Financial Managers

Starting new businesses that provide new services and new jobs for many people, including people with disabilities. has always been a goal. This first idea is near and dear to me. There are people I love and cherish who are very intelligent, highly skilled in their profession, hard-working and reliable. They are, for whatever reason, unable to effectively manage their finances.

Financial Managers

There is a dire need for financial managers to assist people with poor credit, people working independently and people with disability-related expenses build and maintain processes and procedures that enable them to achieve their financial goals. There are many websites, apps and financial advisors that help people set up these kinds of processes and procedures. They assume, however, that users have the ability and discipline to follow through. Many people don't. Just as I need personal assistant services to help me with my physical needs, many people need personal assistant services to help them with their financial needs.

Mutual trust between financial managers and clients must be established. Client's current assets and liabilities should be revealed. Short term and long term financial goals must be documented. A realistic budget must be agreed upon. Most importantly, a clear understanding of what the financial manager should or should not do for the client needs to be established. Should the financial manager set up and manage processes and procedures including recurring payments and fund transfers for the client or can the client do it with guidance from the financial manager? Should the client have full access to their bank accounts or should the financial manager transfer out-of-pocket expense funds to an account that cannot be overdrawn? For clients who are independent workers, should the financial manager manage their estimated taxes, sick and vacation time off, retirement plans and healthcare plans or can the client do this with advice from the financial manager?? How often should financial managers check-in confirm that the independent worker stays on track? For clients with disability-related expenses, should financial managers work on behalf of the client to complete all the processes and procedures required to obtain the products and services needed by the client, or can the client navigate the labyrinth with guidance from the financial manager?

It is suggested that financial managers earn between 5% and 10% of their client's income, depending on the amount of work a financial manager is expected to do. This fee will serve to show clients their responsibility to pay for the services they receive. While the fee may be steep for clients who are in economic distress, it should be cheaper than the fees and/or loss of income many people now incur. Having the fee be a percent of a clients' income should provide an incentive for the financial manager to ensure their clients do well. Recognizing that fees may be very small, it is anticipated that financial managers may be students, retirees, people seeking extra income and people wanting to help their community. Supplemental fees may be available through government or charitable agencies.

As with personal assistant services for people with disabilities, Financial Management Services by family members should be discouraged. The duality of roles too often leads to conflicts.

Please let me know if you have any questions or feedback. Are there Minority-Owned Enterprises, especially Disabled Owned Business Enterprises, or other agencies that may be interested in offering Financial Management Services? Are there entrepreneurs, investors, marketers, IT technologists and, of course, financial managers willing to take this on?

I look forward to hearing from you.