What You Need to Know Before Hiring a Financial Coach

As you may be aware, financial coaches work with clients to help them improve their own financial life, develop good financial habits, and work towards financial goals. They are different from financial advisors or financial planners, though they may have a background in those areas, and they generally offer more of a supportive role than an advisory one.

Some Questions to Consider

What type of coach do I need?

Financial coaches tend to specialize in a specific niche. Sometimes a very specific one. There are coaches who work with couples, or with millennials, or with women who have been through a divorce in midlife. You can almost undoubtedly benefit from finding a coach who has experience and expertise in helping people in a position similar to yours. They’ll be able to offer you more insight and ideas and will have access to more relevant resources when it comes to making financial decisions.

Is it a coach I need or another financial professional?

A coach might be the right choice for you if you generally feel overwhelmed by your finances, have trouble getting organized, and need to improve your finances over several areas. Coaches can help you tweak your money mindset, find resources that will help with organization, tracking, and budgeting, and set financial goals for the future.

If you want advice on specific financial products or investments you might be better off with a financial advisor or specialist investment advisor. And if you’re drowning in debt and at a crisis point, you probably need a credit counselor. A good coach, however, will probably be able to pinpoint exactly what you need and will have no problem advising you to see a different type of professional to address specific needs or problems in your financial life.

Am I coachable?

Not everyone is ready or willing to be coached. And that’s okay. Some coaches will actually offer free or low-cost discovery calls, and part of what they want to find out is if a prospective client is coachable. Sure they often want to sell you their services too, but not if you’re just not ready for them, because that makes their job much harder, if not impossible.

Coachable people are those who are ready to embrace change and take action. They are willing to express themselves, talk about their needs and wants and goals, and think through their options. They’re happy to share their own vision, do the work to make it happen, and be held accountable when it comes to the action they have to take. Coaches tend to set or suggest ‘work’ for their clients to do between sessions. Coachable people are willing, and eager, to do the work.

Is it worth the money?

That definitely depends on you. Financial coaches are not cheap, and the returns you see won’t be instant. Their value lies in the fact that they help you build a long-term plan and make permanent changes to your financial mindset and habits. You won’t see the benefit of a coach, in cold hard financial terms, straight away. But over the rest of your life, the work you do with a coach could have a big impact, on your wealth, your lifestyle, and your peace of mind.

Feeling like coaching is something you’d like to explore? Search for the right financial coach for you here on Wealthtender.

Karen Banes is a freelance writer specializing in entrepreneurship, parenting and lifestyle. She writes articles, website content, ebooks and the occasional award winning short story. Her work has appeared in a range of publications both online and off, including The Washington Post, Life Info Magazine, Transitions Abroad, Brave New Traveler, Natural Parenting Group, and Copia Magazine. Learn More About Karen