What to expect from a financial coaching call

At Bestinvest we understand it’s important to check-in with an expert and make sure your investments and financial goals are on track. That’s why we offer free coaching with our financial planners.

A financial planner can talk to you about everything, from your portfolio to retirement planning and taxes, to inheritance tax and annual allowances, but they don’t tell you what to do.

A Coach will raise points for you to consider so you can make informed decisions, manage your money and work towards achieving your financial goals.

Most coaching clients are investors who feel that now is the time to seek help with their investments and financial plans. A lot of people don’t realise there is a process they can follow to fulfil what they want to achieve. We want to generate as many lightbulb moments as we can during our coaching calls. 

Inside the coaching process

Coaching conversations are free flowing and much more relaxed than clients expect them to be, because they are grounded in a process to help our coaching clients maximise results:

1. The introduction

What are you hoping to get from the coaching call? 

2. Financial planning

Do you have what you need to achieve your financial goals? 

3. Identify your financial goals

If money was no object, what would you do with your life?

4. Establish your investment strategy  

What you’re going to do and how you’re going to get there. 

5. Get your portfolio in shape

Get an expert view of your portfolio.

6. Next steps beyond your coaching call 

You will receive a written summary of your coaching session. 

A Coach can help you build and manage your wealth

All our Coaches make sure you have what you need to get you where you want to go. They’re friendly, helpful and not the scary head teacher-types most of us imagine them to be.

Each coaching session lasts around 45 minutes and you’re not restricted to just one (but most people find that’s all they need). You can call on the expertise of a Bestinvest Coach whenever suits you.

What do you want to do with your money?

This is the question at the heart of every coaching call. Your Coach is focused on your needs and your financial objectives. We offer a number of services to help you make the most of our expert insights:

1.       Your financial plan	2.   Your goals	3.    Your investments
First, we help you plan your future	Then we help you set achievable goals	And then we help you pinpoint your investment strategy

Looking for investment advice?  

A Coach cannot give you any advice or a personal recommendation so if you’re looking for advice to help develop your existing portfolio or build a portfolio from scratch, we offer an affordable, one-off advice service, Portfolio Health Check. Please note this service is available for new and existing Bestinvest clients.

1. The introduction

Your Coach is keen to understand the reason you booked your coaching session and what you are hoping to take away from your appointment. Here are some common life events that prompt people to book a coaching call:

• Retirement planning
• Estate planning
• Saving for a child’s future
• Navigating divorce
• Property goals and plans

2. Financial planning

Accurate financial plans ensure an investment strategy is spot on. A financial planner can help you check you've ticked all the boxes including:

• Maximising tax allowances
• Planning for big events such as retirement

Your Coach will discuss the different steps required to reach your goals – this includes a look at accounts held elsewhere, other savings and possibly areas such as consolidating and finding old pensions. You’ll then discuss key points in more detail such as:

• The importance of cash within a financial plan
• Account structure and the different account features

Financial planners understand it’s not about the money. It’s what you do with your money that can make all the difference.

3. Identify your financial goals

Most clients want to focus on the destination and not the journey. That's where your Coach will ask questions to get you thinking, such as 'If money was no object, what would you do with your life?'

Asking yourself what you want to achieve is easy to answer on a superficial level – it's worth digging beneath the surface for the depth. These are powerful questions to answer with a financial planner.

A financial planner’s technical knowledge is extensive and that’s the beauty of our coaching service. We focus on what you’re going to do and how you’re going to get there. 

4. Establish your investment strategy 

Your Coach examines your whole financial story and considers details such as:

• Are your investments held in the correct account to achieve your goals?
• What’s your asset allocation and risk profile?
• How diversified are your investments?

Most coaching clients are investors who feel that now is the time to seek help with their investments and financial plans. Most people don’t realise there is a process they can follow to fulfil what they want to achieve. We want to generate as many lightbulb moments as we can during our coaching calls.

Good to know – many investors keep adding to their portfolio and end up with more investments than they can keep track of. A valuable question to ask your Coach: Is there anything I should be thinking about aside from what funds to use?

Remember, investments carry risk and you may get back less than invested.

5. Get your portfolio in shape

Understanding your approach is an important part of the investing process. We have several investment solutions available that correspond with different preferences. Your Coach will help you pinpoint your risk profile so you can stay on track.

Go deeper – Learn why it is so important for investors to have a clear understanding of their approach to risk. 

6. Next steps beyond your coaching call 

Your Coach wants to help give you the best chance to achieve your goals.

It’s easy to get side-tracked by headlines and doomsday forecasting. That’s why our Coaches make sure you receive a written summary of your coaching call to help you build money management confidence.

The written recap of your coaching session is an opportunity to reflect and decide what you’d like to do next.

Bestinvest can help you set achievable financial goals

See how straightforward it can be to reset your portfolio during a 45-minute coaching call with our real-life case study, What can an investment Coach do for your portfolio? Thanks to one financial coaching session, Alistair was able to reset his portfolio and get his early retirement plans back on track.  It’s easy to book yourself in with our digital calendar, and there’s no ongoing commitment.

Book free financial coaching

The Financial Conduct Authority does not regulate financial planning or coaching.

Important information

The value of your investment can go down as well as up, and you can get back less than you originally invested.

Past performance or any yields quoted should not be considered reliable indicators of future returns. Before investing in funds please check the specific risk factors on the key features document or refer to our risk warning notice as some funds can be high risk or complex; they may also have risks relating to the geographical area, industry sector and/or underlying assets in which they invest. This is not personal advice. Taxation depends on individual circumstances. ISA and tax rules may change. Some of our Financial Services calls are recorded for regulatory and other purposes. Find out more about how we use your personal information in our privacy notice.