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Too hard to make a business out of this because the ppl who need that kind of common sense advice have little money and/or are just getting started. Do it as a hobby; don't quit your day job. See how it goes.
good point too. you are almost like a legal aid attorney only there is no 3rd party to pay you.
I've been thinking about starting something like this for a while and am now seriously considering it - although I have to admit I'm at the very beginning of doing my research. I have a BA in Finance and and MBA. I work in Finance/Accounting and spend my free time on these forums, reading business news and helping people with their personal finance issues.
In the past few years that I've been really doing this, I realize that many people are completely financially illiterate when it comes to their personal finance. Whether it's budgeting, savings, paying off debt or making smart purchases. A lot of people don't do research and listen to what their cousin, fellow church-goer or co-worker say. I'm a researcher and a planner so these methods are completely absurd to me. I have personally helped my girlfriend and her mother set up personal budgets to pay off debt and get spending under control. I also take care of their taxes, although I'm not certified to file on their behalf, but their tax returns are relatively easy and I go over everything with them before we file. I have also helped the mom set up online accounts and get her to understand how this all works. I have also assited a family friend in investigating alternatives for some cash she had in the bank and helped her understand some other financial issues that she was interested in.
Now I don't want to do a Financial Planning business, as I'm not well versed in investments and I don't have the certifications for that anyway. I want to help people get their affairs in order and understand credit, smart buying, the importance of saving, improving credit and showing them how everything can be done online. I do not have a CPA, but I have found that independent CPAs (not the big accounting firms) aren't interested in this type of work. It's not enough for them in terms of time they would put in vs. the revenue streams it would generate. I am not interested in making a ton of money or having this as my primary source of income, but more of a hobby with a little spending money that I could make.
I am going to hope on word-of-mouth advertising at first and see where it goes from there. I would probably do a free initial consultation to hear their concerns and show them how I can help and then charge a la carte for services.
I know the experts on this forum wouldn't have need for this type of service but I'm looking for any ideas or suggestions, or am I completely crazy? I'm worried that people won't be so inclined to share financial information - although I would never ask for things like account or social security numbers. As far as investing or tax prepartion, I have current/former colleagues that I can refer to for such services that have experience and certifications. I am also concerned that people will want miracles or crazy things. For example, a colleague of mine prepares taxes, she gets some people that just go to her so that she can help them get like $10K back - she won't do that because it would obviously be a fraudulent return - so they get angry and go to someone else until they find a person who will do it for them.
I think this could be marketable to everyone, but particularly seniors and people who may not have the level of education to understand this stuff on their own, and possibly college students as well. Eventually I would like to put something together that could be presented to HS students to get them on the right foot before they get themselves in trouble, but that's a little further down the line.
I like your idea maybe on the educational side anyway. I "hate" being a naysayer but people who don't understand and are in financial trouble usually want to blame their financial problem on someone else and hope someday they will hit the lottery. Normally they don't want to face the problem. If they did admit that they were the problem then the help you are suggesting would be very helpful.
Unless I'm mistaken, people don't learn about investing or saving for retirement in high school or college. There's a real need for education in early adulthood about personal finance. Offering a series of classes to community groups and at libraries/community centers is a good idea, imo. Guess a lawyer could tell you what to say at the beginning to prevent someone from suing you for bad advice.
Location: Chapel Hill, NC, formerly NoVA and Phila
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I had always thought I'd like to do something like this, too. I was thinking more on the education end for "young" people - early 20's - to get people started on the right foot. Although, older folks who have never budgeted or set financial goals would certainly benefit as well. I think this would best be presented as a 6 to 8-week adult ed. class at the local community center through Parks and Rec. I guess you'd need some kind of curriculum to present to the Parks and Rec. folks to see if they'd go for it. I can see something like this:
Week 1: Setting Financial Goals. Ask students what their financial goals are (new home, vacation, car, etc.). Talk about how much you need to save to meet these goals and break it down into monthly amounts. Give students an assignment to record their expenses for 1 month and categorize them.
Week 2: Saving for Retirement. Talk about the importance of saving for retirement, starting early, and the most common vehicles for saving for retirement (401(k), IRA).
Week 3: Buying a Home. Talk about mortgages, renting versus buying, saving for a home, PMI.
Week 4: Saving for College. Talk about starting savings when their children are young, the "magic" of compounding, vehicles to save for college such as 529 plans.
Week 5: Making a Budget. Have students bring in their monthly expense report that they have been working on. Help them set create a budget based on that, working in savings for their financial goals including retirement into their budget.
Week 6: Using Credit Wisely/Staying Out of Debt. Talk about credit cards, the minimum payment trap, not spending more than you have, etc.
Week 7: Describing Different Types of Investments. Talk about savings accounts, CDs, money market funds, mutual funds, sstocks - just the basics - what they are and the various risk levels.
I just came up with that off the top of my head, but I can see that many people would benefit from a basic class like this. I've seen financial classes offered at the library or community center, but sometimes they are presented by an annuities salesman or something like that. It would be nice to have a basic personal finance class presented by a neutral party.
I'm not sure what the ramifications are of doing a class like this without being a financial planner or advisor. There are a ton of blogs out there that are written by people with no qualifications. I suppose some type of insurance policy would be in order. Another idea would be to find a partner who may have some licenses that would be willing to do something like this with you. I'm not sure what you'd get paid at a community center - probably only a few hundred dollars. But it could be personally satisfying and maybe could lead to a following or for you to branch out on your own.
As I said, I always thought this was something I'd like to do - not for the money - but more as a community volunteer. I only have a BS in finance and a master's in statistics, though, and no real experience in the field. My brother is a CFP and CPA, though, and if we lived near each other, I would love to partner with him on something like this.
the problem is the licensing issues in many states.... you can not even give advice .
some states ban different professions from even having anything to do with each other.
my son is an attorney, his wife a cpa . i am thinking one day it would be great to open a retirement center with a finncial planner, a cpa and an attorney.
the ny bar forbids anything like that where there could be a conflict of interest. a lawyer can be a partner in a bakery but not in any business that can feed him business as a lawyer.
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but I'm looking for any ideas or suggestions, or am I completely crazy? I'm worried that people won't be so inclined to share financial information - although I would never ask for things like account or social security numbers. As far as investing or tax prepartion, I have current/former colleagues that I can refer to for such services that have experience and certifications. I am also concerned that people will want miracles or crazy things. For example, a colleague of mine prepares taxes, she gets some people that just go to her so that she can help them get like $10K back - she won't do that because it would obviously be a fraudulent return - so they get angry and go to someone else until they find a person who will do it for them.
