Closing the financial literacy gap with tech

👋 Hi, 

Life is full of what ifs. The good news? You can get ready for them. Each week, I share practical strategies and new perspectives to help you build financial fluency, prepare with integrity, and use money as a force for good.

💡 This week:

• Closing the financial literacy gap with tech
• Planning beyond documents for solo seniors
• Why estate plans fail without communication

🧠 Thought of the Week

Financial fluency is about our money stories, our goals, our values rather than just numbers. Asking questions and having conversations will lead to financial empowerment.

10 What Ifs to Be Ready For

1. Closing the Financial Literacy Gap with Tech

Why it matters: Financial knowledge is a powerful form of empowerment. There are significant financial literacy gaps—especially for women, minorities, and underserved communities.

The What If: Tech can bridge financial literacy gaps.

Your Move: Explore platforms like Plootus that democratize financial literacy.
The Win: Unbiased advice creates better outcomes—for everyone 

💭 Tony’s Take: Personalized, unbiased advice can reshape the future of financial planning.

🎙 Meghna Gangwani and Tony Steuer on the Get Ready Money Podcast. Check it out (here). 

1b. Microsoft Report on AI and The Future of Financial Advice

Firms that seamlessly integrate AI will not only survive but thrive - especially those that harness it to deliver hyper-personalized, emotionally grounded guidance and support.

📖 Chris Heye. Read on (LinkedIn). 

2. Planning Beyond Documents: Building Support as a Solo Senior

Why it matters: Retirement planning often often focuses only on legal documents.
The What If: What it really means to be a solo senior and why planning matters

Your Move: Understand the unique needs of aging as a solo senior.

The Win: Choose the right people for critical roles, know when to consider professional support, and build a community for peace of mind in retirement.
💭 Tony’s Take: Planning is always about more than documents and numbers, it’s about your values, goals, resources and support system. 

🎙 Kathy McNair and Eric Blake on The Simply Retirement Podcast. Watch on (YouTube). 

3.  The Dark Side of Inherited Wealth

Why it matters: Inherited wealth can create an emotional burden.
The What If: Women can stop surviving their inheritance and start living it.
Your Move: Acknowledge family narratives and and beliefs about money.
The Win: Women can claim their sense of sovereignty when it feels like money defines them.

💭 Tony’s Take: Money always has an emotional side that needs to considered.
🎙 Marina Pearson and Christine Luken on the Money Is Emotional Podcast. Check it out (here). 

4. Seeing Money Through the Heart

Why it matters: A heart-centered perspective can guide us through common struggles such as decision fatigue, overwhelm in money conversations, and the shame that arises when we recognize inequities in financial privilege.

The What If: These challenges are often heavy, yet within them lies the potential for clarity, connection, and meaningful change.

Your Move: Turn vague goals into heart-based plans and approach conversations with curiosity.

The Win: See money not as a rigid problem, but as a living puzzle—one that can reveal healing, creativity, and possibility when approached with care.

💭 Tony’s Take: Curiosity and asking questions will lead you to the optimal solutions.

🎙 Diana Yanez on The Highly Sensitive Money Podcast. Listen (here). 

5. Why Estate Plans Fail—And What to Do About It

Why it matters: Most estate plans fail without one critical element: communication. 

The What If: Estate planning is a process, not a product—documents alone aren’t enough.

Your Move: An estate plan should reflect real-life details and shared value.
The Win: Family communication matters—healthy dialogue prevents future conflict. 

💭 Tony’s Take: Estate planning is more than a legal process, it’s about the human element.

🎙 Paul Deloughery and Tony Steuer on the Get Ready Money Podcast. Check it out (here).

6. Unlock Wealth with a Money Mindset Shift

Are emotions, lack of discipline, or time management holding you back from financial freedom?

The solution is simple: change your mindset.

Learn how to: Align your emotions and finances and break free from fear, guilt, and shame around money.

💭 Tony’s Take: Transform your relationship with money by changing how you think about money and life.

🎙 Julie Murphy and David Russell on the Manage 2 Win Podcast. Check it out (here).

7. The 2025 “American Dream” Now Costs More Than $5 Million

Why it matters: Achieving milestones like homeownership, retirement, healthcare, and raising kids now costs more than $5M.

The numbers: Retirement ($1,636,881), Healthcare ($414,208), home ownership ($957,594), raising two kids & paying for college ($876,092), owning a new car ($900,346), yearly vacation ($180,621), pets ($39,381), wedding ($38,201). 

The Challenge: The average American with a Bachelor’s degree will earn approximately $2.2M less over their lifetime than the cost of the American Dream, requiring at least a college-educated dual-income household to make it possible.

💭 Tony’s Take and the Win: While this may seem out of reach, you can create your own financial dream that fits your life, your goals and your values. Your dream may be significantly less than the “American Dream”.
📖 By Caleb Silver and Amanda Morelli for Investopedia. Read (here). 

8. Regulatory Arbitrage and the Persistence of Financial Misconduct

Why it matters: Financial advisor misconduct often has devastating consequences.
The Challenge: Many advisors can choose whether to be federally regulated or instead overseen by state insurance regulators, giving advisors with a history of misconduct incentives to select the more lax, state-level regulatory environment.

This Article identifies thousands of financial advisors who have committed serious misconduct and exited the primary federal regulatory regime—yet continue to advise investors, often using state insurance licenses. Advisors who exit are disproportionately likely to harm investors in the future. 

💭 Tony’s Take: Integrity in advice requires accountability—regulation should reflect that. We need to advocate for better and coordinated regulation.

📋 Colleen Honigsburg, Edwin Hu and Robert J. Jackson Jr. - Stanford Law School Paper. Check out the paper (here)

9. ⚡ Quick Hits

🎙 An Allowance Is a Gift — Raising Money-Smart Kids with Barbara Coloroso and John Lanza on The Art of Allowance Podcast. Listen (here). 

🎙 The Parent Playbook to Reduce College Costs with Paul Campeau and Naseema McElroy on the Financially Intentional podcast. Watch on (YouTube)

🎙 Death Bed Estate Planning with Greg Barnsdale and Niki Weiss on the Death and Dying on the Digital Age Podcast. Watch on (YouTube) 

🎙 Your Bank Account Isn’t Safe (What to Do About It) with Dr. Eric Cole and Paula Pant on the Afford Anything podcast. Watch on (YouTube). 

📋 Evaluating the Role of Life Annuities in Retirement Income Strategies with Stochastic Simulations by Gaobo Pang and Mark Warshawsky for ACLI. Read the (study).

10. Weekly Action Item: Review Your Total Compensation Statement

Too often we think of income as just salary. True financial fluency means seeing the whole picture:

✅ Bonuses and commissions

✅ Health, life, and disability insurance

✅ Retirement plan contributions

✅ Stock options or incentives

✅ Other benefits

When you add it all up, your total compensation will be much higher than your paycheck (in most cases).

💭 Tony’s Take: Knowing your total compensation allows you to see how you are truly earning. Looking at the complete picture helps you make the best choices and most complete plans. 

🛠️ Resources

Access your resources for this week's action item (#40), located in Monthly Focus Area 10: Find Value:

• Total Compensation worksheet where you create a more detailed total compensation statement.

 Access Your Get Ready Resources here

📅 Timely Reminder:

• • October 15: Medicare Open Enrollment starts (learn more at medicare.gov).
  • October 15: Extended Individual Tax Returns due. If you had an automatic six-month extension to file your income tax return for this year, file Form 1040 or Form 1040-SR and pay any tax, interest, and penalties due.
  • October: Many employers start open enrollment for employee benefits. Check with your employer to confirm the open enrollment start and end dates.

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  🧠 Final Thought

  Aligning your money, mindset, values and relationships. When you plan this way, you go beyond building wealth to being empowered to create your own journey. 

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  ✅ Stay ready.

  💬 Start a conversation.

  💡 Share what sparked something—with a friend, client, or in the comments.

• Tony

• Coming Next Week: Forget perfection—what we need are real conversations about money, rooted in lived experience.

• P.S. 

• 🎙️ Subscribe to The Get Ready Money Podcast → [Apple] | [YouTube]