Financial Coaching: Defining an Emerging Field

Abstract

This chapter provides an overview of the concept of financial coaching as it develops a unique identity in the USA. Coaching is used in other fields, such as business and health, but the application of coaching to personal financial management is still evolving. Coaching approaches are grounded in theories from positive psychology and, ideally, are client-directed and focused on performance improvement. Financial coaching programs require some degree of structure, especially if a coaching program is the subject of a program evaluation or other study wherein a consistent approach is preferred. This chapter provides an overview of these issues and suggests the A|4 model as a well-defined financial coaching framework with a foundation based on existing evidence and also amenable to being used in future research.