A Review of Effectiveness Evidence in theFinancial‐HelpingFields

Abstract

ObjectiveWe reviewed the literature on four financial‐helping fields—the family resource management content area of family life education, financial education, personal financial planning, and financial counseling—in search of best evidence‐based practices when working with individuals and families concerning issues related to money.MethodExperts in each field of the financial helping professions reviewed common practices in their own field and identified best practices when possible.ResultsAlthough we found that reviews of financial education outcome research exist, researchers and practitioners have made few attempts to examine best practices in these fields; most of the practices that professionals use in these four fields have not been empirically tested for effectiveness. Consequently, we provide a general overview of common practices within the four fields.ImplicationsWe implore practitioners and researchers to undertake evaluation research as a means to decipher what works, for whom it works, and to what extent it works.