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Thanks for being part of The Get Ready Movement—empowering you to face life’s “what ifs” with confidence.
Each week, I spotlight what’s shaping the future of financial fluency—from trends and tools to the people helping us navigate life’s curveballs.
🧠 Thought of the Week
Insurance is insurance, it is not an investment. When you open a life insurance policy, on the first page, it clearly states “this is an insurance policy”.
10 Things I Think (About Money, Life & What’s Next)
1. 🚦 The Be Your Own Banker Illusion
What if “be your own banker” really meant “make your insurer rich”?
That’s the paradox Joe Saul-Sehy and I unpacked on the Stacking Benjamins Podcast. Too many people are sold permanent life insurance or “infinite banking” as the magic answer to wealth-building.
💭 Tony’s Take: Clever sales strategies don’t equal good planning. Asking questions, aligning with your goals—and doing the math—does.
🎧 Listen (here)
Closing principle: Asking informed questions helps you spot misleading narratives.
2. 🌍 Toward a Fiduciary Society
What if every institution—from corporations, governmental to nonprofits—put the interests of all stakeholder, of truth, humanity, democracy and the living planet that sustains us, first above their own self-interest?
George Kinder is launching the Fiduciary in All Things (FIAT) movement, calling for a paradigm shift that suggests that with a simple tweak to our social contract, all of our institutions can be more productive, collaborative, energized, happier, and bring an end to dystopia
💭 Tony’s Take: A fiduciary lens applied to the world will bring positive change.
📅 Join George Kinder’s talk on October 6th at 9am PT on Zoom. Register (here)
Closing principle: Integrity is the foundation of financial fluency.
3. 🤝 Financial Behavior Builds Better Advice
Advisors who integrate financial behavior strengthen relationships—and outcomes.
On The Get Ready Money Podcast, Dr. Joshua Wilson and I explore how to connect with clients beyond the numbers.
💡 Key takeaways: Relationships matter, facts aren’t enough for decision making, and sometimes being “boring” with investments is the boldest move.
💭 Tony’s Take: Great advice starts with curiosity about human behavior and personal journeys, not spreadsheets.
🎙️Watch or listen to the podcast (here)
4. 🤖 Will AI Replace Financial Coaches?
When it comes to empathy, intuition, and lived experience, especially in high stress decision making scenarios—AI can’t compete.
Christine Luken shares how her custom assistant “Emma” complements but does not fully replace a trusted human advisor.
💭 Tony’s Take: Future success will entail enhancing human expertise with technology.
🎙️ Check out the Money is Emotional Podcast. Watch on (YouTube).
5. ⚡ Energy, Freedom & a Life You Love
Prudence Zhu and Lou Brown remind us: financial success is balancing technical planning with emotional awareness. How the ESI framework (earn, save, invest), helped Prudence achieve financial freedom at a young age.
💭 Tony’s Take: True wealth comes from aligning your money, your mindset and your energy.
🎙️ The Whole Enchilada of Real Estate Investing Podcast. Watch on (YouTube)
📚 Bookshelf Pick
Questions and Answers on Life Insurance: The Life Insurance Toolbook.
Life insurance can be complex. I wrote Questions and Answers on Life Insurance as an easy way to understand all the ins and outs of life insurance. It covers all the basics as well as any advanced information that you need to know.
💭 Tony’s Take: All this in a format where can go directly to the information you need without having to sort through information you're not looking for.
📖 Check it out on (Amazon).
6. 🏠 We Told Our Young Adult Kids All About Our Money — Here’s Why
Kids can benefit from open family discussions about money. These conversations can’t wait until parents reach some arbitrary definition of “old.” They need to happen when parents are still relatively young, and when the kids are mature enough to receive the information and be prepared for worst-case scenarios.
💭 Tony’s Take: Family conversations are a gift and a sign of caring.
📖 Cameron Huddleston for AARP. Read (here).
7. 💳 How to take control of your credit profile—and why it matters.
Credit scores shape not just borrowing, but housing, jobs—even insurance. Paul Ryan explains how to avoid errors, freeze wisely, and teach credit literacy early.
💭 Tony’s Take: Let’s improve the way we talk about credit scores to prevent costly mistakes down the road.
🎙️ The Get Ready Money Podcast. Watch or listen (here).
8. 💜 Money, Boundaries & Care
Stacy Kellogg and Diana Yanez rive into the importance of redefining work away from struggle, exploring resources that helped shift her financial beliefs, and the role of equitable pricing in creating access and inclusion.
💭 Tony’s Take: You need to take care of yourself first before you can take care of someone else. There’s a reason why airlines say to put on your own air mask first.
🎧 Highly Sensitive Money Podcast Listen (here).
Closing principle: Planning for longevity starts with caring for yourself.
9. Steps to Prosperity: A Parable About Changing Your Financial Mindset to Build a Better Life
A modern parable about waking up to the invisible habits, assumptions, and behaviors that quietly shape our financial lives. Readers are invited to rethink what it really means to be in control of their finances.
💭 Tony’s Take: It’s important to understand money stories as they can have a significant positive or negative impact on our financial decisions.
📚 By David Gatchell. Check it out on (Amazon)
10) 5 Money Moves in Focus
👉 The Deceptive Allure of Investing Like the 1% (How We Get Conned). Joe Saul-Sehy and OG on The Stacking Benjamins Podcast. Listen (here).
👉 Should Doctors Consider Angel Investing? The Other 5% of Your Money. A great overview on Angel Investing for all of us. By Bryan Jepson for The White Coat Investor. Read (here).
👉 Scam alert: QR code on an unexpected package by Alvaro Puig for the FTC. Read (here).
👉 What is a stablecoin? Stablecoins aim to combine the flexibility of blockchain innovations with the stability of traditional money. From McKinsey. Read (here).
👉 Warren 95: A Collection of My Favorite Buffett-isms by for Kingswell. Read (here).
💭 Tony’s Take: Scan the noise, then focus on what’s relevant to your values and goals.
📬 Weekly Action Prompt: Check that You’re on Track for Financial Independence
🔥 Retirement isn’t the goal—financial independence is.
We need to reframe our thinking around the word retirement, because what we’re really talking about is when we will be financially independent.
💡 This week’s action item:
- Consider what financial independence looks like for you
- Create your financial independence ratio (income needed in retirement/total estimated retirement income).
- If your ratio is below 1, decide what changes you’ll need to make. If your ratio is over 1, congratulations; you are most likely on track to be financially independent.
Retirement means different things to each of us. The real question: when will you have the freedom to choose your path?
🛠️ Member Resources
Focus Area 9: Financial Independence (Week 38)
- Blueprint Worksheet week 38: Estimate the amount of money you’ll need in retirement and create your financial independence ratio.
- Review the following applicable worksheets:
- Retirement plan worksheets (Focus Area 9, Week 36)
- Passive income worksheets (Focus Area 9, Week 37)
- Ask Tony AI: Try this prompt: How do I calculate my financial independence number and ratio.
Access Your Get Ready Resources here
🧠 Final Thought - The Big What IF
What if financial independence wasn’t about earning more? What if it was about making your money and your protection work for you?
✅ Stay ready.
💬 Start a conversation.
💡 Share what sparked something—with a friend or client.
Cheers,
– Tony
Coming Next Week: Rethinking health care planning, Come As You Are: Authenticity, Storytelling, and the New Financial Conversation and much more.
P.S. 📚 Explore The Tony Steuer Bookshelf → Digital collection (here)
