Financial Coach vs Financial Advisor: The Best of Both Worlds

It can be confusing and a little overwhelming for most people (including those in the finance industry!) to keep track of the countless titles and financial certifications held by financial professionals. And a very common question asked by many Americans thinking about hiring a financial professional is, “What is the difference between a financial advisor (or planner) and a financial coach?”.

What is a Financial Coach vs. Financial Advisor?

At a (very) high level, financial advisors (or planners) offer personalized investment advice and advisory services. They must be registered with a state or federal regulator that governs their activities vs. unregulated financial coaches who help clients improve their money habits and make smarter everyday financial decisions.

While many financial professionals choose to work exclusively as financial coaches or financial advisors, some financial professionals choose to wear both hats and offer their clients coaching services as well as individualized financial advice and planning.

While you’re likely to find dozens of financial advisors and coaches in your community, it may be more difficult to find a financial professional who can work with you as both a financial coach and financial advisor. Fortunately, many financial professionals who offer both coaching and advisory services can meet with you online no matter where you (or they) live. This means you can choose to work with a financial professional who lives hundreds of miles away if you decide their experience offering both coaching and advisory services could help you achieve better outcomes.

💸 Smart Money Insights About Financial Coaches & Financial Advisors

This page is organized into sections to help you quickly find the information you need and get answers to your questions:

1. Q&A with Professionals Who Offer Both Coaching and Financial Advisory Services
2. Get Answers to Your Questions About Working with a Financial Coach vs Financial Advisor
3. Browse Related Articles

Let’s get to know Lisa Whitley, who can offer additional insights on what it’s like to work with financial professionals who offer both coaching and advisory services.

– Get to Know Professionals Who Offer Both Coaching and Financial Advisory Services –

Get to Know:
✅ Lisa Whitley

Three Questions with Lisa Whitley, AFC®, CRPC®

We asked Washington, DC, area financial coach and advisor Lisa Whitley to answer three questions to offer her perspective on the benefits of working with a professional who offers both coaching and financial planning services.

Q: Unlike most financial coaches, you’re also registered as an investment advisor to offer services beyond financial education. Can you elaborate on why you’ve taken this additional step and how it benefits the clients you serve?

Lisa: Potential clients do not always fall into neat boxes. I don’t believe that there is always a neat, linear path to needing a coach today and “graduating” to an advisor tomorrow.

Even if your primary concern today is improving your credit score or finding room in your budget to build an emergency fund, you may be simultaneously investing for the future through your workplace retirement account; it is likely that you have quite a few concerns about that.

Perhaps you are paying off your student loans, but you still want to know how building wealth for the future can be part of your financial plan today. You are weighing saving for a house down payment with investing in the stock market.

Many potential clients do not even realize that a more typical financial coach may not be able to offer specific investment guidance. 

As both a coach and an advisor, I am able to give every one of my clients the fullest experience possible, encompassing all aspects of their financial lives. We can have a complete, holistic conversation starting on Day One.

Q: What questions do you recommend people ask when meeting a financial coach or advisor they’re considering hiring to help them decide if they’re a good fit?

Lisa: There are few financial questions that have a definite “Yes/No” answer that works all the time for all people. The answer to most personal finance questions is, “It depends”, and part of what it depends on is a client’s personal preferences and style.

You want a coach that will challenge your preconceived ideas and offer alternative viewpoints, but in order not to talk past each other, you do need a coach who shares your overall philosophy about money and the role that money plays in your life.

So I would ask a potential coach a very specific financial question that is of concern to you and then, rather than focus on the specific facts of their response, ask yourself if you liked the way the question was answered, the principles, and the assumptions that the coach brought to their answer.

Get to Know Lisa:

View Lisa’s profile page on Wealthtender or visit her website to learn

Q: Based on your experience serving clients throughout the COVID pandemic and its aftermath, have you identified particular financial behaviors or habits that need to be ‘unlearned’ or addressed? 

Lisa: The growth in “fintech” products over the last several years has been phenomenal. And because of COVID and the subsequent disruptions in the economy, it has come at a time when everyone has been hyper-focused on their personal finances.

I love that people are seemingly paying more attention to their finances and are willing to engage with apps to make that experience easier and perhaps even fun.

Unfortunately, for many, it is rather like putting a book under your pillow at night and hoping that you will absorb the knowledge through osmosis. Using an app to track and display your spending history isn’t budgeting. 

I would love people to “unlearn” the word “budget” and replace it with the word “plan” because it forces you to ask the question, “Plan for what?” In fact, when I launched my blog last year, this was the first question that I asked: “What do you want?”.

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