What is a Financial Coach?
Whatever you call them - a Money Guru, Financial Wellness Professional, or Financial Coach - this professional is trained (and trusted) to look at your finances and identify opportunities for you to better manage your money. A financial coach focuses on teaching a client money management skills and guides, or coaches, them in reaching their financial goals. Unlike a Financial Advisor or Financial Planner, a Financial Coach takes a wide, holistic view of your total financial situation, but also dives into the details of your everyday financial activities.
What do they do?
In a way, financial coaches are part therapist and part money gurus. They’re a specialized type of life coach that helps individuals and families learn new skills and get smart with their finances.
Separate from financial advisors who primarily offer investment advice (they’re are also good to have), depending on your needs, a financial coach might help you learn how to create a budget, openly talk with your partner about money, or unpack unconscious emotions and beliefs that are affecting your spending habits. They may also help you identify problem areas, reduce and eliminate debt, set and reach financial goals, and help you reach the comfort of financial security.
A financial coach’s job is to help you reach the money goals you deem important to yourself. Each session is tailored to the client’s individual situation, and no two situations are alike. Financial coaches educate, but they’re also there to hold their clients' accountable for changing negative money habits, and motivate taking action with positive money habits, just like a sport coach helps a player get better.
Is The Money For A Financial Coach Worth It?
A good financial coach can definitely be worth the time and money. Having one will not only simplify your money management and get you organized so you can take action, but help steer you to make the best financial decisions. If you have no clue where to start, are limited on time and lack motivation, or you have tried various methods before and they haven’t worked — then working with a financial coach for a period of time is certainly worth it. (Click here for a FREE 15-min Q&A call to see if we’re a good fit!)
Is is counter productive to pay for a service to help with spending? Well, in the same way you may see a counselor for mental wellness, and an physical trainer for working towards a better body, a financial coach is a professional who helps their client build a foundation for financial wellness.
It can be easy to hesitate adding another expenditure, especially if you’re struggling financially, even if you’re sure it’s what you or your family needs. When you invest a little time and money with a financial coach now, you can watch it pay over throughout your financial life. And it’s not always the people who have the highest income who make the fastest progress. Instead, it’s those who are truly ready to put in the work and making a life change.
Who do they help?
Well, the short answer is anyone who is committed to learning to manage their money with confidence. Many everyday people have college or car loan debt, spend outside their means, or aren’t quite reaching their goals and want to be more financially secure. All of those people would be great clients IF - and only IF - they’re ready to put in the work.
And financial coaches don’t only help those who have an dire need or financial emergency. They also help clients who are debt-free and are generally "financially healthy”, but maybe they just aren’t sure what to do with their excess of money, or want to reach larger goals faster. Or maybe they just want to get on the same page as their partner.
Financial coaches are great for small businesses too. Running a business is already stressful. Learning how to manage the cash flow, profitability, margins, expenses, budgeting, forecasting, and more - it can be a lot for one person to do alone. Financial coaches help set and reach those goals too!
Where do I find one?
A great financial coach is one who has lived the experience. A coach or money guru that has felt the insecurity of living paycheck to paycheck, spousal fighting over spending, or has accumulated the mountain of debt but changed their life and paid it all off, is one that can understand a client in the same position. They’re the type of financial coach that has walked the same path, had their life changed because of it, and wants to help others feel the relief and confidence they felt once they overcame those obstacles.
Look no further than Financial Fundaments. By scheduling a free 15 minute Q&A call, we’ll ask the right questions to decide whether or not our Revelation Session is a good fit for your financial needs. If we’re not, we’ll try to point you in the right direction.
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