What Is a Financial Coach? What They Do, What They Don’t & Who They Help

A financial coach helps you improve the day-to-day behavior and systems behind your money. Think budgeting, paying down debt, building savings, organizing finances, setting goals and—this is the part people often underestimate—actually following through.

The simplest way I explain it is this? Sometimes the problem isn’t that you need a more complicated financial answer. You already know you should spend less than you earn, build an emergency fund or finally deal with that credit-card balance.

The problem is getting from knowing to doing.

That’s where a good financial coach can be useful.

On This Page

1. Key Takeaways Ahead
2. What Does a Financial Coach Do?
3. What a Financial Coach Usually Doesn’t Do
4. Financial Coach vs. Financial Advisor vs. Financial Planner
5. Who Can Benefit From Financial Coaching?
6. What Happens When You Work With a Financial Coach?
7. Do Financial Coaches Need a Certification?
8. How Much Does a Financial Coach Cost?
9. Is a Financial Coach Worth It?
10. My Rule: Hire for the Problem, Not the Title
11. Want More Plain-English Money Help?
12. How I Verified This

Key Takeaways Ahead

• Creating a realistic budget or spending system
• Building an emergency fund
• Creating a plan for paying off debt
• Improving saving habits
• Organizing bills, accounts and financial paperwork
• Setting specific financial goals
• Creating accountability around those goals
• Helping couples or households communicate about money
• Teaching basic financial concepts
• Helping you build routines that survive after the coaching relationship ends

After decades around financial planning, one thing I’ve seen over and over is that a technically perfect plan doesn’t help much if nobody follows it.

That’s the part of personal finance that spreadsheets tend to miss. Real life includes procrastination, spouses who don’t agree, forgotten paperwork, fear, competing priorities and the occasional “I’ll deal with that next month” that somehow lasts three years.

“Financial coach” by itself does not tell you that someone is registered to provide personalized securities advice. A person may be a coach and separately hold professional registrations, licenses or credentials—but don’t assume that from the coaching title.

If someone is recommending specific investments, managing a portfolio or otherwise providing regulated investment services, find out exactly what capacity they’re acting in and verify their registration.

The SEC’s Investor.gov specifically recommends checking whether an investment professional is registered and reviewing the firm’s Form CRS, which explains services, fees, conflicts and standards of conduct.

And yes, one person can wear more than one of those hats.

That’s why I wouldn’t choose solely because somebody calls himself a “planner,” “advisor,” “wealth manager” or “coach.” Start with what you need done.

For the full breakdown, see my financial coach vs. financial advisor vs. financial planner comparison.

• “I make enough money, but I have no idea where it goes.”
• “I know what to do. I just don’t stick with it.”
• “Every time I pay off debt, I end up rebuilding it.”
• “My spouse and I need a better way to talk about money.”
• “I need someone to keep me accountable.”
• “My finances aren’t complicated. They’re just disorganized.”

Notice what’s not on that list: “I need somebody to pick stocks for me.” That’s a different job.

1. Figure out where you are. Income, expenses, debt, savings, recurring problems and immediate concerns.
2. Define where you’re trying to go. “Be better with money” isn’t a useful goal. “Build a $5,000 emergency fund and stop carrying credit-card balances” is.
3. Identify the bottleneck. Is it information? Cash flow? Behavior? Organization? Communication?
4. Create the next few actions. Not 47 things. Usually the next two or three things.
5. Review what actually happened. Coaching becomes valuable when the plan gets adjusted to real life instead of pretending real life didn’t happen.

That last step is where coaching separates itself from reading another book or downloading another budget template.

There are financial-coaching education programs and credentials, but the bigger hiring questions are practical: What training does this person have? What work do they actually perform? Who do they typically help? How are they paid? Where does their scope stop? And what happens when your situation requires tax, legal or regulated investment advice?

A credential can be useful evidence. It isn’t a substitute for understanding the person’s actual qualifications and scope.

Rather than bury a bunch of constantly changing price ranges here, I’ve broken down the current models, what you’re actually paying for and how to compare them in my guide to financial coach costs and fees.

If your biggest problem is implementation and accountability, coaching can solve a real problem. If you’re already highly organized and need sophisticated investment, tax, retirement or estate-planning work, paying a coach to tell you to make a budget probably won’t move the needle.

I walk through that decision separately in Is a Financial Coach Worth It?

Money problems have different causes. Match the professional to the cause.

If you need accountability, look for somebody good at accountability. If your financial life has become complicated, look for comprehensive planning expertise. If you need investment advice, verify that the person is properly registered to provide it.

The fanciest title in the world doesn’t fix a mismatch.

If you’re ready to interview someone, use my guide to finding and choosing a financial coach.