What comes to mind when you think of a coach?

Most of us think of sports, either ones we played or ones we love to watch. We think of personal experiences with coaches we had in high school or college. Maybe we imagine the professionals who lead individual athletes or big teams to impressive results.

In the sports world, we can easily see the value of a good coach. The coach can make the difference between a winning team and one that struggles. They can be what separates an athlete who fails and one who succeeds at the highest level.

And we recognize that the value a coach brings is not necessarily knowledge-based. Yes, they do have a depth of knowledge and expertise to share. That information is important and it makes a difference to the final outcome.

But simply having knowledge, even at an expert level, only scratches the surface of a coach’s value.

They bring the wisdom required to apply that knowledge correctly, to each moment, to each individual, to each team, to each goal. Just as important as the application of information, a great coach transforms results through support, accountability, and guidance through difficult, long processes that require discipline and dedication to complete.

It’s what great coaches have in common with great advisors of all kinds, including financial advisors – and a great advisor can provide huge intangible value when you’re working to grow your wealth.

The Intangible Benefits of Professional Support in Your Financial Planning

Could you DIY your way through building a wealth management plan and executing the strategy required to grow your net worth in a way that allows you to meet your goals?

Theoretically, yes – most of the information you need is a Google search away. But the same can be said of anyone taking on an athletic endeavor.

Theoretically, all you need to do to learn how to play tennis is look up the rules and best practices online. Then go find a court to apply all this new knowledge. Simple, right?

If only! Things aren’t so simple in reality. Without the feedback, guidance, accountability, support, and expertise of coaching, you face countless challenges that will likely keep you from becoming as good of a player as you could be if you had outside support.

In theory, it’s possible to manage your finances without professional support. There’s no shortage of information available that you can dive into, from blogs to books to online courses. 

But in reality, managing this information is difficult. Trying to take it on alone often leads to analysis paralysis, leaving you taking no action at all and stalling out on potential progress.

Applying whatever information you come across to your unique situation and circumstances, assuming you can sort through it all to find what’s even relevant for you in the first place, is even more challenging. 

You’re going to get different results if you try approaching financial planning alone, versus working with a professional financial planner who can help you:

• Set goals and priorities
• Identify opportunities while pointing out pitfalls to avoid
• Create a strategy that will move you from where you are right now to where you need to be to achieve your aims
• Encourage you to keep showing up when you’re dealing with distractions or setbacks
• Hold you accountable to taking the actions you agreed were necessary to meet your goals

The Intangible Benefits of Professional Support in Your Financial Planning

The value of having someone guide you through a complex process like financial planning is not just in getting specific advice (although that’s huge!). It’s in the intangible factors that are hard to measure:

• Reducing decision fatigue: It costs you in terms of time and energy to constantly make big, difficult decisions that you need to research, perform due diligence around, and commit to. Working with an advisor lessens that burden, saves time, and frees mental space to focus on other aspects of your life that are important to you.
• Avoiding second-guessing and self-doubt: When you operate alone, there’s always an element of uncertainty. Are you missing anything? Do you have any blind spots around this issue? What do you not know – or don’t know you don’t know? With a professional advisor to provide input and guidance, you can enjoy more peace of mind that you’re taking the correct actions to move you toward your goals (and avoiding costly mistakes along the way).
• Being more focused and intentional: A coach can provide you with a framework to use so that you can narrow your window of focus down to what truly matters in making progress. You don’t have to spend time weeding out every single possible option, because that professional advisor should point you in the right direction and help you course-correct as needed over time. You also have a place to bring all your questions, big and small – rather than worrying over them or letting them slip away because you didn’t have time to try and dig up the answers on your own.

Finally, it’s worth noting that a good coach starts by listening, not by jumping straight into instruction or drills or commands. 

Anyone who wants to provide the best advice possible to you will want to understand your goals, priorities, and values first, and they won’t question what’s important to you. They’ll honor that instead, respecting that everyone is likely playing a different game (rather than trying to force you to conform with what they think is the best result to aim for).

An advisor who can offer truly great guidance will first ask open-ended questions to understand your aspirations and concerns. They can then provide a range of options and help you weigh the pros and cons of each, empowering you to make informed decisions based on what you find most important.

The Danger of Bad Coaches: How to Spot Red Flags When Hiring a Financial Advisor

Financial planning should be a process, not a one-time event – and it should be collaborative, not prescriptive. But not all coaches (or financial planners!) are created equal. A bad coach can do more harm than no coach at all.

Here are some red flags to look out for if you look to hire a professional team to help you with your financial planning:

• They don’t usually work with people like you – at your life stage, age, career track, etc. You want to find someone who is familiar with the kinds of decisions or transitions you might need to deal with and get advice around.
• They don’t take the time to listen to your specific goals, needs, or concerns. They offer you a solution before they fully understand the actual problem at hand.
• They are not proactive, and only react to information as you provider it (as opposed to asking questions to uncover more, or bringing up topics for you to consider in addition to what you shared).
• They are in any way dismissive of what’s important to you or what concerns you.

Beyond these relational aspects, you also want to avoid the following:

• Someone who promises a “free” financial plan; there’s no such thing as a free lunch!
• Anyone who suggests you purchase products—like annuities or life insurance—without first understanding your unique needs and goals.
• Firms who are tied in to specific companies and can only recommend that company’s products (versus independent advisors or brokers, who are free to recommend the actual best option on the market).
• Professionals who are paid on commissions, either from product sales or specific investments they suggest (that they receive kickbacks on). 
• Advisors who work under the suitability standard (you want someone to act under the fiduciary standard 100% of the time, with no exceptions).

A good coach in any realm, be it physical or financial, should act as a guide – not as a dictator or all-knowing being. They should respect and work to know the game you want to play, then work with you to create a plan that fits what you want to achieve

Investing in professional coaching—whether for fitness, finances, or any other area of life—can help you produce dramatically different results than what you would see if you went it alone.

Having a professional advisor in your corner provides structure, support, and a fresh perspective, helping you navigate challenges and achieve your goals more efficiently. 

If you want better results from your financial planning efforts, professionals guidance and accountability could be what you need to thrive.