by Blake Herzog
Anyone working to ensure a comfortable lifestyle for their family or a secure retirement likely has considered hiring a financial planner or adviser to help them sort through their options for long-term wealth building through stocks, bonds, annuities and other investments.
Depending on your habits with money and financial literacy, a financial coach might be a good start.
James Hait, founder and CEO of Victory Wealth Services in Prescott, uses several analogies to explain the role financial coaches play in their clients’ fiscal lives, many of them relating to physical fitness.
“I liken a financial coach to having something like a personal trainer for your money, and just like a trainer creates workouts for your fitness level and goals, a financial coach customizes strategies to fit specific financial situations and dreams,” he says.
The key to a good financial coach, Hait says, is making sure “they have a written process for helping their clients. From the moment you call them, they should have a written process that you can follow to make sure you have the highest probability of success. The best financial advisers, the best financial coaches, of any industry will have a process.”
This prescribed process ought to be customized to your goals and any changes you may need to make to reach them.
“A financial coach provides one-on-one guidance tailored to an individual’s unique situation as opposed to a broker or financial adviser out there in the industry. They’re basically babysitters of money, they allocate assets, but are they really there for all the life changes that a person has?” Hait says. “A coach offers strategies that really align with your goals and needs and values.”
This process likely will prioritize budgeting your money in a way that allows you to build up significant savings and pay down debt.
