Tell me why this is not a good idea...

[jodi]

I have been thinking some time of trying to locate or develop some occupation that would allow me to assist people who are having trouble financially (much as we all do here!). Last night I came up with an idea which literally kept me up WAY later than I should have been up. This service may very well be in existence, but I'm not aware of it. What if...there was a "personal financial consultant" or "budget coach" who worked with people to develop a reasonable budget, pay off debt, set priorities, etc. I'm not talking a financial planner - I know they are a dime a dozen. Personally, I wouldn't want to counsel anyone on investing. But as far as looking over a budget, helping people discover what they really want from their money, avoiding foreclosure or paying down debt (a la Dave Ramsey workshop?? But personalized, meeting regularly, etc.)...that would be incredibly rewarding. I can see it as an extention of what a credit counselor would do, but much more involved in the mundane details of the budget and not just negotiating with creditors.
I see one big, glaring problem though. How do you make money doing this? Obviously, many of the people you would want to help could not afford to hire you. I wonder if banks or lenders employ someone of this ilk as a default prevention worker? Still, I don't think that would allow you the level of contact you would need to really help someone turn things around.

If you have been in trouble financially - would you have benefitted from a service like this? Would you have paid for it? What would be a reasonable price to pay? Any other feedback? Feel free to tell me it's not feasible - I already have suspicions that it couldn't work out "IRL"!

[Kirbycruiser]

I personally would not pay for it, I don't think most would.
It would be a great service for banks to offer free to their customers.

[tabbycat31]

Not sure I would pay for it, but I would love that as a career. I work at a bank now, and I wish I could make more of a difference.

[Marcymox]

I was thinking the same thing!!! what fun it would be to almost be a "life coach" to sit down with people and go over thier budget penny by penny. To be involved in thier lives and help them though the path of debt. I think any of us here would be skilled at this since we've lived through it personally and really understand the struggles.

There is a guy who does this- for the life of me I can't think of his name- he wears funny colorful shirts and lives in AZ- he has a show on A&E that used to be on saturday morning and now I can't find it. He sits down with people and talks about thier debt, makes them never shop alone, they face every penny, cut up cards, close accounts, sell things, return things that still have tags. He's pretty hardcore, but it's entertaining to watch.

anyway, the thing about helping the debt ridden is that you won't get paid- unless you are part of a TV show or something. I don't know where else you would get a fulfilling job like this- credit counselors aren't the same thing. I guess it would have to be a volunteer position- or maybe a barter situation. Someone does handyman work or childcare for you, and you act as thier financial advisor.

[Scanner]

Consulting/coaching is a tough business..

If I were do this sort of thing, I would develop public speaking skills and offer it as a one-time seminar. Have the seminar as a stand-alone profit center. Then. . .offer your consulting (maybr 2 out of 50 would bite).

Even then, you are going to have to market your seminar to the public and if a person is irresponsible about spending. . .they'll have to have an epiphany to want to come to your seminar.

It would kind of be like a sinner deciding he needs to repent and go to church.

Truthfully, you would have to market it like this IMO:

"In Debt? Can't Get Out? We have the answers to all of your money problems!!!!! Come hear about Jodi's Amazing Debt Reduction System for $29 at the Holiday Inn this weekend!!!! You'll learn to budget your money properly and get out from underneath those high credit card fees!!!! If you sign up now. . .you'll get a free set of ginsu knives."

You get the idea - needs polish. . .but you would have to have your own proprietary system repackaged (kinda like all the people here are always talking about Dave Ramsey - he's just repackaging old stuff and the forum buys it!).

What I am saying is if you try to selll a seminar or information about budgeting your money properly, that's about as glamorous as a seminar on how to brush your teeth properly.

You wouldn't be in the budgeting business. . .you'd be in the "peace and happiness" business. That's what you'd be selling.
Good luck - I try to encourage the entrepreneural spirit.

[Scanner]

Let's talk another financial guru - Suze Orman.

What Suze Orman is selling is not advice - she is selling her "Maternal-like" presence.

When people call her up and explain their financial woes in front of 20 million Americans, they are basically confessing to "mom."

Mom scolds them and then gives them motherly, loving advice.

The caller then walks away feeling like they got help from mom and America sees this and approves this and watches it (and CNN's ratings soar).

She's a business genius (and yes. . .I think she gives good conservative advice).

So Jodi, if you could be a surrogate mom to your clients. . .I think people may buy.

[poundwise]

While your primary motivation is a desire to help people, you should know that not only can you earn money by helping people, even broke people, but that many are doing just that every day.

For instance, the various credit counselor organizations assist people with the debts, bills, and budget. Most of these charge from $25 to $75 a month even after the initial consultation. What you propose is different from this in that you would be more involved and, presumably, meet with people regularly. I certainly wouldn't polish up my sales pitch and offer anything for $29.99. Instead, perhaps offer an initial consult free and tell people what you would propose to do for them and their situation. Then, you can have a flat rate or base/adjust your rate on their ability to pay or their income. Remember, most broke people's problem isn't that they don't have money, its that they don't have a plan and/or follow it.

I'm also certain that are a lot of husbands and wives out there who would love to have a third-party help them with their significant other when it comes to talking about, and finding agreement on, money issues. Since money problems are a top cause of fights and even divorce, a "money counselor" or "budget coach" might find the job more rewarding than just helping people with debt. You might have a part in saving a family.

I would certainly not be discouraged from pursuing it if I were you.

[Ima saver]

That is something I would love to do also.

[Gruntina]

I see one big, glaring problem though. How do you make money doing this? Obviously, many of the people you would want to help could not afford to hire you. I wonder if banks or lenders employ someone of this ilk as a default prevention worker? Still, I don't think that would allow you the level of contact you would need to really help someone turn things around.

If you have been in trouble financially - would you have benefitted from a service like this? Would you have paid for it? What would be a reasonable price to pay? Any other feedback? Feel free to tell me it's not feasible - I already have suspicions that it couldn't work out "IRL"!

I usually see these financial counseling/coaching in job descriptions for non-profit organizations such as for people with disability or recovery from drugs and etc. But this is only the small portion of their job description so it's totally more for assisting the people/clients with their general lifestyle. And even so, the pay is not much.

From what I see, the financial counseling/coaching position you describe is usually a small part of a job position and most of those time I do not see the client paying for the financial advice.

Some credit counseling that are non-profit also coach and educate about how to handle your finance with providing a nice work book to their customers. The pay is never more than 15 dollars a month for the life of the debts until paid off. The pay is a tiny percentage from the debt repayments but only up to a max of 15 dollars so it can be less for many.

[sweeps]

My first thought was that the people who you are targeting will be tightwads/cheapskates and not want to pay anyone else to help them... But we're only thinking that way because that's how the majority of us here on SavingAdvice would think.

Ultimately most people don't think the way we do though. They don't already have the budgeting mindset. They love to spend but they've gotten in too deep and need help. I think there might actually be a market out there. The question is will it be a monthly fee you will charge, or a per-visit fee. There are pros and cons to both.

Another service that has crossed my mind a few times is medical billing advocate. For households with lots of medical bills but little time or expertise to deal with them, the MBA would go through bills with a fine-tooth comb to find errors and inconsistencies, and also work with the insurance companies and medical providers to correct them and negotiate discounts. The MBA could be paid by flat fee or by a percentage of savings.

[PrincessPerky]

Do you have to make money doing it? it would be a wonderful service, and if you have the kind of aunt/mom attitude that people would respond to (and if you are good at reading when to be sympathetic, and when to be tough) you could really make a difference in peoples lives.

course the people who really need it can't pay....though if you contacted charity/social institutions offering the service they could hook you up with folk...if it was free.

[jodi]

I certainly wouldn't polish up my sales pitch and offer anything for $29.99. Instead, perhaps offer an initial consult free and tell people what you would propose to do for them and their situation. Then, you can have a flat rate or base/adjust your rate on their ability to pay or their income. Remember, most broke people's problem isn't that they don't have money, its that they don't have a plan and/or follow it.

That was my first inclination - a free consultation, followed by individual appointments at $20-30/hr or session (I imagine sessions to be about an hour). However, I'm not opposed to the seminar idea either. I work PT in real estate, and some agents seem to have good luck holding homebuyer seminars and getting clients from them. I also would not be opposed to a sliding scale, which would allow a bit of "pro-bono" cheap work in addition to regular rates. Another idea was to somehow charge based on percentage I can save them, but there are just too many variables there. I might be able to save someone $200/mo., but if they are not willing to follow through, then they haven't saved anything.
I wouldn't be promoting anything that's not already in print or on the Internet to anyone, but I really think that a lot of people need that hand-holding or tough love to help them make the difficult choices. This is where I would come in Basically, I would be repackaging a lot of the stuff that's talked about here, but bringing it to people and showing them how it applies in real life. Also, I imagine a large self-directed part. It wouldn't just be me paying someone's bills or negotiating with creditors, but teaching them how to do it themselves.
I don't know...maybe it's just a pipe dream. It's a lot of think about though. I would like to wake up looking forward to work some day!

[Hot dog]

I think I have heard about someone being a payee for someone receiving SSI or other benefits I think it was for people with addictions or mental health disorders. I have also been thinking I would love to do something like that and have been told I would be good at it.

[jodi]

This would be different from being a payee, which basically means you receive someone's money (usually SSI or SSDI) and have the responsibility to pay their bills for them (most of the people I work with at my state job - the developmentally disabled - have payees). What I am envisioning is actually teaching someone how to handle their own money better.

[vsjhoc]

As I'm sure you know, Rep Payees are strictly volunteer.

Check this out: American Association of Daily Money Managers.