Financial coaching is an emerging complement to financial education and counseling.  As defined in this article by J. Michael Collins, Peggy Olive and Collin O’Rourke, financial coaching is a process whereby participants set goals, commit to taking certain actions by specific dates, and are then held accountable by the coach.  In this way, financial coaching is designed to help participants bridge the all-too-common gap between knowledge and intentions on the one hand and lasting behavior change on the other.

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After introducing the financial coaching process, this article highlights recent Extension coaching initiatives and overviews findings from survey data from coaching trainings and a coaching partnership with Head Start.