CLIENT SERVICE

Working With Pro Bono Clients in Financial Stress

By Cynthia Meyer, CFA^®, CFP^®, ChFC^®

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” - Lao Tzu

In the time it takes you to watch a sitcom, you could change someone’s financial trajectory.

Pro bono financial planning is effective. That’s why the CFP Board adopted a resolution in 2023 encouraging all CFP^® professionals to participate in pro bono financial planning activities.

If you are committed to add pro bono financial planning to your practice but aren’t sure how to be effective, I want to help you listen without judgment and coach for practical, achievable results.

Waiting for the Next Paycheck

Most pro-bono clients are in a different stage of financial wellness than the clients you serve in your business who are building financial security. Pro bono clients often lack financial resilience and experience unmanageable levels of financial stress. They are living paycheck to paycheck, carry high-interest credit card debt, and lack emergency savings:

• About 78% of Americans would experience financial difficulty if their paycheck were delayed by one week. (Payroll.org Getting Paid in America survey 2023)
• One in four U.S. adults has $0 in emergency savings. (Bankrate Emergency Savings Report 2024)
• About 57% of single parents describe their level of financial stress as high or overwhelming. (Financial Finesse Workplace Financial Wellness in America 2023)
• Home prices far outpace income (3x–8x) in most of the United States, a historical high. (Joint Center for Housing Studies)
• According to credit reporting agency Transunion, consumers are increasingly turning to credit cards to manage household budgets, with the average credit card balance at $5,733.

According to 2023 research from workplace financial wellness firm Financial Finesse, financial stress cuts across all income and education levels. That makes sense, given that nearly four in five Americans are living paycheck to paycheck. In past research, unmanageable financial stress was found to be highest for single moms and younger employees, including Black and Hispanic employees, and renters.

Short and Manageable

When someone is experiencing a financially stressful situation, keep your engagement brief and focused on one thing.

As financial planners, we may see our clients for long meetings to discuss multiple topics. However, for the pro bono client experiencing financial overwhelm, a long conversation about many stressful topics will just lead to more stress.

Consider keeping your engagement to 20–30 minutes. It may take some practice to keep them that short but keep working on this. It’s usually better to meet a pro bono client a few times for shorter meetings than one long meeting.

Hold Space

When working with people in financial distress, your primary role as a pro bono planner is to help the overwhelmed client start taking action to stabilize cash management and budgeting, or to navigate an urgent issue like an eviction or wage garnishment.

The first step is to listen without judgment to identify the neutral facts. In the life coaching world, that is called “holding space.”

Holding space means:

• Help your pro bono client examine their financial challenges with openness and curiosity.
• Ask open-ended questions—and then shut up so you can listen attentively to the answers.
• Separate out the neutral facts of the situation, e.g., “My car will cost $1,500 to fix” or “The $500 payday loan will be extended on Friday.”

Of course, it’s okay to be kind to other people. Your pro bono client may be in pain, and you may think their pain is a reasonable response to their circumstances. However, to move people toward action, help your client discover a sense of agency over the problem by describing it in a neutral manner.

Identify Bite-sized Actions

Financial stress doesn’t typically resolve itself without change. Most of the time, your goal is to help the client sort through some reasonable options and identify one to three micro-actions that will move them forward.

I like to call those micro-actions “bite-sized” actions:

• Save $2.74 per day for an emergency fund of $1,000 in a year.
• Make a list of 100 ways you could earn extra money.
• Call your landlord and ask them if they will do a rent modification agreement.
• Gather your unopened bills and put them in a box. The next time we meet we’ll open them and make a list together.
• Fill out an easy spending plan form.
• Put your high-interest credit card in a Ziploc bag, fill it with water, and put it in the freezer.
• Sign up for your automatic rate escalator in your 401(k) plan.
• Pay $50 extra per month on your highest balance credit card bill.

You can certainly offer suggestions about next actions. I like to ask pro bono clients what one small thing they can do this week to help with (the situation).

Think Like a Coach

The goal of coaching is to help pro bono clients take action to improve their lives. The coaching paradigm assumes each pro bono client has the resources within them to make good decisions that are best for their life and navigate challenges.

You are here to guide them, not tell them what to do.

To coach effectively, you must meet the pro bono client where they are. You are helping them launch and build financial resilience. That means coaching them to take action on cash flow management, debt management, using their employee benefits, and building emergency savings.

Don’t Think Like an Advisor

You don’t start from where you are—financially secure or on a journey to financial security—by giving advice about how to become financially secure. That could sound condescending or tone deaf to the pro bono client in financial distress.

The pro bono client doesn’t need traditional “advice” from you. The pro bono client does need you to:

• Offer guidance
• Offer empathy and encouragement
• Identify practical and achievable next actions
• Hold them accountable for taking those actions
• Communicate to them like you are talking to a friend
• Know your resources, such as referrals to credit counseling or local agencies and organizations

Focus on Survival Essentials

During times of extreme financial stress, such as a job loss, foreclosure, or natural disaster, focus on survival basics:

Food – Does the client need a referral to a local food bank or government food assistance?

Shelter – Does the client need housing counseling, emergency relocation, or short-term shelter? Does the client need to prioritize paying their mortgage and utilities before they pay other bills, such as credit cards or student loans?

Transportation – Can the client get to work? Can their kids get to school? Does the client need to prioritize paying for their car before paying other bills, such as credit cards or student loans?

Healthcare – Does the client need health insurance? What do they need to do to maintain current coverage? Do income changes make them eligible for reduced cost of coverage or Medicaid?

Downsize the Budget

If a pro bono client is living paycheck to paycheck, facing a loss of income, or dealing with unexpected expenses, look first to taking action on their cash management plan:

Gather bills and expenses – What is everything they owe, and everything they spend right now? Many people get stuck in this stage (including our own more financially secure clients). Create space and structure for your pro bono client to look objectively at their obligations and spending.

Create a simple budget or spending plan – Get the data in a spreadsheet or in a budget/tracking app. If your pro bono client is stuck or feels overwhelmed by the technology, you can do it with them. Often just the act of seeing the math of the situation can prompt people to make decisions about next steps.

Triage what’s most important – Can any expenses be downsized, reduced, deleted, or delayed? Remind your pro bono client to focus on survival essentials first.

Brainstorm ways to earn extra money – Ask your pro bono client to make a list of all the ways they can think of to earn extra money. Are they able to take a second job or start a side hustle? Sell something they own?

Contact creditors – Could the pro bono client benefit from credit counseling? A rent or mortgage modification? Student loan forbearance? Pick one creditor at a time for focus. Encourage your client to be proactive, keep excellent notes, and get everything in writing.

Watch Out for Predatory Lending

If you spend a lot of time coaching pro bono clients, you will run into clients who are mired in a cycle of very high-interest debt and shady debt or tax counseling businesses such as:

• Payday loans
• Title loans—car, home, or another asset
• High-interest credit cards
• Credit “repair” and for-profit credit counseling scams
• Tax resolution firms that promise unrealistic resolutions
• High-interest personal loans
• Scam calls

While you can coach these clients on cash management and debt resolution, they may need extra legal or tax help. Refer to the National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC.org), local legal aid, and pro bono tax help.

Improve Your Financial Coaching Skills

Not sure where to start as a volunteer? As a NAPFA member, consider participating in one of the NAPFA Foundation’s supported programs:

• Building Homes for Heroes – This is the exclusive CFP^® partner advising disabled veterans. This program has been directly supported through generous grants from the Foundation for Financial Planning (FFP) since 2016.
• Advisers Give Back – FFP partners with Advisers Give Back by connecting consumers with a pro bono NAPFA advisor.
• College Affordability Project – This project helps families understand the costs of college and connects families with tools to save money on the cost of college. It is directly supported through generous grants from FFP.

You may also want to:

• Download the CFP^® Board’s Pro Bono Financial Planning Guide.
• Connect with organizations looking for planner volunteers via FPP, here.
• Read Financial Finesse’s Financial Wellness Think Tank Research here.

---

Cynthia Meyer is a financial mentor, real estate investor, blogger, founder of Real Life Planning, and co-founder of the Real Estate Financial Coach Course. She is a pro bono financial coach.

image credit: Adobe Stock Images