Many people use a personal trainer to get physically fit these days. How many use a personal financial trainer to get financially fit?
Most of us don’t learn good eating and exercise habits when we are children, and need some help with that later.
It’s the same with money issues. Most of us need help with that too, but don’t realize it.
All we learn is that we need to work to earn money. Then we spend it on things we want, and a few things we need. Our employer puts some of our salary into superannuation (mandatory retirement plan in Australia), so we’ll have something to live on when we retire.
That is the full extent of the money knowledge of most people in Australia.
Here are 3 main levels of physical fitness, and my associated descriptions of levels of financial fitness.
| Physical | Financial | |
| Poor |
• Resting Heart Rate above 100 beats per minute. • Recovery Rate + less than 12 beats per minute. • Never get heart rate to 70% maximum. • BMI above normal range* |
• Consumer debt (eg credit card debt, personal loans that are costing you interest.) • Incoming cash flow inadequate to cover spending needs. • No or very few assets. • Net negative equity(net worth). That is, assets minus liabilities (loans) is a negative figure. |
| OK |
• Resting heart rate between 60 and 80 beats per minute. • Recovery Rate between 12 and 25 beats per minute. • Get heart rate to 70% maximum up to 3 times per week. • BMI within normal range* |
• No consumer debt. (Credit cards always paid in time so no interest is charged.) • Incoming cash flow is adequate to cover spending needs and some wants. • Small asset base (cash, maybe shares, vehicle, home contents.) • Net worth (assets – liabilities) provides enough for a deposit on or ownership of a modest home in a modest price area. |
| Superior |
• Resting heart rate below 60 beats per minute. • Recovery Rate between 25 and 40 beats per minute. • Get heart rate to 70% maximum more than 3 times per week. • BMI below normal range* |
• No consumer debt. (Credit cards always paid in time so no interest is charged.) • Debt secured by growth assets (leveraging other people’s money to grow equity in shares or property.) • Incoming cash flow is more than adequate to cover spending needs and most, if not all wants. • Large asset base (cash, share/stocks, business, or property.) • Net worth (assets – liabilities) can provide a passive income that would adequately supplement part time work. |
* To determine your BMI divide your weight in kilograms by your height in metres squared. The normal acceptable range of this measurement is 20.1 to 25.0 for men and 18.7 to 23.8 for women.
+ Recovery Rate = difference in heart beat 1 minute after exercise is ceased. (A recovery rate of greater than 35 BPM indicates almost no risk of sudden death from heart disease! 12 or less increases the risk dramatically.)
Why do people engage personal trainers? Usually it is to help them move up from one category to the next. It might be to go from poor to OK, or from OK to superior.
This is the same reason financial coaching is beneficial. Financial coaching can help a person move from a poor financial fitness to an OK level, which is where most people aspire to. It can also help the motivated few to move from OK to superior.
You don’t get change by continuing to do the same thing you have been doing. You have to change something you are doing, to move forward from where you are. Some people can do this themselves. They seek the information, then put it into action. Others really need the input, encouragement, and information from a qualified coach.
John Paul Getty in his book “How to Be Rich” says to find someone who is where you want to be, and do what they have done and are doing. This is what you need to look for in a coach. This applies to fitness coaching and financial coaching.
If you know that you want to move from Poor to OK, or OK to Superior (and this will be because you recognize the benefits of this), find a coach who has done that and can (and will) show you exactly what to do. And just like personal training – you must be prepared to do what they tell you!
And yes – of course – I do financial coaching! Click the Contact Me tab on the above Menu if you'd like to dip your toe in the water with a short free session!
