Become a financial mentor

Financial mentors build the financial capability and resilience of people, families and whānau experiencing financial hardship.

Financial mentors:

• share their financial management skills and knowledge
• apply appropriate financial management tools to help clients to reach their goals
• use a strengths-based approach to find long-term solutions
• journey with clients/whānau as they become financially self-supporting
• identify appropriate advocacy actions.

If you’re interested in becoming a financial mentor, you'll need one of our service providers to help you on your journey.

To find out more, you can contact a financial mentor service provider in your region: Find a financial mentor service in your region on our MoneyTalks website.

Once you’ve joined an organisation, you’ll be able to access FinCap's training opportunities — including our Financial Mentor Introductory Course (FMIC) and other professional development.

Connect with a FinCap recognised financial mentoring service

Once you find a service in your area that you would like to work with, make an appointment to meet with them. Once you join the service, the manager will organise your training.

Find a financial mentoring service near you - MoneyTalks

What's involved in training

To be a recognised financial mentor, you'll need to complete a Financial Mentor Introductory Course (FMIC).

An intensive course, the FMIC covers the foundation skills required to support and mentor clients and their whānau navigating financial hardship.

The course also teaches technical skills such as creating a budgeting worksheet, debt schedule and cashflow. Te Tiriti o Waitangi principles are threaded throughout the programme.

The face-to-face programme is run throughout the motu for seven full days over several weeks. The course is also delivered via Zoom, through our online learning programme, and through distance learning. There is a final assessment to confirm you have understood the components of the programme.

Find out more about the Financial Mentor Introductory Course (FMIC) on the FinCap website.

Once you have completed this NZQA recognised course, you will be required to complete a provisional period.

What’s a provisional period?

The provisional period is where newly trained financial mentors are supported by the service and supervised while learning more about the role.

Through NZQA, the programme as a micro-credential is worth 16 credits. This equates to six credits (60 hours) for the theory and 10 credits (100 hours) to complete the provisional period.

The 100 hours allows for anything you do that helps you meet the competencies of the role (your supervisor will have these). This could include working with the client, completing notes, following up with other agencies etc.

The 3-12-month provisional period is broad to allow you to do 100 hours in amongst other commitments. Most importantly this allows financial mentors to experience a range of different circumstances people facing financial hardship find themselves in. These might include:

• access to clients – especially when there are no shows, or they only visit once
• the ability to work with clients over a longer term so competencies can be met
• allocated work hours – full time is likely to complete sooner than part time or volunteer
• previous experience in a similar financial or support role.

The provisional period should be completed within 12 months of completing the FMIC.

Once deemed competent by their manager and supervisor, provisional financial mentors are awarded a certificate of achievement and become a recognised financial mentor.

Is a financial mentor different from a financial advisor?

A financial advisor focuses on a client’s investment portfolio by providing recommendations of specific products and securities, and investment advice.

Financial mentors focus on education and empowerment so that clients obtain and master financial management skills for themselves. The mentoring model is all about helping clients to build knowledge and guide them to manage their money smarter.

To be a great financial mentor you will be confident working with people from all walks of life and have a good grasp of financial concepts and ideas.