When I tell people I am a Financial Coach, I most often get asked what a Financial Coach is and what I do. I am the bridge between knowing how to handle your finances and getting it done.
It’s like weight loss. You know HOW to lose weight, yet you don’t do it. So you join a program like Weight Watchers. The problem isn’t not knowing what to do.
The problem is getting started. You know you need to find an order, spend less and save more. But how do you get there?
If we have an area in our life that we truly want to master, we hire a coach.
Whether it be a weight loss coach, a personal trainer, a life coach or a tennis coach, these people can offer us someone on one guidance through a season of challenges.
These coaches provide both experience and expertise in a concentrated form. This is what a Finance Coach is.
Someone who has a specific talent in personal finance and the heart of a teacher, and a drive to direct you to a better financial life.
Someone with enough experience to guide you through a process of self-discovery.
What isa Financial Coach?
A Financial Coach is a personwith the heart of a teacher, the passion to help others, and a knack for numbers. We can assist you in reaching long term financialgoals by setting up a plan for your money today.
Coaches are hired toteach a client how to set and achievefinancial goals on their own and not to do all the work for them.
A Financial Coach must be able to coach from a place of support and nonjudgement allowing the client to feel comfortable knowing that whatever is said will not leave the two of us.
Think of us as your very own money cheerleader! We can off your knowledge and motivation! We can get excited with you about what your life could look like while helping you develop the skills you need to make it happen!
But we will not do the work for you.
For example, I could meet with a client at a coffee shop, and we could chat about budgets. I could give them some generalized ideas on how to set one up and the online tools to make it easier.
But we would not sit down with them and do a budget for them. That would be their homework.
You know the saying, right.
Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.
Money Coaches can talk about retirement goals and Roth IRA’s. The decisionmight go into the difference between a Roth IRA and a Traditional IRA, but I would then advise them to speak to a licensedFinancial Planner.
Financial Coaches encourage their clients to change behaviors and to examine relationships with money as well as relationships with their spouses or partners.
According to Marriage.com, the number two reason for divorce is money (with number one being infidelity). How would the dynamic of your relationship change if money fights were nonexistent?
How much does a Financial Coach charge?
This is the most common question and the most difficult to answer. I can give you a ballpark figure and tell you how much I charge but like everyone else who provides a service and owns their own company, it will vary.
The rates of a Financial Coach vary, but most charge a flat fee averaging about $200. If you are a family of four, this is the cost of two family dinners out to Applebee’s or a month’s worth of pizza delivery.
I charge $197 and here’s what you will get for that fee:
- A snapshot of your financial state of affairs.
- Anhour-long conversation via phone or in-person (if applicable) to come up witha plan just for you.
- Twofollow upemails with everything we talked about, including your goals, homework, and your plan.
- Frozen Pennies Debt Freedom Planner (a $67 value) right to your inbox.
- A BONUS Workbook: Mastering Your Money Mindset also to your inbox.
What are some things that a Financial Coach does?
A Financial Coach will demonstrate the basics of money management. This could include (but not limited to) budgeting, debt management, debt collection, and retirement goals.
We are certified in money management coaching and have plenty of experience in working with people in these areas – brushing the surface to bring these concepts to the forefront of your mind.
We are financial educators who teach the basics of personal finance.
This way, you can thenmove on to a Financial Planner or continue with your coach to meet your goals and fulfill your dreams.
We can be a life coach, money coach, and marriage coach all in one!
Stress and money go hand in hand. There is so much stress attached to the way most people handle money when there really should not be.
Instead of money ruling your life, it’s time for you to be the boss of your money and a Financial Coach can help you do just that.
What a Financial Coach doesn’t do.
A Financial Coach will not force you to do anything you do not feel comfortable with. I won’t force you to cut up your credit cards.
I will encourage you to do so if you have credit card debt and can’t control your spending.
Financial Coaches do not make phone calls and financial decisions on your behalf. A Financial Planner may be able to do that but a coach is there to guide you and teach you, not do it for you.
We should never have access to your accounts.
Coaches cannot help you without 100% honesty and transparency. If you are not ready or willing to come clean, we can’t do our jobs.
If we don’t have the full picture, you will not get the full benefit of having a Financial Coach!
We cannot build wealth for you. You must put in the work it takes and it won’t be easy.
We won’t promise instant result and this isn’t a get rich quick scheme. Depending on how much debt you have and how ambitious you are to become debt free will determine how much time it takes you to get there.
How do I afford a Financial Coach?
If you are buried and lost in debt, and you think you can’t afford to hire a financial coach, my answer is honestly, you can’t afford NOT to.
Because what you are doing right now, without any support is certainly not working for you!
Sell some clothes or toys nobody is using, have a garage sale, cut out a couple of those dinners out or take back the change in the big change jar so you can afford to hire a Money Coach!
Money Coaches can help you come up with a plan whether its a problem of poor money management or not enough money. We can assist you in finding ways to increase that income.
Realize this is an investment in your personalfinancial future and that this return on investment will make you as much money as you dream you already have…and then more!
You might be happy with the hope we can interject and the direction we can lead you!
When should you hire someone to help in your financial life?
There are many times in a person’s life when a Financial Coach can offer guidance. You don’t necessarily have to be having money issues to call one. But that is the most popular reason.
You should hire a financial coach when you are ready to stop procrastinating and learn how to manage money!
Maybe you just don’t know where and how to start. We can help you with that.
A support system is important to you and finding someone who knows more than you and can guide you in the right direction.
A Money Coach can help you get out of debt and create a budget. We can help you with alternatives to bankruptcy or lead you to a place to help you with that if that’s the last option.
Money coaches can give you tools to deal with collection agencies or the IRS to find clarity in your finances.
Also, a Financial Coach can show you that you are right on track with your plan and that retirement figures are great. We know a little about 529 plans and 401(k)’s.
What are the differences between Coaches and Financial Planners or Advisors?
Financial Advisors and Planners are regulated by the government and most often concentrate on investing. They are educated in the specifics of investments and can educate you in which specific investment is right for you, offering you solid investment advice.
They can also help manage those investments over time.
A Financial Coach will assist you in the day to day money management strategies that many people need guidance in.
Specifically, the skills to earn, manage, and grow your money while still living life. They can offer you limited financial services on the day to day spending and help create better money habits.
We look at the entire life picture to see where we can focus on to make your dreams come true.
Financial Planners do not assist in creating budgets or paying down debt.
While Financial Coaches will discuss the long term financial plan, planners will go into details about investments they believe to be the best for you, specifically.
What qualifiesme to be a Financial Coach?
My Story.
I would suggest asking this question to anyone that you might consider working with. Anyone can call themselves a Financial Coach, but I encourage you to work with someone who holds some credentials.
I was able to dig my family out of $100,000 in debt including my house. This was after I made quite a few mistakes in my 20’s and early 30’s. Errors that taught me some pretty valuable lessons and allowed me to learn what not to do!
I went through Financial Coach Master Training with Dave Ramsey and Ramsey Solutions, and I hold a certificate! I also taught school for ten years before my early retirement and Ihave the motivation to nurture and change your family tree!!
These things qualify me to be a Financial Coach.
Also, I genuinely want to help others dig out of what could be a very dark, lonely place. I want to instill hope that there is another way – a way that doesn’t include bankruptcy.
I have a passion for teaching and helping others. I always have. I was a Banking and Finance major for a short time in college before transferring my major to English. I was a preschool teacher for ten years, so I love education.
I have always had an interest in how money worked, and although I am a VERY slow learner, I found my interest in personal finance to come full circle. I believe after many years of searching,
I have found where I want to be! I believe I have a knack for it and want to show you how to win with money!
How I became a Financial Coach.
As I was paying off debt and learning to manage our family’s money over the years, I turned to Dave Ramsey. For years, I have watched his Youtube Channel, read his books – specifically TheTotal Money Makeover – and looked to him for answers. His theory of money management has coincided with my morals, and I have found, for the most part, everything he teaches I agree with.
A couple of years ago, I discovered that Ramsey Solutions had a Financial Coach certification program and decided one day I wanted to take that course.
As of December 2018, I am a Certified Financial Coach through the Ramsey Solutions Financial Coach Master Training program and decided to start a business.
I can teach you what you need to know and offer you the same tools and direction that helped us pay off so much debt.
I can give you hope that there is a way to turn around a tough situation and take control of your life to become debt free, take ownership of your money, and create a legacy that can be passed down from generation to generation. I can be your Financial Coach!
If you are looking for someone to walk you through the debt-free process and empower you to take back control and learn to fish, this is the right choice.
Quick Tips From A Financial Coach
- Make a decision to get your finances in order. Then, search for that motivation. Find youtube videos and blogs of people who have done it. Get excited. Put yourself in the right mindset to learn something new and envision the possibilities of what could come out of this project.
- Understand that it’s not going to be easy and it’s not going to be quick but commit to the long haul. Decide to face the numbers and take stock of where all your money is at and where it’s going. Pull out all the paperwork and write it down. Commit to getting out of debt. Once and for all.
- Create a budget. Not a half – almost – I can do it in my head kind of budget but a real, grown-up budget on paper or device. Then follow it. every month or every other week (or every time you get paid) open it up and check-in. Are you spending too much? Underbudget? Form a committed forever and ever relationship with the money you earn and treat it like the King that it is.
- If it’s all too much for you and you are feeling too overwhelmed, call someone to help you. A financial coach or budget coach can guide you through the process and make it all a little less stressful offering you the first steps in financial advice.
So that’s how Financial Coaches work. We are Financial professionals that are available to get you to the other side of your financial situation. Are you ready to live the life you always wanted and increase your net worth???
