Terry’s Three Tips: How a Finance Coach is Different from a Financial Advisor

A question I am often asked is what separates Terry Finance Coaching from the work of a financial advisor. Both play a vital role in helping you decide how to grow your financial “garden”, but there are some key differences.

Tip #1: Soil (Finance Coach) vs. Seeds (Financial Advisor)

Before seeding can begin, the garden must have rich, fertile soil. Without the right foundation in the garden, even the most robust plants will wither. That’s why before starting the journey of investing with a financial advisor, a trusted coach can help you along the path to clearing your consumer debt, building an emergency fund of at least 3 months’ salary, and saving for a down payment if you are planning to buy a home. Once your soil is ready, a financial advisor will be able to collaborate on an investment strategy based on your retirement and wealth-building goals, helping you select the right seeds to ensure you are able to grow a perpetually bountiful garden for generations to come.

Tip #2: Pruning (Finance Coach) vs. Planting (Financial Advisor)

Many clients who work with a financial coach already have some plants growing. However, some of these plants are working against the overall health of the garden, while others may have overgrown or contain dead leaves or branches. A trusted financial coach should be able to help you determine which plants in your garden need to be completely removed (selling off an albatross car loan or working a plan to clear credit card debt) or reduced (clearing weeds in discretionary spending to create more room for your debt snowball or saving/investing). With more space in your garden, the financial advisor can help you select beautiful plants with long track records of growth to enhance your botanic portfolio.

Tip #3: Water (Finance Coach) vs. Fertilizer (Financial Advisor)

At TFC I help clients follow a pattern of financial steps that can apply to any situation. Water will always be wet, and it will always be a core principle for me to guide clients in the steps of building a starter emergency fund, clearing debt, enhancing the emergency fund, buying a house the right way, then investing and continuing the progress towards a paid-off home and millionaire status. All gardens take time to grow and must be continuously maintained to avoid dormancy or decay. However, there are millions of plants out there. Once your effort and discipline has made it rain and yielded a bounty of lush loam, your financial advisor will be there with the correct fertilizer blend, ensuring each flower and shrub is carefully fed and maintained, to establish a lifetime of scenic landscaping.