CASE STUDY: RECENT COLLEGE GRADUATE
ASSIGNMENT
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Email: seleeburns@liberty.edu
Case Study: Recent College Graduate Assignment
Learning to properly manage money throughout your life is an important life skill.
Learning to manage money is important because how well we manage it will determine our
financial outcomes throughout life. People tend to struggle with money because of the lack of
knowledge of how to manage it. I can even say that if I had more knowledge on managing
money, that I would do better. A study that was conducted showed that people became better
with money once they gained proper knowledge on money management (Exploring Individual
and Group Financial Coaching for Building Financial Capability, 2022). The study's purpose was
to positively shift people to manage their money after receiving financial coaching (Exploring
Individual and Group Financial Coaching for Building Financial Capability, 2022). Financial
coaching is necessary for anyone who needs help and guidance in making financial decisions,
and not only poor financial decisions.
Opening
Anna graduating college means that this is the time that she starts to make important
decisions in life. Some of these life skills are, but are not limited to, buying a house, starting a
career, and buying a car. All these decisions involve financial and large amounts of financial
spending, which makes them even more important. These are also important investments that
people want to ensure they make the right decisions on. Anna decides seeking financial coaching
will be the best decision for her since she just graduated college. Anna wants to make the right
decisions, and not have any negative outcomes with her money.
CASE STUDY: RECENT COLLEGE GRADUATE
ASSIGNMENT
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Anna graduates with college with student loans being the only debt that she has. She
already knows how to budget her money, which is a strength, and will make her financial
journey not as chaotic. Anna decides to live independently due to her strong track record with
budgeting her money but needs extra guidance from a financial coach due to her lack of
knowledge of building credit and investing her money. Anna got denied an apartment because of
her lack of credit, and now has the idea of renting a room at a place where her boyfriend, Jason,
who does not have a good record with money, stays at. Normally men would view power as
money, but as you can see this is not Jason’s case (Krueger and Mann, 2009). Anna having good
budgeting exemplifies the statistic for women’s view of money as being their security (Krueger
and Mann, 2009). Jason and Anna have different perspectives on how important finances are,
considering how much savings Jason has compared to Anna. Anna participating in financial
coaching will allow her to weigh the pros and cons of financial decision making. Through the
financial coaching sessions, we will explore Anna’s strengths and weaknesses to develop
SMART goals, find ways to overcome setbacks within her goals, and introduce spiritual
principles that will guide along her journey.
Session One
Clients, especially newly college graduates prefer to be spoken to and not lectured to
(Blackaby and Royall, 2018). The first session is one of the most crucial sessions between coach
and coachee because this is the start of their professional relationship. The relationship between a
coach and coachee needs to be built on authenticity and trust. Anna will have to fill out an intake
form, and an initial assessment, which will allow me to get to know Anna a little more before the
start of her sessions. Going into the sessions with Anna, I need to understand that I am not there
CASE STUDY: RECENT COLLEGE GRADUATE
ASSIGNMENT
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to tell her to do anything with her more, but to inform and guide Anna about managing finances.
My role is to give Anna tools and skills that will prevent her from facing financial burdens that
could have been avoided throughout her life. I will make Anna aware of both our roles in the
coaching relationship, to avoid any confusion later. I will ensure Anna is educated on
confidentiality, and how anything discussed between us will be disclosed with anyone else,
unless there is a need to break confidentiality. The coach-coachee relationship is a safe place
where Anna can disclose any information that will help better guide Anna on her financial
journey.
The first session is for me to get to know Anna, and understand, as her financial coach,
the insights she is trying to gain from financial coaching. Anna has three main goals, that is, find
a place to live, eventually land a professional job, save more money, and learn ways to properly
invest her money. Another crucial thing to point out is that Anna is going to have to build credit
to eventually be able to qualify for a place on her own, the ultimate goal. Anna is aware of her
advantage of saving, so saving more, after landing a professional job, will not be difficult. Before
the next session, I gave Anna the tax of developing a cash flow sheet for the last few months,
which will include all the income and outcome of her finances (Farrel, 2006). The next session
we will develop SMART goals for Anna to put into action. Putting things into perspective helps
a person understand the ‘why’ behind their actions.
Session Two
The perfect idea for Anna would be for her to find somewhere free to live until she can
build more credit, save more money, and land a professional job, but life comes with many
sacrifices, especially when being frugal. Anna returns to the next session with her cash flow
CASE STUDY: RECENT COLLEGE GRADUATE
ASSIGNMENT
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statement regarding everything involving the money that is coming in and out. The cash flow
statement is not for the financial coach, but a tool for Anna to use as a personal financial guide.
Anna finds the cash flow statement a helpful tool she can use down the line to keep finances
organized. The cash flow statement will allow Anna to evaluate her finances from the previous
months to know areas that need adjustments so that she can save more and make room for rent if
Anna moves into the same place as her boyfriend, Jason. Though people tend to use other
people’s money when they do not have good spending habits (Kruger and Mann, 2009), this does
not seem like a problem with Anna and her boyfriend.
Living with her boyfriend could be an obstacle, but as long as Anna remains motivated,
Jason will not be an issue. Anna’s good budgeting and saving money does not allow her to offer
or give up money to others often, which is good. Anna moving to the same place as her
boyfriend is not a bad idea for the moment, and because she has $5600 in savings that could be
used for rent, short term, while trying to land a professional job, just as an option. This will give
Anna more time to live comfortably while trying to gather her goals together. Anna’s SMART
goals need to be attainable, and nothing too far from where she currently is in life. One SMART
goal for Anna is searching, applying, and contacting at least 5 places, in her field of study, that
she considers a professional job for herself. The professional job is what Anna needs to start
making better pay for her to save more money. One other SMART goal for Anna to accomplish
is to seek ways to build credit, and at least apply one way of building credit to her life. Building
credit is an important aspect as an adult because credit allows people to qualify for apartments,
houses, cars, and so much more. As Anna’s financial coach I would recommend and suggest
various ways for her to build credit, but it is Anna’s final decision as to which direct she wants to
CASE STUDY: RECENT COLLEGE GRADUATE
ASSIGNMENT
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take. Anna will be tasked with reaching out to professional jobs, and discovering a way that she
is most comfortable with building her credit. Completing these two steps, will already put Anna
ahead at where she wants to be, in her own place. Anna is excited about taking action steps
towards her goals.
Session Three
The main purpose of SMART goals is for them to be attainable, which means that Anna should
have had no trouble getting them done. There are possibilities that obstacles came about, and
knowing how to overcome them is always important. A good way to keep a clear head through
financial obstacles is putting trust in God. King James (2017/1769) state in Deuteronomy thirty-
one six that, “Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy
God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.” Anna could search,
apply, and reach out to at least five places that she could start her professional job at. Anna
mentions that a couple of the jobs will be reaching back out to her in a week or two. Anna was
also able to find ways to build credit. Anna wants to get a credit card, but she struggled with
figuring out which credit card line she should go with. Different credit card lines offer different
things, but Anna does not necessarily need a credit card line that is offering things that she does
not need now. The best recommendation for Anna here is for her to do more research on the best
credit lines for newly graduates, beginner credit lines, and credit lines that offer the bare
minimum. I could recommend a credit line that I use, but there is an importance of the client
having as much power over their financial decision making as possible. Making suggestions to
Anna could easily cause her to make decisions based on things that I say to her. Allowing Anna
options gives Anna more control over her financial decisions.
CASE STUDY: RECENT COLLEGE GRADUATE
ASSIGNMENT
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As Anna’s financial coach, I did not lose sight that Anna also wants to gain more knowledge
about how and where to invest her money. To stay within my competencies, I would have to
recommend a financial coach that has more competence in investments. A Christian financial
coach should never go outside of their competencies with client, especially when dealing with
finances. When a coach, counselor, or therapist does not have the competencies in an area their
client needs help in, the best thing to do is transfer the client to another professional that does.
Investments are an area I also want to get more knowledgeable about so that I can offer more
information to family, friends, and future clients along my coaching journey. I know Anna will
have no issue with speaking to another financial coach about investments because she is already
taking a lot of personal responsibility over her life, and she wants to know this information for
the future. Anna is grateful for the knowledge that she has already gained in the sessions with me
and looking forward to more. I am in great hopes that Anna lands one out of the five professional
jobs that she applied for, this will be a huge steppingstone to her overall financial goals.
Conclusion
Anna just graduated college, and as everyone would say, she is not in the ‘real world’.
The real world can be cruel, manipulative, confusing, and deceitful, but with God, all evil can be
conquered and overcame. King James (2017/1769) mentioned in Philippians four thirteen that, “I
can do all things through Christ which strengthen me.” Anna will not fail on her journey in life,
if she continues to walk with God. Inviting God in our lives as our saviors allows people to be
more content with life, even in the bad times (Krueger and Mann, 2009). Anna’s progress
between the first two sessions foreshadows more positive outcomes, financially for Anna. God
wants us to live a life filled with peace, and knowledge. That is the exact opportunity that
CASE STUDY: RECENT COLLEGE GRADUATE
ASSIGNMENT
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financial coaching gives people. Christian financial coaching allows people the help in
maintaining their finances so they can be more confident and less stressed (Exploring Individual
and Group Financial Coaching for Building Financial Capability, 2022).
CASE STUDY: RECENT COLLEGE GRADUATE
ASSIGNMENT
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References
Blackaby, R., & Royall, B. (2018). Spiritual Leadership Coaching: Connecting People to God’s
Heart and Purposes.
Exploring Individual and Group Financial Coaching for Building Financial Capability. (2022).
Journal of Financial Counseling and Planning, 33(2), 255-267.
https://doi.org/10.1891/JFCP-2021-0026
Farrell, C. J. (2006). Personal Financial Ratios: An elegant road map to financial health
and retirement. FPA Journal, 19(1), 56.
King James Bible. (2017). King James Bible Online. https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/
(Original work published 1769)
Krueger, D., & Mann, J. D. (2009). The secret language of money: How to make smarter
financial decisions and live a richer life. McGraw Hill Professional.
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