Denise's Blog
Money Insights, Wisdom, and More
FINANCIAL COACH, MARRIAGE THERAPIST, FINANCIAL PLANNER. WHICH IS BEST FOR YOU??
Financial Coach
Who is the best professional to consult to help you find financial solutions that address your concerns? It really depends. Lets take a look at the similarities and differences between a Financial Coach, a Marriage Therapist and a Financial Planner. Over the years, I have hired all three but for different reasons.
Financial Coach – Integrating Psychology and Money
A Financial Coach helps you to understand and change your relationship with money for the better, linking finances with psychology. Financial Coaching addresses issues of chronic debting, under-earning, cash flow management, effective financial communication with one’s spouse, over-spending, inability to save money, overcoming scarcity mindsets, and a myriad of other personal finance issues.
A Financial Coach helps you explore the past (where your money beliefs come from) in order to understand the present, but the focus is on creating what you want in the future. A Financial Coach understands your money picture is the result of the thinking, emotions and actions you bring to your relationship with money. Solving money problems has little to do with one’s intellect. It has more to do with breaking through emotional blocks and limiting mind-sets.
A Marriage Therapist
Therapy is based in the medical model and the therapist is in the role of clinician. Your symptoms are assessed, then you are given a diagnosis based on the DSM (diagnostic statistical manual), and then treated accordingly based on your diagnosis.
It makes most sense to see a marriage therapist if your money problems are a result of a primary disorder; such as untreated bipolar disorder, depression and anxiety disorders, gambling addictions, or deeply seated unconscious patterns of behavior rooted in early childhood. When couples are working through relationship issues, they often see a Financial Coach and a Marriage Therapist. When money issues are addressed, root problems in a couple’s relationship, may show themselves more clearly.
Therapy’s major focus is healing the past through understanding the past. Much of the focus is on family of origin issues.
A Financial Planner
A Certified Financial Planner is focused on helping you line up your resources to meet your short and long term goals. Your Financial Planner is a master at coordinating your big financial picture by bringing together your estate, retirement, investment, risk (insurance), and tax plans. Your planner makes sure all of these plans are current and are in alignment with one another.