This is a question I am being asked more and more (I’m Rebecca by the way, if you want to find out more about me and check out my profile you can click here).
Sometimes the question comes from women who are trying to get a handle on their finances for the first time. Sometimes from women who have already worked with a money coach and feel clearer about their mindset, but still unsure what to do next. And sometimes it comes from frustration, usually after someone has followed advice that sounded helpful but left them exposed.
So let me be upfront about this. Money coaches and IFAs are not the same thing. And choosing between them is not just about preference. It is about protection, responsibility and what you are actually asking for help with.
What a money coach does well
Money coaching can be genuinely helpful. A good money coach can support you to understand your habits, beliefs and emotional relationship with money. They can help you feel more confident talking about money, setting goals and recognising patterns that might be holding you back.
For many women, this work is important. Especially if money has always felt stressful, confusing or loaded with guilt or fear. Coaching can create awareness and confidence, and that is valuable. But coaching sits firmly in the space of mindset and behaviour. It is not advice.
Where the line gets blurred between an IFA and A Money Coach...
The problem starts when that distinction is not clear. Some money coaches begin to stray into areas that look and feel like financial advice. Talking about what people should invest in. Suggesting specific products. Encouraging certain strategies.
This is where risk creeps in.
Unlike IFAs, money coaches are not regulated. They are not authorised to give financial advice. They are not required to assess suitability. They are not accountable if something goes wrong. That does not mean they are doing anything intentionally wrong. But it does mean the person following the guidance is carrying all of the risk.
What an IFA actually does
As an Independent Financial Adviser, my role is very different. I am regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. That means I have a legal and professional responsibility to act in my clients’ best interests. Advice has to be suitable. Risks have to be explained. Decisions are documented. There are protections in place.
Most importantly, advice is personal.
I do not start with products. I start with your life. Your goals, your responsibilities, your worries, your plans, and your tolerance for uncertainty. Advice only comes after that picture is clear. This is especially important when we are talking about investing, pensions, inheritance, tax planning or long term security. These are not areas where general guidance is enough.
Why regulated financial advice is especially important for women
Women’s financial lives are often more complex than they look on paper.
Career breaks. Caring responsibilities. Unequal pay. Divorce. Bereavement. Inheritance later in life. Longer life expectancy. All of these factors shape the decisions women need to make.
Yet so much financial content, whether from coaches or influencers, assumes a straight line. Earn more, invest early, compound forever. Real life rarely works like that.
This is why I am cautious when women are encouraged to feel they should be able to manage complex financial decisions alone, armed with confidence but without proper advice. Confidence without clarity is not empowerment.
Coaching and advice are not competitors
I am not anti money coaching. In the right place, it can be a positive step. But coaching and regulated advice do different jobs.
Coaching can help you understand how you feel about money. Advice helps you decide what to do with it. One explores mindset. The other carries responsibility. Problems arise when one is mistaken for the other.
How to decide what you actually need
If you are feeling unsure, it can help to ask yourself a simple question.
Am I looking for support to change how I think about money, or do I need advice on what decisions to make?
If it is the former, coaching may be useful. If it is the latter, you should be speaking to a regulated adviser. And if anyone is giving you specific financial direction without being regulated, that is a pause moment.
Money decisions shape your future, often in ways that only become clear years later.
They deserve more than confidence alone. They deserve experience, accountability and advice that is built around your life, not a framework that happens to sound reassuring.
If you want to explore financial decisions with proper support, you can find out more about working with Evolution Financial Planning, where advice is personal, regulated and rooted in real life rather than theory.
