Looking for a financial coach for young adults in Australia?

You’ve probably searched this more than once. Late at night, after checking your balance, with that familiar drop in your stomach. You’re earning money. You just can’t work out where it’s going.

85% of young Australians experienced financial difficulties to some extent in the last 12 months, and close to one third said it happened often or very often.

Source: Australian Youth Barometer 2025, Monash University

So you’re not on your own, and you’re not doing anything wrong. Most of us left school without ever being taught how super works, or how to read a payslip, or how to set up a system that keeps money in your account instead of watching it disappear. So you go looking for help. Fair enough.

What does a financial coach actually do?

A financial coach teaches you the skills and the systems to manage your own money well. That’s a different job from a financial adviser, who’s licensed to recommend specific products like super funds or investments.

A good coach won’t tell you which shares to buy or which fund to switch to. What she will do is teach you how to budget, how to build a safety net, how to understand your pay and your super, and how to think about debt and investing with a clear head.

I’m upfront about this from the start. I’m not a licensed financial adviser and I don’t hold an Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL). What I teach is financial education, the frameworks and the habits that put you back in control. If you need advice on a specific product, a licensed adviser is the right next step, and I’ll always say so.

Why do so many of us go looking for one in our 20s?

Because this is usually the decade where it gets real. You’re off your parents’ payroll, HECS is sitting there in the background, rent or a mortgage takes a big chunk of your pay, and everyone around you seems to have it more sorted than you do. They don’t, by the way.

You’re earning decent money and somehow there’s nothing left at the end of the week. That gap, between what you earn and what you’ve got to show for it, is exactly why people start looking for a coach instead of another app or another book they’ll never finish.

So what should you actually look for?

Not every coach or course is built the same way, and the differences matter more than the price does. Here’s what’s worth checking before you hand over any money.

• Whether they’re licensed, and what that does and doesn’t mean for you
• Whether the content is built for Australia, because super, tax and HECS all work differently here than in the American content that floods social media
• Whether you get a system and worksheets you keep, not just a video library you’ll forget about in a month
• Whether there’s a live, human element, so you can ask a question the moment something doesn’t make sense
• Whether the pricing is clear, with no upsells buried further down

How does the course work?

Our first course is called From Surviving to Thriving. It’s 5 weeks, one hour a week online, and it’s built for people in their 20s who are earning but feel like they’ve got nothing to show for it. You don’t need to know anything about money to start. That’s rather the point.

We work through five things. Your money mindset and where you actually stand. Your money system and the weekly habit that runs it. Debt traps, scams and your safety net. Your pay, tax, super and how to grow your income. And finally investing and your own 5-year plan. Every module comes with a worksheet or a tracker that’s yours to keep, and you can ask questions live each week.

I built this because I wish someone had handed it to me at 22, instead of me working it all out the slow and expensive way. It’s not a substitute for licensed advice if that’s what you need. However, if what you actually need is a system, and someone in your corner while you build it, that’s exactly what this is for.

A few common questions