Coaching Vs Planning
Just as in sports, a coach’s job is to elevate performance. We feel it is our job as Financial Coaches to help investors elevate their portfolio performance through education about investing as well as in how the human brain works around investing. As financial coaches, we help our clients find their true purpose for money and then we support them so they remain disciplined investors over a lifetime. As coaches we put our client’s best interests first.
We feel the the traditional financial planning model is broken and has become the source of many problems for people seeking investment advice. Although people naturally seek out a financial planner to assist with their financial affairs, we find that the heart of the planning problem lies in the way it is carried out. For starters, financial planning is often used as a sales or marketing tool to sell a firm's financial products. And of course, the sale of these financial products produces a commission for the planner and his company. In addition, the majority of planners work for a brokerage firm or insurance company. In this case the company actually controls what products the planner can recommend to clients and they are not necessarily the best or the most cost efficient for the investor. Unfortunately, the investor rarely knows who’s getting the better end of the deal.
A Financial Coach is vastly different than a Financial Planner. A financial coach helps the client learn about investing. This education includes not only teaching the nuts and bolts of investing itself (how markets work, where returns come from, and how costs can impact those returns), but he/she also enlightens the client as to how emotions can influence a client’s investing behavior, often to their detriment. A financial coach will get to know the client, his/her family, goals, and dreams and then works alongside him/her to help them stay on track to make those dreams a reality.
To see if you are working with a financial planner or a financial coach take this “Investor Quiz”. Having the answers to these questions is key to having investing peace of mind. A financial coach will help you get to the point where you can answer (unequivocally) “yes” to each of these questions.
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Walen Financial is there to help you make better financial decisions. The investing models we employ are rooted in economic theory developed by Nobel Prize winning researchers and leading economists. You don’t have to dive deep into that theory to make successful investments, all you need is qualified coaching and expert advice, so you can develop a successful investing strategy yourself. We are here to help you transform your experience with money and achieve true peace of mind.