I was lucky to talk to a few folks who were wondering if there was more to the story. We discussed how maybe what the PF blogosphere is missing is proof of concept. Real life stories of successes and failures. Real posts about the true dollars and cents of our public struggles.
But are there risks?
Good Decision
I like the idea of proof of concept. Those of us who write about personal finance need to get granular to show our audience that financial freedom is achievable in an imperfect world. I have tried to be upfront and honest with both my financials as well as the emotional struggles regarding personal finance. I have no problem posting my monthly income reports because I think they are instructive, as well as put a real dollar value on my business ventures. This is the place I can share some of my economic wins and losses in a transparent manner.
I also feel a certain amount of relief posting about what I consider to be the dark side of personal finance and financial freedom. I can share my stealth wealth fails and admit publicly that concepts such as frugality and travel hacking are not my fortes.
And I can explain how reaching financial freedom has not solved all my problems. In fact, it probably has created some new ones.
I see these admissions as fruitful, instructive, and cleansing. Oversharing on the internet has the happy side effect of bringing the writer closer to the readers. It makes the bridge that divides us seem just a little bit less onerous to cross.
Bad Decision
Proof of concept can also alienate. How many times has a reader looked at the particulars on my blog and seen nothing that they can identify with?
Sure his doing well, he’s a physician!
Well, if I had an income like that!
He grew up in a wealthy neighborhood!
As opposed to pulling people in, I may be creating even further fodder that separates us. If my life and circumstances are not relatable, they may be providing the exact opposite kind of proof that the everyday Joe who reads the blog is looking for.
Oversharing on the internet also opens one up to criticism, critiques, and often anger. The veil of anonymity is only so durable. At some point or another, I certainly suspect my anonymity will be a thing of the past. Then my financials, my business details, in fact all that great proof of concept, will be public weaponry for any who would choose to do me harm.
There is no simple solution here.
In Summary
I think we who write in the personal finance community owe a certain amount of proof of concept to our readers. I think we need to provide our stories in a granular, open way to stimulate conversation and instruct.
Yes, this is oversharing on the internet.
Yes, this puts the writer in a certain amount of peril regarding their personal information and opens us up to gobs of criticism and hate.
I think this is the cost of showing up and writing in this space.
How about you?
Readers: Do you feel that the blogs you read should give specifics and numbers when they talk about their side hustles and path to financial freedom?
Writers: Are you wary of oversharing on the internet? Do you feel that you owe it to your readers to provide proof of concept?
Hello DocG,
I will share away cuz I will FOREVER remain anonymous. I abhor recognition so anonymous blogging is perfect for me. I don’t even like it when patients recognize me in public.
I think many feel that way.
Honestly I’m anonymous to most of my readers but not everyone in my personal life. As such I don’t share specifics. I don’t want people on my actual life changing their interactions with me based on my finances. And I know it would happen as I’ve seen it. You could say I’m heavily committed to stealth wealth.
And I think it depends on your purpose. If your goal is to proselytize, I think you have to provide proof of concept.
As a reader, I give the writer more credibility when I see actual numbers, or at least some proof of concept. Talking about a topic and actually doing it are two different things.
As a blogger, I try to offer proof of concept by posting my alternative investment portfolio. Whether those long term illiquid investments succeed is anyone’s guess, but success or fail, the readers will see it in real time. They might be inspired or cautioned; but they will have taken away something – a bit of education and entertainment.
In any case, any blogger’s perspective is not one size fits all. You just have to write from your own personal experience and hope that it will attract a like-minded audience.
MD. You do provide proof of concept with your real estate posts. I think it would be different if you were proselyting people to jump in. I think you fulfill more the educational purpose. Great post today, btw!
Thanks Doc G. I think some of the topics I write about will only appeal to a very, very, very small niche audience, ha ha. Oh well. Glad you liked it.
It’s a fine line that requires balance. Providing actual concrete numbers may help validate you as a valuable resource to your readers. From a reader standpoint I do like to see the actual numbers. It helps as motivation. From my view as a new blogger I’m still deciding how to handle this. As a household with two pharmacists we enjoy a nice income. But I find myself reading a lot of physician blogs (where I see a considerable income gap) and I worry that my target audience (whoever that might come to be) might not be able to relate to me if I provide income/balances. Great topic and I think there is a lot of room for debate here.
The balance is sometimes hard to strike. I will be posting my monthly income report later this week and I worry it will turn some off.
I think it depends on what you think you’re marketing. If you’re marketing yourself as an expert then you have to ask “well what is my expertise” If that is you’ve read a few investment books and run a bogelhead 3 portfolio your not much of an expert. Any swinging weenie knows how to do that. If it’s you have a functioning money making real estate portfolio and a multifaceted concierge medical practice and maybe have had a few K-1 experiences, I’m all ears. If it’s you have a clue about portfolio efficiency and tax management in the disbursement phase, I’m interested. If it’s how to bullet proof your retirement security beyond some dumb assed 4% x25 rule pencil me in.
The point being your only real expertise you offer is your specific story, and how well you tell that story with respect to granularity, strategy, failure and success. That is the golden nugget. Also your time engaged in investing can give a sense of history. I started trading commodities before Vanguard (per se’) was a thing, so I watched Vanguard grow up. That story is the thing I can judge and use to augment my own story and possibly make changes that will have consequence. If that story annoys someone so what. They can choose to not read or write their own story. Change occurs along 2 dimensions, one is consonance. You’re on the same page and see a better way to achieve your outcome. The other is dissonance. You’re entrenched in a poor strategy and change causes creative destruction. Creative destruction by it’s nature results in better efficiency but by it’s nature is destructive. There’s also a healthy dose of testosterone floating around the internet fueling conflict. So if you shy away because of that people won’t get gold they will get dross. See the first line in the first paragraph.
Personally I think people need more than proof of concept. The joker with the bogelhead 3 portfolio is hawking proof of concept. I think what people need is an autopsy. That’s the money shot. I have a portfolio of similar structure to PoF’s portfolio. It’s mostly post tax, when I’m done Roth converting it will generate very few taxes until death. I have several hundred thousand in LT cap loss which I’ve harvested over many recessions, which turns my post tax dough into what I call a rich man’s Roth. My money is in institutional funds with specifics toward factor investing and diversity and it’s well optimized. His money is in retail funds also diversified according to his scheme. So by reviewing his results quarterly I can see how his and my portfolios stack up. It’s like a real world benchmark for me not something synthetic. If he wasn’t open with his data and strategy it would be my loss. I couldn’t compare.
Why does it matter? One thing often ignored in the boilerplate is portfolio efficiency. Everybody worries about fund cost nobody wonders about portfolio efficiency in terms of risk and reward. They just guess. I was poking around Personal Capital the other day and noticed they have efficient frontier tools and portfolio balancing designed to reduce risk while maintaining return. They also have a monte carlo engine that looks at your specific portfolio’s failure rate. They also have a tool that measures portfolio cost. This gives every man the tools used by professional managers to streamline portfolios and this is just the first generation or two of incorporating these tools to your specific portfolio. So that’s my dopamine hit for ya’ll today. Everybody can now optimize their own portfolio without guessing. Even bogelhead Bob. It’s really quite amazing.
Holy shit…all’s quiet on the internet and I think I’m having one of those low viewership days and all the sudden my blog gets hit with an (or)Gasem!
Man, now I got to put my phone away and pull this one up on the big screen. I might have to migrate this comment into Microsoft to get a word count. It may be longer than my blog post.
Here goes:
Me personally. I’m marketing myself. Im a guy who hit financial independence and still has lots of questions that feel unresolved. I am not an investing wunderkind nor a real estate baron. So I might share my experiences but not in an expertly way. I am expert of nothing.
I think proof of concept is important for all those selling a lifestyle and proselytizing. I also think we need to be more real with our shortcomings.
Boilerplate investing is good for most of us because we are not experts and don’t even have the time nor interest into getting into specifics. Sometimes good enough will do.
Personal capital, is however, very helpful.
That’s all.
But you are an expert, in the case of being you and your story is your credential That was my point. I read you, I don’t bother with MMM. He’s Way too amazing for my taste. So your story has the chance to influence my thinking. He’s DOA despite what NBC news thinks
I appreciate that. I look forward to your comments and thoughts!
I find all my investments are buy, hold and pray. I reached FI long ago but seeing what others are doing is interesting. At least I don’t feel sold to when I am reading others docs’ experiences. I am tired of financial advisors thinking that they “know” but their personal financials are subpar at best. I for one am glad I have found other docs trying to figure our their own money stuff out.
It helps to read what others are doing.
As a writer who is FI it’s my desire to share my stories on how I got there, and get as personal as I can. But I must remain anonymous as I’m sometimes telling stories about the job I’m still employed at. And I don’t share my net worth but I do share charts and actual numbers regarding certain investments and experiences. I admire those who openly share everything, but everyone has a comfort level.
I think you strike the right tone. Your level of disclosure is appropriate for your purposes. If you were trying to convince people about FIRE or a certain path, I would expect more.
Man, I think specifics and granular level detail are needed. I think its helpful.
As a writer, it is not my job to reach everyone. It is my job to reach the specific audience I am targeting. I write to that audience to try to answer specific questions and to answer them open and honestly. That is not going to make everyone happy, but if I am making everyone happy and everyone agrees with everything I say, then I am not really being me. No one agrees with everything someone else believes. I think there is real value in authenticity. As I continue to write and find my voice, I imagine I’ll alienate more people who cannot relate to my specific message. I am fine with that as long as my target audience is finding value.
I think proof of concept is an important topic if you are presenting yourself as an expert on the content. However, if you (like me), are more trying to be the “friend who is journeying slightly ahead of you along the way” then I can just be open and honest about my successes and failures. I am not going to pretend to be an expert. Maybe after I’ve done this for three to five years I might be able to claim that, but for now… I am just trying to be the guy who looks back to our young medical students and residents and says…”Hey, this is what I’ve figured out on my own that I don’t want you to have to figure out on your own. It’ll save you the trouble I had.” And to the young medical professionals, “Come along with me on this journey and let’s figure this stuff out.”
Good post on a good topic, Doc G. You be you. That’s all any reader wants.
I think you make an important point about being an expert. Most of us are more an experienced friend sharing our past follies.