How long have you been a Financial Mentor and how did you get to be a Financial Expert?
I suppose you could say I have been a Financial Mentor for over 30 years, as I have advised customers and clients how to mange their money to achieve the outcome they require.
I started in the financial sector working for a bank, being promoted over the years to various positions to complete my career with the bank as a personal lending adviser where I responsible for a lending portfolio of over £2million through overdrafts and loans.
I built long term relationships with customers and worked with them to manage their borrowing requirements. Borrowing could be for few days just to tide them over or for 5 years depending on what the borrowing requirement was. I would assess their capability to make the repayments, what other commitments they had and how well they managed their account generally.
Quite often I would go through their budget with them to improve their financial situation to give them the ability to live within their income as soon as possible. I very rarely had any problems with repayment of the borrowing as customers knew they could talk with me find solutions if they experienced a problem. I believe if you are supportive and are willing to help there will a positive outcome rather than a bad debt.
I held a SME portfolio for accounts with borrowings of less then £10,000 as well as working with start ups and business owners who wanted to grow their business to the next level.
I decided to take voluntary redundancy when the bank announced all borrowing in the future would be credit scored and any clients with financial problems were to go to a central department to be managed. During the short time I was with the bank after the change over I had to refuse clients I would normally agree facilities for, despite their previously good borrowing history because a computer said no! I acknowledge progress has to be made but banking become more about selling then and still is rather than customer service.
After the bank I qualified as a financial adviser, meeting existing and potential clients needing life assurance, critical illness and income protection, discussing their mortgage requirement and general investment options. Regretfully due to my divorce I resigned as I couldn’t give my clients 100% commitment. I consider excellent customer service to be an essential part of the service I provide.
Although I wasn’t a financial adviser it didn’t stop me from still being involved in finance as I become an office manager for a recruitment agency supplying temporary and permanent staff. Part of my job was to control the temporary staff payroll, giving advice to the temporary staff about their tax situation and explaining to them what they could do to manage their finances when they were between jobs.
I was involved in setting up best practices between clients, the agency and temporary staff to ensure customer service levels were maintained to a high standard.
My next position involved working for a market research company who run in depth research for banks and financial institutions to ascertain client attitudes and banking needs. I set up interviews with high level executives, organising events for the directors where they would give the research conclusions to the banks through presentations which I would complete using the table of results. I found the research results to be highly informative of people’s attitudes to banks and financial institutions.
Deciding I wanted to be self employed, I set up my own Virtual Assistant business providing freelance support for SME’s from book keeping through to diary management to sales. I often mentored my clients with my previous experience within the bank and as a financial advisor I would ask questions and giving scenarios and have discussions to help them to expand the business. One client gave a testimonial stating his business doubled thanks to me being on board not only to help in the business but being there to mentor him.
My defining moment came after talking I realised paralysing fear would prevent financial decisions being made with confidence. Speaking with friends, clients and colleagues it was obvious they did not understand finance, they knew how to earn money, that they had to pay taxes and pay their bills but any financial decision such as moving their mortgage to a fixed rate or investing in a stock and shares ISA caused them to be fearful, some actually experienced physical symptoms such as shaking, cold sweats even feeling sick. All because they were fearful they would make the wrong decision and lose their money.
One of my virtual clients is actually unable to retain information about tax, PAYE or VAT simply because that part of the business scares him and he simply has a mental block when trying to understand what he has to do. Now he has passed the responsibility on to an accountant. Before appointing an accountant he would have numerous letters and fines for late filing, or failure to complete fillings.
Whilst the above client hasn’t been able to get over his mental block he has acquired sufficient knowledge to know he can’t deal with the tax and for him it is better to pass the responsibility on to an accountant, leaving him to grow this business. Financial mentoring is about education and with all my experience I decided my legacy was to educate thousands of people the benefits of knowing how money works and to have a plan to provide peace of mind and financial security for their old age.
Who are my clients?
My clients are just like you, working or self employed, with or without children, married, separated or divorced, partnered or single, young, middle aged and even retired. Knowledge and education doesn’t stop when you are retired.
My clients want to know how to manage their money to have a plan in place for their future retirement, or to improve the returns they receive on their investments, to have peace of mind, financial security and financial freedom in their old age.
| Accountants | HR Managers | Retail Managers |
| Administration Clerks | Interior Designers | Secretaries |
| Architects | IT Consultants | Solicitors |
| Bankers | Life Coaches | Surveyors |
| Bus/Coach Drivers | Marketing Consultants | Tutors |
| Consultants | Nutritionist | Virtual Assistant |
| Decorators | Office Managers | Wedding Planner |
| Dentists | Office Staff | Will Writers |
| Doctors | Personal Assistants | |
| Estate Agents | Personal Trainers | |
| Electricians | Photographers | |
| Event Planners | Plumbers | |
| Hairdressers | Private Teachers | |
| Holistic Therapists | Reflexologist |
What is the difference between a Financial Adviser and Financial Mentor?
A Financial Adviser will complete a fact find, asking questions about any policies you hold, any borrowings, take details of your income and expenditure, any dependents, etc. and also find out what your attitude to risk is. Armed with the information and having discussed with you what you requirements are whether health insurance, life assurance, or a pension review or maybe investments, even a mortgage, he or she will then provide solutions by recommending produ
As a Financial Mentor I will spend time ascertaining what your beliefs and behaviours are around money. How you deal with money, what thoughts you have when you have to make financial decisions, what do you do when you have money, or not. What you say or do when money is discussed if there is a conflict between you and your other half, such as one spends and the other wants to save.
Like a financial adviser I will review your current financial situation including your budget, existing policies and investments, but I will do more than gather facts. I will dig deeper and find out why you are spending what you are, what can be done to reduce the expenditure, everyone has spending behaviours and those behaviours can prevent you from being able to save for your financial security. Reviewing your expenditure may produce ideas for saving money on your living expenses, or accelerating the repayment of your debts, including your mortgage.
We will then look at what financial plans you have, and if you need to review what you have in place, as often circumstances change and what you had set up 10 years ago may no longer be relevant now.
To be able to support you I will work with you through a programme of questions and discussions not only to gather the facts but more importantly to find out what your goals and dreams are for now and in the future, I want you to have a clear picture in your mind and a plan in place which will give you the ability to start creating the outcome you desire.
Once you have a clearly defined picture I will then be able to illustrate to you the options you have to be start your plan of action to work towards your financial security and peace of mindWhist we are working on your goals and dreams I will also start to change your thought patterns so once you have your plan in place you will have good relationship with money and won’t sabotage your efforts in putting your plan in place.
“Karen has such a wonderful open approach to coaching. Her kind nature is so supportive and she really draws out of you what you need to do and become aware of in order to create the life you want. She has given me some really amazing time management tips which I have found invaluable, I would highly recommend Karen to anyone.” C. Everett www.absolutehomeopathy.co.uk
What type of personalities do you work best with and what is expected of me?
I work best with people who want to be on the right track to achieve financial freedom now or in retirement, who want to become financially savvy, who are committed to improving their financial situation, and will follow through on the recommendations I provide.
From personal experience a lot of people say they want to be financially free, but when it comes to action, they stay exactly where they are and don’t actually do anything different. Therefore I suggest if you are thinking of having a full review you consider what you want from the review, and once you know what you want, ask if you are you prepared to make a decision to go forward with the financial plan you will have at the end of our meeting. If you are not, then this review is not for you, you will be wasting your time. I prefer to work with pple who are committed and willing to take action.
Does Financial Mentoring really work?
As with all financial planning for it to work you have to be committed to starting then going through the programme and then follow through to achieve the results you want. Are you prepared to?
- Answer the questions – some of the questions I ask will be challenging and you may find you become defensive, simply because I will be making you look at you – the person, and how you behave and think about money you may even find you are challenged emotionally – all for good reason, unless you have a good relationship with money, you may struggle to succeed in putting in place and achieving your financial plan.
- Give your time – we all need more time in our day, committing to a financial review requires your time, are you willing to give the time it takes to go through everything or not, just remember unless you give the time nothing is going to change, and unfortunately having the time on the day you retire is too late!
- Commitment – it is no good spending the time and effort to then fail to follow the suggestions and recommendations – are you willing to do so?
- Continuing to educate and keep to the plan – for the plan to work, you have to continue your own education and to keep working at your plan – are you willing to?
If you have answered yes to the above then yes, financial mentoring works. I will give you a guarantee to refund my charges in full in you take the actions I recommend and fail to see improvements in your finances within 6 months of working with me.
What results can I expect?
Each person is individual and therefore the results will be dependent upon your requirements.
Pension Investment
Sam had been working for a bank for a number of years before being made redundant. Working for the bank, meant she had a company pension, and rather than leave control of it with the bank, she decided she wanted to investigate how much it was worth, and how much of a pension she would receive when she retired. Working with me, we were able to ascertain how much her pension was and the income she was likely to receive if she left it with the bank. Much to Sam’s surprise the pension funds were in excess of £200,000 but even with that amount her income would be about £4,000 per annum when she retired in about 10 years.
Armed with the figures, Sam was able to decide how she wanted her pension fund to be managed and where the funds should be invested using a SIPP, (Self Invested Personal Pension). Sam is now looking forward to a higher annual pension of potentially £50,000 simply because she decided to educate herself and make sound financial decisons based on the knowledge she had acquired working with me.
Income Protection
Tom was married with a young son. Being employed meant he would be paid if he was sick for up to 6 months, then he would go on to statutory sick pay which for Tom was unacceptable, his family wouldn’t be able to afford to live, especially if his wife Sarah had to look after him, as her firm would not pay her as a Carer. Therefore the income into the household would stop.
After spending time discussing what they needed and what their dreams and goals were for their son and their own dreams it was decided they needed to protect their income in case of critical illness but also to start some savings towards meeting the expense of educating their son, John.
We worked out the budget and completed the fact find and questionnaire which were passed on to the recommended Independent Financial Adviser. Whilst they could not afford as much critical illness cover as they wanted they were able to ensure they would have an income if Tom was unable to work after the company ceased paying him. They also set up a savings plan for John, which would allow him to have money available if he decided to go to University and if not, he would be able to use the funds towards purchasing a house, or a car if he wished to do so.
Tom and Sarah also agreed on a financial plan which allowed them to be able to reduce their mortgage by saving on interest charges by some simple changes in the way they paid the mortgage, they also changed some of the utility companies as well as how much they spent on food. By taking some simple changes because they knew how they were able to use the £50 savings they made towards paying for the critical illness cover for Tom.
Pension contributions
Another case was Jane, a single self employed woman who wanted to reduce her outgoings so she could start contributing to her retirement. Again by going through the programme, it become obvious she had a tendency to spend money when she felt lonely or upset. We worked at changing how she dealt with her emotional reaction to her loneliness and why she would feel upset. Once she knew why she was spending so much she was then able to implement changes in her budget sufficiently to be able to contribute a £100 per month towards her pension.
Jane is now spending her time growing her business so she can achieve her dream of travelling when she retires and the only way she can do that is to ensure she is financially independent when she retires.
What do you want to achieve with your financial mentoring, do you need to reduce your expenditure, clear your debts, save money? Maybe you are aware there are ways you can protect your family or save for your retirement or fund the children’s university fees but don’t understand how every thing works, or are just too scared to investigate further because you don’t have the money or maybe you do have the money but everything financial is so confusing. By the end of our meeting you will understand what policies are relevant to you, or what you should be doing about you retirement funds, you will also be confident to make financial decisions because you will be financially savvy with peace of mind because you know what you need to do.
Note: The value of your investment can fall as well as rise and you may not get back the amount you invested.
Do clients ever re-book?
Yes, clients do rebook, just with any life plans involving goals and dreams they need reviewing on a regular basis, so do financial plans, circumstances can change so quickly your financial goals and dreams have to reflect those changes.
Why an annual review? No matter how much you intend to carry out your own review, life has a tendency to get in the way, and it isn’t until something happens and you think I should have… do you actually take the time out of your busy schedule to review your financial plan at which point it could be too late.
When we have finished your review and mentoring we agree a time frame for the next review knowing you will receive an email or phone call to book the meeting will ensure you review your financial plan.
And to make it really easy for you, I will give you a guarantee to refund my charges in full in you take the actions I recommend and fail to see improvements in your finances within 6 months of working with me.
“I have known Karen for some considerable time as a 1230 The Women’s Company Member. Her manner is sensitive, discreet and professional, and it is a pleasure to know Karen” Jackie Groundsell 1230 The Women’s Company.
