Mon, 01 February 2021 | financial advice
Status Money announced the launch of its financial coaching service that connects individual members with certified financial professionals via video conference. Access to professional financial guidance and advice has never been more important, with 40% of US investors in a recent survey saying they need more advice and 19.1 million unemployed or under-employed Americans struggling to navigate the economic fallout of the pandemic.
“It’s no surprise that people feel starved for good financial advice – managing money is hard enough, but doing it alone and during a pandemic is near impossible” said Majd Maksad, cofounder and CEO of Status Money. “The problem isn’t the demand, it’s that most people can’t afford paying $1000 or more to hire an advisor.”
Status Money solves that problem by enabling members to anonymously crowdsource financial advice from a community of more than 350,000 people for free. And starting today, it’s giving Premium members the ability to video chat with a certified financial coach once per month. Members can upgrade to Premium starting at just $3 per month, although those earning less than $35K can upgrade for free.
The coaching program works by algorithmically matching members with coaches from a network of financial professionals – including Certified Financial Planners™, Registered Investment Advisors, and Certified Public Accountants. The coaches meet potential future clients and receive a public review after each video call.
“Ratings and reviews are a gamechanger,” said Maksad. “The SEC banned advisors from using them in marketing 60 years ago but reversed the ban right before Christmas last year. This means that people looking for advice can finally see who the best advisors are. More importantly, it gives coaches an incentive to help people who aren’t wealthy – because their good review can help attract paying clients.”
Status Money is planning to introduce a financial wellness offering for employers later this year – enabling them to cost-effectively provide employees with access to financial planning and coaching as a benefit.
The new offering is part of a new wave of app-based financial advice offerings, with similar services offered by Albert Genius for a minimum fee of $4 per month, and Savology Plus, a soon-to-be-introduced service from Savology.com at an estimated fee of $8 per month.
Source: Status Money, Staff Reporting