The short answer
Use education or coaching when you need to understand the wider picture, organise questions and decide what deserves attention. Use a regulated financial adviser when you need a personal recommendation about a pension, investment, insurance policy, mortgage or another regulated product.
The two services can support different parts of the same decision.
Financial coaching and education
This can help you understand concepts, organise documents, identify information gaps, compare general trade-offs and prepare questions. It should not be presented as a personal recommendation to buy, sell or change a regulated product.
Regulated financial advice
This is the appropriate service when your circumstances need to be assessed and a specific product recommendation is being made. Check that the adviser or firm is authorised by the Central Bank of Ireland and understand the market scope, charges and commission arrangements.
Sometimes the useful order is both
Coaching can help you arrive at an advice meeting with clearer priorities and better questions. Regulated advice can then provide the suitability assessment and product recommendation that coaching does not.