Financial Coaching & Life Planning Services In Aylesbury  Bucks

 For me, this is the simplest and quickest way to better financial well-being and as a result, better mental health and improved confidence and robustness against the perils that life can and will throw at us all.
 
A fairly simple way to explain financial coaching is to contrast it with what financial advice is.
 
Financial advisers tend to focus on implementing financial products and strategies, while financial coaches focus more on the basics of personal money management, behavioural change, and accountability to a client-driven spending plan. And while financial advisers most commonly help to manage wealth that already exists, a financial coach's job is to provide a client the knowledge, skills, and behaviours that will help them build wealth in the first place.
 
Another major difference between financial coaching and advising is that coaches typically have no tie-in with products at all; they do not manage investments, nor sell insurance. We might educate our clients on the basic concepts of insurance, investing, diversification (which isn’t considered giving financial advice) but we never provide specific recommendations on where to invest. In many cases I don’t even discuss the above topics with my clients because they aren’t at the point where they have assets to invest; they are more worried about working their way out of debt or building up their emergency fund or to change behaviours that got them into trouble.
 
When a client has met his or her goals of positive cash flow and some wealth accumulation, I can then deal with the more traditional approach, so they can move on to the next stage—comprehensive planning. Honestly, to compare coaches with advisors is like comparing apples and oranges - one is not better than the other, and seeing them as either/or misses the point. Both are incredibly important and help people use their money better to reach their goals. But they do different things, and in practice work typically work with different types of clients with different needs.
 
This approach does require more hand-holding, keeping the client accountable, and devising ways to help the client embrace new habits that will support their financial goals. That’s because the ultimate goal of coaching is to teach clients how to fish—to get them to the place where they have the basics down, and don’t need my help anymore.
 
The relationship is highly client-driven, and I am engaged/hired by the client to support his or her personal goals and values. For my clients, I provide education and help them take a look at their personal relationships with money, habits, and emotional issues. I give them a platform for distilling what “awesome” would look like in their lives, now and in the future. I offer encouragement when the process gets difficult, keep them on track, and hold them accountable to their stated goals and directives (which can, of course, change with time).
 
Here is an example of what that financial coaching process might look like.
 

• Build awareness around spending habits. Most clients I work with have never made a budget, or if they have they couldn’t stick with it for more than a few weeks. This means my first task is to help them discover how much money is coming in, how much is going out, and where it is going.

• Dream your “Awesome” lifestyle. Since coaches view money as a tool rather than a goal, I provide an opportunity for clients to explore and define the life they want to live—not just in retirement, but now! Ask what they really want out of life, and challenge them to think about how they will make it happen for themselves today, not in 30+ years. This means taking a hard look at personal values, fears around money, and desires for life.

• Explore emotions and behaviors. It’s easy to tell people what to do. It’s much harder to get them to do it! Humans are inherently irrational when it comes to money, so a coach’s job is to help clients identify their stories/patterns of behavior, and get them to understand that it’s often their own beliefs about money that are at the root of their spending issues.

• Address their tough financial problems. Establish an emergency fund. Manage debt, and create a plan to pay it down.

• Accumulate 3-6 months savings. Most clients of financial coaches have never had 3-6 months of money saved at once, so this is both a practical challenge of how to put the funds away each month, and a behavioral one (since they’ve never done it, it can appear overwhelming, scary, and feel unattainable).

• Develop a spending plan and budgeting system that actually works for that client. 

• Support and Follow-up. Upon completing the process, a client will often continue to engage a coach, to call upon him/her in “times of weakness”, when other life challenges come into play, for general questions, emotional support, clarifications, etc.

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The benefits of financial coaching are numerous. Here are some of the key benefits:
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1. Improved financial literacy: Financial coaching helps you understand financial concepts and strategies that can help you make informed decisions.

2. Goal setting and achievement: Financial coaching helps you set realistic financial goals and provides guidance and support to help you achieve them.

3. Better financial habits: Financial coaching can help you develop better financial habits, such as budgeting, saving, and investing.

4. Reduced stress: Financial coaching can help reduce financial stress by providing you with a plan and the tools to achieve your goals.

5. Improved financial security: Financial coaching can help you create a more secure financial future by developing a plan that addresses your unique needs and goals.

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