How do I Make ChatGPT My New (Free) Financial Advisor?

Tyler Gardner (0:00)

Risk isn't just math. It's emotion. It's behavior. It's you at your worst. So before you build the portfolio, use AI to build a mirror. Look at who you are when the lights flicker. Because a good risk profile isn't what you hope you do, it's what you will do. Hello, friends. This is Tyler Gardner, welcoming you to another episode of Your Money Guide on the Side, where it is my job to simplify what seems complex, add nuance to what seems simple, and learn from and alongside some of the brightest minds in money, finance, and investing. So let's get started and get you one step closer to where you need to be. Before we dive in this week, a quick and honest thank you for listening, for your feedback, and for helping me shape this show into something truly and hopefully useful. If it's been helpful to you in any way, I'd love it if you left a review on Apple Podcasts, or drop me a note directly anytime at socialcapconnectatgmail.com.

Now, today's episode is a little bit different. We're not talking about stocks, bonds, or retirement strategies. We're talking about your new favorite financial assistant that you never knew you had. Artificial Intelligence, specifically ChatGPT. The chatbot that can write a haiku, draft your wedding vows, and help you figure out whether your Roth IRA's allocations are secretly a dumpster fire. All in under 5 seconds. It's like Google and your financially savvy friend had a baby, but guess what? That baby never sleeps, doesn't charge by the hour, and won't try to sell you a whole life insurance policy disguised as peace of mind. Now before you roll your eyes and tell me you either don't trust AI or you already use it to help you with your financial decisions on a daily basis, I assure you that I designed this episode specifically to speak to both crowds. This is for those who don't yet know how to use ChatGPT in such a way, or at all, and for those who are simply looking to better engineer their prompts to get the most helpful information and guidance possible. This episode isn't about my convincing you to trust in algorithm with your life savings. Rather, it's about using AI as a thought partner, a sidekick, or a financial co-pilot that helps you ask better questions about your goals, your risk tolerance, your timeline, your current fee structure, and ultimately, your portfolio. So you can walk into any financial conversation going forward more prepared, more confident, and perhaps even slightly more smug in a good way. And the best part? ChatGPT doesn't care how dumb your questions are. You can ask it what a mutual fund is for the 12th time. You could paste your advisor's contract in and say, translate this into English, please. You can even ask it what money means to you, and it'll come back with something that feels like a very polite TED talk. So today, I'm going to walk you through 5 key sections where I genuinely believe AI, again, specifically ChatGPT, can help you think more clearly and creatively about your money. We'll cover the following 5 topics. Number 1, how to get clear on your values. And no, retire early and drink wine in Italy is not a value, it's a lifestyle mood board. Number 2, how to better understand your risk profile without filling out one of those clicky quizzes that assumes a market crash is a fun hypothetical. Number 3, how to clarify your timeline and major financial and life milestones. Number 4, ooh, big one, how to analyze your fees. Because termites aren't the only thing eating your wood frame house alive. And number 5, ultimately, how to review your portfolio like an over-caffeinated and truly objective fiduciary. By the end of this episode, you will have a playbook for using artificial intelligence as your free, always on, emotionally stable money sidekick. So let's get into it. Prompt number 1, what do I value about money? AKA, what do you actually want money to do for you? If you have spent your life, as most of us have, which is to say, wanting more money because we're told to want more money, and we're taught that more money is better than less money, super-duper, but we've all been putting the financial cart before the horse. Seriously, because before you do anything else in life, starting right now, you need to ask the only question that should lead off this personal finance fund. What do you want the money for? What's the goal? Is it a lifestyle, an emotion, or a massive new truck that you can drive around Nashville, Tennessee, so you feel more connected to the local tourists? Before you start stress testing whether you can afford a second home in Coastal Maine, or just a second fridge, you've got to ask, why am I even doing this? This is where ChatGPT is shockingly useful. Not because it knows your soul. It doesn't, even though sometimes you might think it does. It's actually a robot. But it will help you start asking better questions about what wealth actually means to you. Not to your neighbor with the boat. Not to your uncle who hoards gold bars in his basement like a doomsday squirrel. You. Here are some prompts you could use right now to get this started. Can you help me clarify my core financial values? Or what are some questions I should ask myself before setting financial goals? Or can you help me write a personal money mission statement? Or even can we do a 5-minute values-based coaching session to figure out what I actually want money to do in my life? And you might be surprised that you don't already know the answers to many of these questions. I promise it'll come back with something wonderfully thoughtful that prompts you to prompt yourself further. It's like having a life coach who doesn't breathe, sweat, or say abundance mindset every 5 minutes. And here's the type of response it might offer you in return. Great questions, Tyler. It sounds like freedom and flexibility are more important to you than just maximizing wealth. You may actually value time affluence over financial affluence, and your goals should therefore reflect that. Would you like to explore financial plans that prioritize optionality and semi-retirement rather than full accumulation? See? It's like therapy, but much faster. And you don't have to make eye contact or change out of your PJs. Because here's the thing we continue to overlook about all finance. Money is just a tool, albeit a powerful one, but a tool nonetheless. If you don't know what you're building, you might end up constructing a very well-funded prison. So whether you value security, generosity, autonomy, creative freedom, or just not working in a cubicle that smells like despair and burnt coffee, start there and let AI help you name it, frame it, and then build around it. Because sure, a Roth IRA is a wonderful thing, but a Roth IRA in service of the wrong life, that's just a very tax-efficient mistake.