More About Financial Counseling
How Can Financial Counseling Help Me?
Financial counseling can provide you with valuable insights around how you think about money. We all have unconscious "scripts", or ways of approaching our relationship with money, that we repeat over and over again without much thought. These money habits often hold us back from achieving financial well-being.
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Some of us also face financial challenges but we ignore them for a variety of reasons: feeling paralyzed or helpless, anxious, even shame. These internalized thoughts are completely normal and understandable, even though pushing off the underlying issues often makes our financial situation worse. With financial counseling we can help you begin to tackle these financial challenges in bite-sized chunks that can add up to big results down the road.
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We'll also discuss and address the often emotional aspects of money, so that any goal is set within a value framework that specifically works for you. This way you can stay on track for your long-term financial well-being.
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Finally from a practical perspective, financial counseling can also mean helping you create a budget and establish an emergency fund, understand your spending habits, overcome debt challenges, build savings, make wise investment decisions, and more.
What Is the Financial Counseling Process Like?
The financial counseling process involves personalized one-on-one sessions with me, Tony Ouyang, an Accredited Financial Counselor®. We can meet in-person in Alameda, CA, do video calls, or depending on your location, we can find another place to meet that works for you.
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A typical engagement consists of 3 or more 1-on-1 sessions. From a high level I’ll first listen to really understand your money values, financial challenges, and goals. Then we’ll work together to set up specific actions that align with those values that can address your financial challenges and goals. After you've had a chance to implement those actions, we can review your progress, tackle any issues that pop up, and revise your action and goals as needed.
Everything discussed between a client and counselor stays completely confidential.
Why Choose Empower Wealth Counseling?
My goal is to provide you a tailored approach to financial wellness, specific to you. Everyone is different, their views on money influenced by their upbringing, environment, and current situation. So I don't force clients into a one-size-fits-all solution. There are no "right" or "wrong" ways to think about money. I'll help you figure out financial well-being, on your own terms.
Our services also go beyond traditional financial counseling and advising by incorporating emotional components, investment strategies, and sustainable financial practices. We strive to empower you with the knowledge and tools needed to achieve your financial goals starting today and going into your future.
What is Financial Independence?
Financial Independence (FI ) is the strategy of saving and investing enough money to be able to pay for all your expenses using your existing savings and investments for the duration of your lifetime.
One of the biggest appeals of FI is when you're no longer worried about income security (usually a job), you'll then have the time and freedom to pursue your passions and ambitions. For many it can mean taking on a role that pays less but is much more fulfilling. Some people decide to start their own business or devote more of their time to a cause that they care about.
For most, financial independence is really about achieving time independence.