What is a Financial Coach?

As I continue this journey of building a financial coaching business, someone pointed out to me that many people may not know what a Financial Coach is. After all, there are many people who work in the financial industry. Some even have very similar titles. Without a clear understanding of what a Financial Coach does, how can someone decide if they need a Financial Coach?

As a Financial Coach, my goal is to help you establish healthy financial habits that are going to set you up for long-term financial success. This often involves examining spending habits and motivations as well as showing you how to set up a monthly plan for your money (also known as a budget). Like a personal trainer trying to help you lose weight, I’m going to walk alongside you as you learn more about healthy financial habits and begin to make those changes in your financial life. They won’t come easy at first, so of course I’m going to help motivate you to stick to the plan and turn your new financial practices into lifelong habits.

All these changes are based in your home finances. We’re looking at how you think about and handle money and moving you to a place where you handle your money better. Typically, this is going to result in less wasted money and more monthly cash flow. This can be used to help you meet your financial goals. That might be paying off debt, investing more in retirement, or funding your children’s college. I want to move you forward in your financial life with healthy financial habits.

There are many things a Financial Coach does not do, largely because there are other people who do those jobs. I’m not going to be your Financial Advisor who manages your investment portfolio and offers investment advice. I want to get you to a point where you have the money to invest regularly, at which point you need a Financial Advisor to help guide your investing. I’m not going to sell you or endorse insurance products. I will help educate you on what insurance products are available and what they are for, but an Insurance Agent will help get the right coverages for you. I’m also not your Accountant. I’m not going to do your budget or your taxes for you, and I’m not going to tell you when you can or cannot spend money. It’s your money and your life. I want to help you take control of it.

I see my role as a Financial Coach as one of education and guidance. I want to educate you in areas of finance you may not be familiar with. This is critical aspect because to make good decisions, you need to have good information. If you don’t know anything about investing, it’s going to be very hard to make wise investment decisions. First, learn the basics of investing so you can understand what your Financial Advisor is talking about. Then, you’ll be able to make informed decisions.

Education, however, is only a part of the process. You can know what you need to do without ever doing it. The harder, and much more rewarding, part of my role is to guide you through the lifestyle changes that will put you on the path to a great financial future. This often requires breaking old habits and starting new ones, a process which is difficult alone. As a coach, I’ll walk with you through that process and help you along the way. Exercisers who are looking to make big changes to their fitness life usually see much better results when they hire a Personal Trainer. The PT helps educate them about exercise and nutrition and guides them through the lifestyle changes they need to make to have lasting success. Consider a Financial Coach a Personal Trainer for your financial life. And, just as a consistent fitness routine will improve your overall life, a healthy financial life is a key component of a fruitful life.