Photo by Bich Tran

By Mark Heeter

Think about beginners – beginners at whatever. We have an image of them in our mind. They have little or no experience. They don’t know what they don’t know, and we can picture them stumbling through a few missteps. Now think about experts, with vast amounts of knowledge, practice, successes and even lesson-teaching failures. Their confidence is palpable. Finally, think about the gap between the beginner and the expert, and those most important: the people there in the middle.

No matter where you are on your journey toward financial wellness, countless factors go into deciding what tomorrow’s money move will be. Some of the factors are within our control, and some of them might not be.

For example, think about the person who makes a purchase on a nearly-maxed out credit card, while deciding not to apply for a job opening. You have an idea about that person simply based on that sentence.

Now suppose that credit card purchase was buying food and the non-application decision was because he didn’t own a car. He couldn’t afford one because of an unexpected hospital visit and ensuing medical bills.

The point of the example is not to frighten anyone. It is simply to remind us to withhold judgement, which is one of the tips in this article at masterclass.com on how to build rapport, essential to any helping, teaching, counseling, coaching relationship.

We bring countless complicated factors to or money decisions. I want to try to help with that. I can not call myself an expert, but I hasten to add I am nowhere near being a beginner. I have lived long enough to make some good financial decisions and some bad ones, too. But I am committed to learning an improving and want to share that.

Above all, I am committed to learning from those I hope to teach or help. At first blush, that may seem strange. But anyone who has worked as a leader or teacher knows what I mean. That is my starting line.

I was reading a book about personal finance, and it claimed to be aimed at the beginners. It was a nice book, and had lots of useful information. I would put it in the basket of something for everyone. Or that is probably what the author hoped. But I pretty quickly realized that many of the terms and concepts were more advanced than, say, my teenage and young-adult sons would understand out of the gate or, more importantly, apply to their lives.

We need to begin leading youth on their financial journey at the point where they are now. Start with their experiences and perspectives. Critically, we have to take their questions and also work through pre-conceived misunderstandings. We work our way out from there.

To establish rapport, I will always endeavor to withhold judgement. I understand people have taken different paths to arrive where they are now. Of equal importance, I will practice what I consider to be the most important act of all: listening.