Executive coaching or financial coaching?
Both are real options. They differ most on who signs the cheque, which decides almost everything else: the fee, the sales cycle, and what you have to prove before anyone pays.
Executive coaching
The deep seam. Hardest to reach, richest to work.
- Hourly
- $200 to $500/hr
- Crowding
- Lightly worked
- Who buys
- A senior leader, coached on the company’s budget against the company’s objectives.
- Where work comes from
- HR and L&D referrals, Conference speaking, Coaching firm networks
- You need first
- ICF or EMCC credential for most buyers. Documented case studies. Professional liability insurance.
- The catch
- The barrier is credibility, and it cannot be shortcut. Buyers filter on credential and track record before they ever hear your positioning.
Financial coaching
Bounded above by regulation.
- Hourly
- $100 to $200/hr
- Crowding
- Lightly worked
- Who buys
- A household or sole trader trying to change financial behaviour, not to pick investments.
- Where work comes from
- Referrals, Employer wellbeing programmes, Content
- You need first
- Clear separation from regulated financial advice. Comfort with other people’s numbers.
- The catch
- Regulated neighbours set your ceiling: clients compare your fee to an adviser’s, and the line you must not cross is narrower than it looks.
The short answer
Executive coaching pays about $34,000 more a year at the midpoint. That gap is real, but it is not free: it usually comes with a harder entry and a longer sales cycle.
Financial coaching is easier to enter. Clear separation from regulated financial advice is the main gate, against icf or emcc credential for most buyers on the other side.
If your background already points at one of them, take that one. Credibility you already have is worth more than a slightly better band you have to spend three years earning.