Do you need a finance coach?
Most of us have a basic awareness of how to handle our finances. We know what is wrong and what is right in our ability to manage our finances. So, why do we continue to spiral into uncontrollable debt or spend more than we have on stuff we don’t need? It’s the same as weight management. We know that it’s desirable to eat healthy and maintain a healthy weight, but in reality that is not what happens. When we make the decision to take control of our weight or our finances, then we enlist the support of a coach. Have you ever considered the use of a personal finance coach?
Driven by client goals, coaches’ help people develop skills and behaviours which they can improve on independently. Coaching used to be the preserve of professional athletes, however it is no longer reserved for sports teams. Today people are seeking ways to become excellent, and they are turning to coaches to support them in their quest for self-improvement in their health, their careers and their finances.
A coach can see what a client cannot. Finance coaches hold their clients accountable for their own financial management, providing guidance, motivation and support to attain financial goals.
Financial coaching is the use of techniques that came from research in the field of positive psychology. Coaching methods have successfully been utilised in areas such as physical and mental healthcare, management and career planning. The same methods are now being used in personal finance management. A key assumption in financial coaching is that a client is creative and resourceful, yet may need assistance in tapping into their positive attributes. So, typically a coach works with a client to zero in on a behaviour or behaviours to improve upon.
Most people are aware of what good and bad financial habits are, however, the coach provides an external perspective and holds the client accountable for his or her actions.
The focus in a coaching intervention is on performance gains driven by the client’s goals. Unlike a counsellor who helps solve problems, the coach provides a structure for clients to develop their own solutions. In the long run, coaching helps people develop skills and behaviours they can improve upon independently.
Three key roles of a coach are to:
· Empower- a person to figure out what they want from their finances and motivate then to set their own goals.
· Hold client accountable- the coach acts as an external monitor to hold the person accountable for goals and action plans.
· Focus attention on behaviours- ongoing maintenance and feedback.
Financial coaching is simply an application of coaching techniques designed to develop a client’s capability to manage their own finances and sustain continuous economic security in accordance with their own defined goals. The coach supports the client in goal setting, defines the short- and intermediate-term steps to achieve the goals, forms specific intentions to implement steps toward those goals and then monitors the client and provides feedback on performance.
Financial coaching increases financial capability. By providing a structure, the coach can encourage clients to practice defined financial behaviours, offering feedback so clients can improve their capabilities on their own. This helps increase self-confidence and reduces the stress related to financial management.
Coaches help clients overcome their own behavioural failings, especially self-control problems (inability to control or defer spending), procrastination (taking on unpleasant tasks like financial planning that are easily put off), and focusing attention (setting up a process to take care of regular financial maintenance tasks like paying bills).
Through coaching, clients are able to acquire the fundamental skills and set the goals that enable them to achieve long-term financial security and mobility by building and growing assets such as emergency savings, building credit, debt reduction and retirement savings.
Drop us an email if you would like to consider Financial Wellness Coaching on info@sequor.biz