What even is financial coaching? You’re forgiven for asking. Not only is it a fairly new profession, but it can also be confusing to place it alongside other disciplines. 

Without further ado, here are the 10 things financial coaching is good for:

1. Financial coaching is more specific than life coaching

Financial coaching’s closest relative is life coaching. Life coaching is a wide field. It is different from sports or business coaching and has many more defined subcategories, such as wellness-, relationship-, or financial coaching. 

What all types of coaching have in common is that they aim to help people close the gap between where they are and where they want to be. Unlike in teaching, training, or consulting, the client will set the agenda and both parties meet on eye level. The coach will not offer advice or judgement, but listen actively and ask the right questions. 

Unsurprisingly, financial coaching has a strong money focus, but as money touches almost every part of our lives, things certainly overlap. Educational elements are also common in financial coaching: Think intro to net worth, or how to figure out your emergency fund needs.

2. Financial Coaching is filling a gap left by therapy and financial advisors

Therapy mainly seeks to help with mental health issues and difficult past experiences. On its website, the NHS states: “Talking therapy is for anyone who’s going through a bad time or has emotional problems they need help with”(1). While industry experts acknowledge that there is a grey area between coaching and therapy (2), the two professions are still very distinct in their fields and training. 

Therapy doesn’t usually focus too much on finances or has any educational elements.

Financial Advisors inform you which specific product would best suit your needs (3). They need to be SPS certified and registered with the FCA. They can be independent or restricted (to certain products they will suggest). If you want to know how to diversify your pensions portfolio, or to plan your tax and estate, for example, they are your best fit. 

Financial advisors don’t usually help you set up and maintain a budget or coach you to develop habits and systems. The two professions can work very well together for certain clients.

 3. Financial coaching is utterly personal

No two coaching journeys will ever be the same, just like no two money situations are the same. Yes, there are countless resources online that you can use, like budget templates or motivational quotes. That may even be enough: The right tool at the right time can get you very far. However, in coaching it is all about you. How you feel, what you want, and what will get you results.

4. Financial coaching can alleviate so much stress

Signing up for financial coaching, you can be assured that your coach will always show up with a plan for the session and a road map for your overall time together. That can always be amended if you have something (like a recent struggle) you’d like to talk about, but you don’t have to worry about filling any gaps. 

This road map will also mean that you have a clear plan of steps set out to get you to a specific goal. You can trust that by the end of the session or program or milestone, you will have made meaningful progress in solving your problem. 5.

5. Financial Coaching can re-introduce so much joy

This may sound unbelievable right now, but you may actually enjoy money management. I’ve seen it happen! 

More importantly, you can stop feeling guilty every time you spend money because you know exactly what you can afford and what you want to prioritise. You’ll know your position and you’ll be able to say no if the purchase would collide with your priorities and goals. Therefore you can start to enjoy those ‘unnecessary’ spendings (hello third ice cream scoop!)

6. Financial coaching can improve relationships

It’s no surprise that many fights between couples are about money. Royal London found out it’s a whopping 62% (4). Talking about finances, whether they are shared or separate, can be tough at the best of times. There may be stigmas, a lot of anxiety, and a lot of strong opinions. We grew up with certain ideas about money and carried them into adulthood without much questioning. Then all of a sudden you have your significant other, and you have shared expenses and responsibilities. Chances are, they grew up with different mindsets, challenges, and rules about money, and it is no surprise that they can clash sometimes. 

Enter: The financial coach. [superman emoji?] Coming from a neutral place, they can facilitate your conversation around finances in your relationship. The coach can suggest different viewpoints, challenge restricting beliefs (does anyone else ever stand in their way? No? Just me then.), find the common ground and help you work through money struggles together. 

7. It helps the clients empower themselves and increase their resourcefulness. 

Have you ever heard of the story of Baron Munchhausen by Rudolf Erich Raspe? In it, the main character famously pulls himself and his horse out of a swamp by his own hair (and rides on a flying cannonball, but that’s a story for another day). 

In reality, getting yourself out of a rut with only your own strength and wit is often near impossible. 

A financial coach will be your ally, your support, and that extra pair of arms and eyes helping you every step of the way. Good financial coaching will also teach you the skills and give you the tools to help you help yourself in the future after the coaching has finished. The goal must always be to increase independence, not create dependence. If I coach you to gain and maintain an overview of your expenses, you will benefit from it for years to come. It will also help you tackle new challenges with more confidence and resourcefulness, as you will already have overcome some with me (the financial coach) by your side. 

8. Financial coaching takes the person without judgement

A professional financial coach will not judge you for who you are, how you got to where you are, or the money you spend while you are working with them. None of our business. 

We will hold you accountable because that is part of helping you get to where you want to go with your money and in life. If you tell me that your biggest priority is saving money to live in France for 6 months, and you then consider a weekend trip to Los Angeles, I may question that because it will take away from your self-declared highest goals. However, if we determine that you have X to spend every month, and you spend all of that on art prints, that is your choice and I effectively don’t care. (In a nice way.)

9. Financial coaching has a ripple effect

You having control of your finances doesn’t stay in a one-person bubble. I’ve mentioned significant others above, but this goes far beyond romantic relationships.

The skills, tools, mindsets and systems you will learn won’t just stay with you. You can pass them down to your children, as you teach them about healthy money management. You can grow closer to friends or family because you are no longer burdened by your money struggles. You can become a role model. 

10. It can help people live the life they want

Do you feel like you can’t see the forest for the trees when it comes to your money and the plans you have for your life? Do you want one thing today and another thing next week? Or do you know exactly what you want and need, but don’t have a plan that will get you there?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, a financial coach is likely a good choice for you. As part of my 5-month program, I dive deep into goal finding, goal verification, the magic of follow through, and creating a personalised plan that will get you to where you want to be. 

I can’t promise you that you will be ready to move or backpack or retire in 5 months, but I will give you all the tools and skills you need to get yourself there.

Imagine that life you’ve always wanted: What if it could become reality?

Life’s too short for regrets. 

Those were my two cents on the topic. What do you think?

References:

1. NHS (last review 1 November 2022) Benefits of talking therapies. Available at: https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/talking-therapies-medicine-treatments/talking-therapies-and-counselling/benefits-of-talking-therapies/ (accessed: 05/03/2023)
   
2. Rodgers, J (2016) Coaching Skills, 4th edition, McGraw Hill House Maidenhead England, Open University Press
3. Citizens advice (n.d.) Getting financial advice. Available at: https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/debt-and-money/getting-financial-advice/#:~:text=Financial%20advisers%20look%20at%20your,all%20the%20different%20companies%20available (accessed: 05/03/2023)
   
4. Independent (11 February 2022) Money ‘is the issue couples are most likely to argue about’. Available at: https://www.independent.co.uk/money/money-is-the-issue-couples-are-most-likely-to-argue-about-b2012899.html (accessed: 05/03/2023)