@dimaggiov's financial advice misses TRT's real costs

What did @dimaggiov actually say?

The creator argued that a man who focuses on saving money rather than making more has "a little test" — meaning low testosterone. His core claim is that frugal financial behavior, like cutting small expenses or saving toward a house, signals hormonal deficiency in men. He contrasted this with his own story of investing in businesses, mentors, and real estate to build wealth.

The video is not subtle about it. "Stop being a little test" is the punchline. The implication is that testosterone levels determine whether a man thinks like an entrepreneur or a saver. That is a specific biological claim dressed up as financial advice, and it deserves actual scrutiny rather than a nod.

Does the science back this up?

No. There is no credible research linking testosterone levels to a preference for saving versus investing. Full stop.

Studies on testosterone and financial risk-taking do exist, but they tell a more complicated story than this video suggests. Apicella et al. (2008, Proceedings of the Royal Society B) found that higher prenatal testosterone exposure correlated with greater financial risk tolerance in some populations. Coates and Herbert (2008, PNAS) showed that traders with higher morning testosterone took more financial risks and had better returns that day. But correlation between risk tolerance and testosterone is not the same as saying cautious financial behavior means you have low testosterone. The research also consistently shows that very high testosterone is associated with impulsive, poorly calibrated risk-taking, not smarter investing. A 2017 study by Nadler et al. in Psychological Science found that testosterone administration actually impaired deliberative reasoning, which is exactly what good investing requires.

What did they get wrong, and what did they get right?

Wrong: The biological claim. There is no evidence that a man who wants to save for a house has clinically low testosterone. Frugality is a personality trait, a cultural value, and an economic strategy. It is not a symptom of hypogonadism. Diagnosing low testosterone from someone's budgeting habits is not how endocrinology works.

Also wrong: The savings math, but partially. He said saving on an 80k salary would take ten years to afford an average house. Depending on the market and savings rate, that estimate is roughly in the right ballpark for many U.S. metros, though it varies significantly by region.

What he got right: The broader financial principle that income growth often matters more than expense reduction for building wealth has genuine support. Morgan Housel's work and mainstream personal finance research do confirm that beyond a certain floor, earning more has greater wealth-building leverage than cutting costs. The problem is wrapping a reasonable financial point inside a pseudoscientific testosterone narrative.

What should you actually know?

Testosterone does influence mood, motivation, drive, and energy, and clinically low testosterone (hypogonadism) is a real medical condition that affects roughly 2-4% of men, according to Mulligan et al. (2006, International Journal of Clinical Practice). Symptoms include fatigue, reduced libido, depression, and decreased muscle mass. "Preferring to save money" is not on the diagnostic checklist.

If you actually have low testosterone, the fix is not a mindset shift or a TikTok video. It is a blood test and a conversation with a licensed clinician. Serum total testosterone below 300 ng/dL is generally considered the clinical threshold, though context matters. TRT, when appropriately prescribed, can meaningfully improve quality of life for men with confirmed hypogonadism. But equating financial caution with hormonal deficiency does a disservice to men who might actually have the condition and delays real diagnosis.

The danger of content like this is not that it encourages ambition. Ambition is fine. The danger is that it medicalizes personality traits and attaches hormone health to identity performance in ways that have nothing to do with actual physiology.