Abstract:

As the next recession is around the corner, steps have to be taken to protect the most vulnerable citizens: the low and middle class and also, the small businesses. Financially, they struggle the most and they are also lacking financial education. In Romania, studies show that the gap between earnings and spendings increases, with individuals and households making less than they spend, showing lack of interest or lack of education about finances. Also, the Romanians' financial education level is known to be very low, compared to developed countries and EU average. A financial consultant position is usually related to bank services and seeks the financial institution's interests, while helping the client understand his options and make the best decisions. Moreover, a financial consultant is responsible for educating his clients about the products and services available to help them use financial instruments or financial institutions to their advantage, legally. To aid the financial consultant in his complex job we introduce here two tools, an assessment and an educational process, aimed to better understand customers and assist them in their financial decisions. In order to acquire a better understanding of a client's needs and options, we introduce a questionnaire with 60 questions, which collects 130 parameters. This assessment is meant to establish a client's financial education profile from a six-dimension perspective. We will introduce the assessment; we will present the results and the report layout generated for each customer. Afterwards, we will present an educational process framework. The process begins with the mentioned assessment and then provides feedback and relevant educational resources to the client. The process is flexible, including advisor-client meetings while the resources offered to the client to be studied can shift to different financial education topics, according to the needs and the findings observed during the process. This being said, from a project management perspective, in order to get to the best possible results, the educational process can morph from a waterfall approach into an agile approach.

Keywords:

Financial consultant, education tool, assessment, financial education, profiling, educational framework, agile process.