Author Topic: Would you pay for this?  (Read 2306 times)

APowers

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Would you pay for this?
« on: May 27, 2015, 08:10:02 PM »
Side hustle idea:

It seems like there are two kinds of people who need financial help-- the "Dave Ramsey Call-in" rich-but-clueless middle class ($50-500k/year), and the "Poor" trapped-in-the-poverty-cycle lower class ($0-30k/year).

I have very little sympathy for the former, but the latter I feel like genuinely could use the help. Aside from the obvious reasons, I think a big part of the reason I would want to help out the "Poor" class with financial skills is that (1) that's my income bracket, and (2) that is the peer group that I catch the most "but it's so hard to make ends meet" from, even when they're making the same amount as me, who is making ends meet quite handily.

Unfortunately, it is the former group that has money to burn on financial advisors or what-have-you, and the latter group isn't about to spend a bunch of money on a "personal money coach". For instance, I hear people (here and elsewhere) recommend against commission-based financial planners, and for flat-fee financial planners; but I wouldn't pay someone even a flat fee, because I don't have the money for that. (Well, I technically do, because I'm frugal and don't waste my money on.....welll...things like financial planners...) Which got me to wondering: what kind of pricing model could be implemented that would make MMM-style budgeting/finance coaching a viable thing for them.

Do you think I would get any bites if I advertised a "no results, no charge" personal financial/budgeting coach service, where my fee would be a proportion of the demonstrated savings? Would you be willing to sign up for a budgeting coach if you knew you wouldn't have to pay if their advice wasn't working for you?

velocistar237

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Re: Would you pay for this?
« Reply #1 on: May 28, 2015, 09:49:13 AM »
I think you would have more luck getting grants or government funds. Poor people don't spend on this sort of thing, and the results-based compensation would only work if you could track assets, as a financial planner who directly manages accounts could do. I'd be interested to learn the level of overhead involved in setting up that sort of thing.

My church is training several volunteers to lead classes in a curriculum called Faith & Finances that I've heard is pretty good. Here in Massachusetts, there are tons of aid programs, but apparently personal financial education isn't covered unless someone is experiencing a specific life event, like getting evicted. The curriculum is very basic compared to this forum, or even compared to Dave Ramsey, but it goes farther and takes the holistic approach of building relationships and community, since a poor person trying to grow their assets would have immense difficulty without significant social support. (I'm curious whether mindfulness meditation would help a poor person more than financial education.)

I have considered becoming a CFP after retiring and doing this sort of thing. So far I've concluded I would have to do it as a volunteer.

A friend suggested starting a check cashing business that offers financial counseling and gives credits based on people's progress. That's not exactly a side hustle, though.

APowers

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Re: Would you pay for this?
« Reply #2 on: May 28, 2015, 11:07:57 AM »
Yeah....

And I don't know how I'd even start getting a clientele. But I still like the idea.

I don't know that asset tracking would be necessary for this pricing scheme-- I should think I could get a baseline spending (in whatever array of categories they have), and then compare that to what they're spending on those things after they've followed my advice for x time period (3-6 months or whatever). For example, they spend $xxx on groceries and $xx on their phone bill, I show them how to do better, and I get 50% of the difference between then and now. No asset tracking involved. I did have the thought to myself that this scheme would be more profitable the richer my client was, which could lead to a shift in the clientele away from "Poor" towards "Dave Ramsey Caller"'; but I like that it's a sliding scale that makes it equally affordable for all.