Tips for How to Become a Certified Financial Counselor
Anyone can learn how to become a certified financial counselor and bring a valuable service to their communities. The process has five essential steps, which are outlined here. Read the following case study to find out how to take a financial counseling venture to the next level.
Step 1: Training & Certification
Patricia Moore was Executive Secretary to the Director of Admissions at City College. She wanted to learn how to become an accredited certified financial counselor, so she could help incoming students adopt good financial habits and secure their futures. Patricia’s first step was to earn her financial coaching certification.
Achieving success as a financial counselor would demand more than just studying personal finance topics. Patricia also needed to become informed about behavioral psychology, effective teaching and counseling methodologies, and any regulations over the industry. She was able to find comprehensive coverage of these topics in a financial counselor certification program.
After completing the program and obtaining certification, Patricia’s clients would see that she had attained competence in financial counseling and met national standards. This designation would increase their trust in her abilities.
Step 2: Foundation of How to Become a Certified Financial Counselor – Initial Experience
Concurrently with her education, Patricia also endeavored to get some practical experience. She was aware that book learning was just one facet of how to become a certified financial counselor; she needed to practice what she had learned to excel at her financial wellness coaching endeavor. She enlisted the supervision of one of City College’s Academic Counselors, who had some background in financial counseling.
Patricia found that each client she interviewed was unique. Each individual has a separate emotional response, set of habits, and current situation regarding finances. This variation posed a challenge to Patricia, but she continued honing her skills through direct practice and dedication to learning how to become a certified financial counselor.
The Academic Counselor supported Patricia by supervising her interviews with the first few clients. Until she completed her certification, her financial coaching work and recommendations needed monitoring.
Step 3: Systems, Processes, & Resources
Professional development, counseling practice, and carefully tracking results formed Patricia’s foundation for how to become an accredited certified financial counselor. Putting key resources, processes, and systems in place for organizing client information was her next step.
Once Patricia earned her certified financial counselor credentials, it was vitally important for Patricia to build systems that would facilitate client relationships by guiding timely communications. She was looking for a software package where she could view a client’s entire financial picture in one location – bank balances, retirement funds, credit scores, insurance coverage, etc.
After researching what a financial counselor does and the definition of a financial counselor, Patricia knew that ineffective counselors were those who failed to provide clients with physical financial plans. She worked out a system to give clients personal financial plans on paper, with clear actions defined. She used the same system to produce progress reports allowing clients to watch their progress toward goals.
Step 4: Plan & Path – Work for Organization / Start a Business
Step 4: Plan & Path – work for organization / start business
Patricia’s fourth phase was to begin considering how she wanted to counsel. She could start her own business, but she really wanted to work with City College students. First, she looked into financial counselors average salary and how that fit in her budget. Upon analyzing the date, she decided to start at the college, with the option to branch into her own enterprise later.
Knowing her path early on helped Patricia prepare. She did so by tracking her early clients’ results and writing case studies about their experiences, while maintaining their confidentiality and protecting their information.
Writing case studies was Patricia’s way of demonstrating to others – whether individual clients, clients from the College, or potential employers – that she was a distinguished provider of financial counseling services.
Step 5: Commitment to Excellent Service & Results
After discovering how to become a certified or accredited financial counselor and taking financial counselor training, Patricia assumed responsibility for her clients’ financial health. It was up to her to help them stay on track after setbacks; and urge them on when they were motivated and optimistic.
Not all the clients Patricia worked with achieved good results, which was tough. But when she did help someone, that experience made all her efforts worthwhile. Watching clients progress from being stressed over money worries to achieving complete debt payoff carried a profound reward.
Making a steady commitment to their financial wellbeing helped more of Patricia’s clients achieve their goals. She enjoyed the positive feeling when they reached an objective, then turned that feeling into motivation to continue improving her financial counseling skill.