What Is Financial Coaching?

Can you say you know exactly where your every dollar you spend each month is going? Do you feel as if you have control of your money? If the answer to either question is “No,” you may be able to benefit of a professional who isn’t selling you the next “get rich quick product,” you need a financial coach.

As you frolic on social media, you’ve probably noticed there are a number of advertisements to fix your credit score, or show you the latest investment opportunity to help you increase your income…but only if you’re serious about your future, right? Well, let’s push each of those aside until you’ve considered (or spoken to) a financial coach.

A financial coach is someone who offers one-on-one (in-person or virtual) sessions to guide you towards your financial goals. Do you wanna pay-off debt? Yep, a coach can help you determine the best course of action. Do you wanna consider investment opportunities? Yep, a coach can help you determine when might be the best time to do so. As opposed to financial counseling or financial advisors, a financial coach is the person who provides a realistic course of action for financial improvements in your life. Your coach is there to monitor your performance to ensure you achieve your financial goals.

Here’s another way to think of financial coaching. A financial counselor is likely going to assist you with identifying “how you got into” your financial situation. A financial advisor is likely to assist you with identifying “what to do with” your finances. A financial coach, however, is focused on assisting you with moving forward with healthy financial habits. Often times, this is the one person who is focused on instilling in you principles and strategies of discipline to ensure your are always working towards changing your financial situation. Essentially, financial coaching is about having an accountability partner to help you with your change in behavior.

A 2010 Centers for Working Families Survey conducted by Abt Associates identified 87% of the respondents were very satisfied or satisfied with how they worked together with their coach to solve their problems. This may be a result of financial coaches focusing on “client-defined” goals which tend to address immediate issues versus future wants.

So let’s ask those questions a different way. Would you like to know exactly where every dollar you spend each month is going? Do you want to have control of your money? If the answer to either question is “Yes,” you may be able to benefit of a financial coach.