What exactly is a Financial Coach?

People often ask, what is the difference between a Financial Advisor and a Financial Coach. My simple answer is, a Financial Advisor will help people Manage Wealth. A Financial Coach will help people Build Wealth.

What a Financial Coach isn’t. A Financial coach will not or should not do the following:

Manage your assets
Manage or advise you in your investments
Manage or advise you with your retirement planning
Manage or advise you with your taxes
Manage or advise you with your estate planning
Manage or advise you with your health care or long-term care planning
Sell you products such as annuities, life insurance, etc..

*This is generally the role of a Financial Advisor.

What is a Financial Coach? A Financial Coach is someone who:

Should be good with money and will help you become good with money.
Will spend time understanding your personal financial goals & values and then provide you support to achieve them.
Will help keep you accountable and on track to accomplish your financial goals.
Will devise ways to keep you motivated to embrace new habits that will support your financial goals.
Will help you understand at least the basics of personal finance.
Will help you gain clarity on your money (Understand what is coming in and going out).
Will help you develop & maintain healthy financial habits.
Empower you to reach your financial goals and show you how to handle your finances responsibly.
Help you create and maintain a budget and work with you to spend wisely in order to improve your cash flow (Need to make sure what comes in is greater than what goes out)
Help you improve your cash flow position to pay off debt, pay off your house, save for emergencies, save for retirement or possibly children’s education, or whatever your personal financial goals are…they all require Positive cash flow!
Work with you to reduce stress & anxiety that money can cause and help you create a stress-free healthy lifestyle.
Will encourage you when the process gets difficult.
Will increase your financial literacy and improve your long-term behavior is respect to money.
Desires to get you to the point where you are a CONFIDENT and COMPETENT money manager.
The end goal is to create financial autonomy, not eternal dependence on a coach. As I always say, I want to teach you to fish, I don’t want to keep feeding you a fish.

Just like a football head coach, a financial coach teaches you the knowledge and skills you need to be successful, helps you create healthy habits that improve your performance and encourages from the sideline.

Why do I want to be a Financial Coach?

My simple answer is that this is what I believe the good Lord has called me to do. I have been working with money and finances for over 35 years and God has given me the ability to be pretty good at it. God has blessed me and now I want to be a blessing to others. God desires for us all to be debt free (Lenders and not Borrowers) and good Stewards with money and I want to help you do just that. I simply want to be a tool in your toolbox… a coach that helps you understand how to successfully manage money to achieve your financial goals. I want to help you become a good Steward and BUILD WEALTH!

What Can You Expect During a Financial Coaching Session?

Perhaps now you are considering working with me as your financial coach, but not sure what to expect? Maybe you are a little nervous about seeking help in the first place. That’s common and understandable.

The good news is that I am your financial coach, not your counselor. I will not rehash your mistakes and dwell on what went wrong in your past. As your Coach, I will focus on your future. I will work with you to prepare a financial plan that is achievable for your specific situation.

To give you a clear picture of what to expect from our time together, here is a walkthrough of a typical session:

How to Prepare for Your Session

Don’t stress about gathering years of tax returns and bank statements before your session. I will email you a few simple forms to fill out and submit beforehand. A little preparation, but a piece of cake.

Now you are thinking, what are these forms? One is a questionnaire for me to understand a little more about who you are and what I can help you with. The other is a basic budget to help me understand your Income & Expenses. This preparation beforehand will help me understand your top concerns and make our session valuable for you (we won’t be starting from scratch).

The budget is a list of items you spend each month—from your Mortgage or Rent to your Utility bills. It will also show me what kind of Debt you are paying off. This preparation will allow us to hit the ground running and get you on a fast track to financial freedom.

When completing the forms I send you, I will ask you not to be shy or feel ashamed about anything…There is nothing to be ashamed about. I know trust has to be earned, and that is exactly what I plan on doing. I want you to be able to trust me like you trust a friend. Plus, I can only help you if I know exactly what is happening with your finances…what is coming in and what is going out. So I will ask you to be honest.

What Will Happen During Your Session?

When we meet (preferably through Zoom) for your session, as your financial coach, I will have already reviewed the forms you submitted. After getting to know each other for a few minutes, we will dive right into your most pressing financial issues.

Since everyone of my clients have different needs, every coaching session will be different. A lot of topics however overlap, like debt elimination, saving, and spending habits.

We will work together to make sure your budget is realistic. It is common for folks to forget about things that can really play havoc on their bank accounts such as gifts (Christmas, Birthdays, Wedding, etc.), Vacations or Emergencies such as your car breaking down. There are so many things that can and will happen but usually are never planned for. As your Coach, I will work with you to make sure you plan for these expenses and are prepared when they do happen. We will prepare by having money saved so you don’t fall back on credit.

What You'll Walk Away With After the Session

I believe my most successful clients will waste no time and want to begin making any necessary changes as quickly as possible after our session. That’s why as your coach, I will give you a written FINANCIAL ACTION PLAN that will provide you with the necessary steps that you need to get started right away.

These might include things like how to use your bank accounts, how to pay bills, tracking expenses and adjusting your budget, creating a debt elimination plan, and setting your personal financial goals. If we continue to work together on a longer-term basis, I can actually build your budget for you and create and share with you my proven expense tracking system. I will also help you brainstorm additional income opportunities to possibly pay off debts faster as well as review ways to stay out of debt in the future. We will also look at all your expenses and challenge everything to make sure you accomplish your financial goals.

Keep in mind that you won’t leave our session with all your issues magically solved. But you will leave equipped to solve them yourself. And as mentioned, if you do need extra help, I do have some longer-term programs that I can work closely with you to make sure you feel comfortable with moving forward and help keep you accountable. I want you to think of me as your personal trainer…I will show you what to do and how to do it, but ultimately the heavy lifting and commitment will be up to you.

My goal is to teach you how to take care of your money and prove to you that it is not as difficult as you thought. I want you to feel good about your finances so there is no more Worry and Stress when it comes to your finances!