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If you tried to make a commercial about the financial services industry in the United States, this might be where you’d start. It seems like anyone with a laptop and a calculator can call themselves a “financial consultant.” However, if you need answers to your money questions that you can rely on, it’s vital that the person advising you is the real deal. As an entrepreneur and military spouse, this career may be just what you are looking for as well.
A true financial professional has both the education and the experience necessary to provide you with the specific guidance you need to accomplish your financial goals. In order to provide a set of standards by which financial professionals can be measured, there are non-profit organizations that have formal financial accreditation programs. Earning an accreditation identifies a financial professional as someone who has completed the courses, exams, and work experience to fully and accurately advise clients on their personal or business finances.
Financial Coach
Financial Coaches’ work with clients is focused on financial education as well as positive behavior skill training. According to the National Financial Educators Council, “a Financial Coach’s role is to provide education, tools, resources, encouragement, and monitoring to help clients work toward developing positive habits that increase their financial well-being and motivation to improve their personal finances.”
Financial coaching does not offer direct financial guidance or advice; rather they focus on empowering the client to do their own research and make their own informed decisions. They also help clients identify and work on any behavioral obstacles to reaching their financial goals.
To become a certified Financial Coach, you must complete specific educational and experience requirements as well as agree to follow a code of ethics. There are several organizations that offer certifications for Financial Coaching. One organization is Sage Financial Solutions which offers the Financial Fitness Coach® certification. Another organization is the National Financial Educators Council which provides its own Financial Coach certification.
Accredited Financial Counselor®
Accredited Financial Counselors® provide client-specific financial guidance in areas such as spending and savings plans, debt repayment and credit remediation plans, pre-home mortgage application guidance, and investment and insurance education. Accredited Financial Counselors® do not recommend or sell financial or insurance products (unless they have requisite separate licensing to do so). Accredited Financial Counselors work in public, private, and non-profit sectors as well as in private practice.
The Association for Financial Counseling, Planning and Education® (AFCPE®) is the accrediting organization for Accredited Financial Counselors®. The accreditation program requires applicants to complete AFCPE® financial counseling coursework (or equivalent coursework from outside organizations), pass the AFC® exam, and then complete 1,000 hours of financial counseling experience.
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) Investor Foundation is currently accepting applications through April 19 from military spouses for their annual fellowship which covers the fees for the AFC® accreditation program.
Certified Financial Planner®
Certified Financial Planners® (CFP®) create comprehensive financial plans, which include asset and liability management guidance, insurance needs analysis, and retirement, investment, tax, and estate planning. In addition to providing financial plans, some CFP® professionals are also licensed (separate from the accreditation) to sell financial or insurance products.
To earn the CFPⓡ designation, you must have a Bachelor's degree, complete the required coursework through a CFP Board registered program, and pass the CFP exam. You must also complete either 4,000 hours of client-facing work experience under the apprentice program or 6,000 hours of client-facing work experience under the regular program, agree to be a fiduciary, and submit to a background check by the CFP Board as part of the Ethics requirement.
The American College for Financial Services, Penn Mutual Center for Veterans Affairs offers a full-tuition scholarship for their CFP program for veterans and military spouses.
Each of the accreditations or certifications featured here will give you the knowledge and training you need to provide financial services for each of the different client bases.
As an entrepreneur, you already know how important it is to know your customer, this is definitely true with having a financial service business. Providing credit and debt guidance is different than helping clients with wealth management. Therefore, it is important that before you apply to an accreditation program, you understand which type of program is best suited for your career or business interests as well as understanding the time and financial commitment that each program requires.
Being a provider of financial services requires a significant level of trustworthiness and knowledge, so adding accreditation to your professional background can only strengthen your overall credibility!
IMPORTANT: Being accredited does not by itself allow a financial professional to recommend or sell financial or insurance products. There are specific state or federal licenses that a financial professional must have to lawfully recommend or sell investments or insurance products.
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Dawn Torres-Gale is an Accredited Financial Counselor® and the Single Owner-Member of Our Money Goals, LLC. Our Money Goals mission is to help individuals and couples build their household assets through the identification of specific financial goals and the creation of detailed action plans in support of those goals.
In 2008 Ms. Torres-Gale was chosen by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) Foundation to be part of a select group of military spouses who received FINRA sponsored training from the Association of Financial Counseling, Planning and Education to become an Accredited Financial Counselor®. Ms. Torres-Gale received her certification as an Accredited Financial Counselor® in February 2012. Since becoming an AFC®, Ms. Torres-Gale has worked as a Personal Financial Counselor with the Massachusetts National Guard and the Naval Operational Support Center in Portland, Oregon. In 2018 she spent three months providing financial education and counseling services to soldiers stationed at US Army Garrison Wiesbaden in Germany.
Ms. Torres-Gale has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from San Francisco State University and a Master of Public Administration degree from the University of Hawaii, Manoa. Ms. Torres-Gale has served as a district court mediator in Honolulu, Hawaii from 2003-2005 and as an elected member of the Wachusett Regional School Committee representing the Town of Holden, Massachusetts from 2009-2012. She is the spouse of LCDR Christopher A. Gale, USCG (Ret.), and the mother of three daughters, ages 28, 18, and 15 yrs. old.
