You can go to the gym with no direction and hope to meet your fitness goals, or you can get advice from a personal trainer. You can work through your marriage problems on your own, or you and your spouse can meet with a marriage counselor.

And when you’re trying to figure out how to manage your finances, it makes sense to talk to someone who knows and understands money matters.

INB’s Amy Barnes is someone who can coach you from a desire for financial readiness to actually getting you to the point where you’re living a life without constant money worries.

For the last 10 years, Amy has helped people with financial planning. Then a series of circumstances led her to wonder how she could do a better job.

Finding a Way to do More

Due in a great part to the pandemic, Amy grew concerned for people who are now finding themselves in very difficult financial spots. Her daily prayers turned to contemplation on how she could reach out to people who are suffering, and use her own struggles to help. During the early days of her reflection, she got a promotional email from the Dave Ramsey organization about Financial Coach Master Training. She took the time to do her research on the program, all the while seeing casualties of the pandemic everywhere she turned.  Amy says, “Health care. Jobs. Schools shutting down. Covid hit the world hard. We won’t know the full impact until we contain it and recover, but so many people have lost control of so many things. They are going to need help figuring it out…I’m now positioned to help them.”

Amy, an assistant vice president with INB, positioned herself by taking part in the Ramsey Solution’s Financial Coach Master Training. She is now registered as a Ramsey Preferred Coach (RPC), assuring she’s ready to help people create start-to-finish financial plans using the philosophy of renowned money expert Dave Ramsey.

“I wanted to be able to work with clients who need to manage day-to-day money matters. While I’ve stressed much of the same philosophy as Dave over the years, Dave has a tried and true process that I didn’t have.  His process includes the ‘Baby Steps’ to help people reach a milestone early on.  Everything else is then broken down into small, achievable goals.” Amy explains that small steps are much less intimidating than one big goal of financial readiness. It allows people to modify bad money habits one step at a time and develop good habits. Amy adds, “This way, they are less likely to fail.”

Helping People Get on Track Financially

Now, as an RPC, Amy can use the Ramsey tools to help people get on track – or back on track – with their money.

Amy says the biggest mistake people can make when it comes to their finances is putting too much pressure on themselves. “People think they need to have everything from the beginning.” She explains that, too often, people believe they have to have a certain car, specific electronic gadgets, and even the right vacations. For many, many people, this has meant using credit, which ultimately leads to financial pressure when it comes times to pay the money back. And the financial pressure leads to stress and the health risks associated with the stress.

A healthy lifestyle and a healthy financial life go hand in hand.  Amy explains, “One of the leading causes of divorce is stress and unhappiness over financial issues.  Financial coaching is for those people who need help, whether that’s someone just starting out or someone trying to get back on track after digging themselves into a hole. It’s for anybody.” When Amy says, “anybody,” she truly means it.  In one of her Ramsey coaching sessions, a fellow student – a CPA – mentioned that one of his clients is another CPA. And if a CPA can need coaching, so can most anyone else.

If you’re interested in working with a financial coach using Dave Ramsey’s methods, contact Amy.