Hi,
Thanks for being part of the Get Ready Movement navigating life’s what’s if’s by changing the way we think and talk about money.
This week’s issue centers on one core idea: readiness grows when we plan ahead instead of reacting later. Aging, caregiving, and long-term decisions are easier to navigate when conversations start early and plans reflect values and wishes.
🎙️ Featured Conversation of the Week
The Aging Plan Every Family Needs
💬 Aging isn’t just about the later years, it’s about the plans we make today to protect tomorrow.
🔹 Start the conversation early. Hold family meetings that include every stakeholder.
🔹 Clarify your parents’ wishes and goals
🔹 Understand the costs, risks, and realities of aging at home
🔹 Give yourself grace—you can’t be everything to everyone
🔹 A clear aging plan turns potential crises into calm coordination.
💭 Tony’s Take: Preparing an aging plan isn’t just about logistics, it’s about dignity. A proactive aging plan preserves time, money, and peace of mind.
🎙️Annalee Kruger and Tony Steuer on the Get Ready Before Life Happens Podcast (here)
➕ Your Money Has Feelings: Why You Need to Align Money and Mindset
Life is about purpose, not just money. Money has no feelings, it’s just paper, however our relationship to money has feelings.
💭 Tony’s Take: Align your financial choices with what truly matters to you.
🎙️Shannon Ryan and Tony Steuer on the Get Ready Before Life Happens Podcast (here).
Get Ready Before Life Happens Podcast Milestone
The Get Ready Money Podcast continues to grow, now reaching listeners in 122 countries. Even more meaningful than the numbers is the feedback. Listeners consistently share that the show helps them feel clearer, more confident, and better prepared to make financial decisions.
Thank you to all of the amazing guests around the world who continue to share their insights, the listeners who trust me with their time, and the partners who support this work as we help people get ready before life happens.
🎙️ Check out The Get Ready Money Podcast → [Apple] | [YouTube]
🔎 Curated Insights
Long-Term Care Planning: Why Waiting Too Long Can Cost You. Why long-term care planning is often a bigger issue for women. How rising care costs can impact retirement plans and family decisions. The importance of starting the conversation earlier than most people expect.
💭 Tony’s Take: Early planning preserves options and reduces emotional and financial strain later.
🎙️ Alexa Kane and Melissa Joy on the Women’s Money Wisdom Podcast (Apple Podcasts).
Why Traditional Financial Advice Wasn’t Built For Real Life Or Women. Why the Financial Industry Is Broken - Stop Budgeting. Why shame-based financial advice keeps people stuck and how money beliefs are shaped long before we ever touch a budget or an investment account. A look at how neurolinguistic programming (NLP) and financial imprinting influence the way we think, feel, and act with money, especially for women who were never taught to see themselves as financially powerful.
💭 Tony’s Take: Financial confidence grows when advice is designed around real lives, not rigid systems.
🎙️ Lisa Chastain and Linda Grizely on the Real Money, Real Life Podcast (YouTube)
Preventing Double Grief: A Relocation Guardrail for Widowed Clients. For newly widowed clients, the question of whether to move or not is rarely just about real estate and finances. It’s about finding a sense of belonging, safety, and identity, and understanding how much emotional change one person can handle at a time.
💭 Tony’s Take: Supporting widows means honoring emotional readiness.
📖 Kathleen Rehl for Advisor Perspectives (read)
Defending Against AI By Focusing On The Uniquely Human Aspects Of (Fiduciary) Life Planning. Whether you're interested in learning about how (human) advisors can continue to thrive in a world with more advanced AI tools, how the life planning process can strengthen advisor-client relationships, or how fiduciary principles could be applied to the broader business world, then you’ll find this episode of interest.
💭 Tony’s Take: As tools evolve, human connection remains central to trust. This conversation highlights listening, empathy, and purpose as the foundations of meaningful life planning.
🎙️ George Kinder and Michael Kitces on the Financial Advisor Success Podcast (here)
⚡ Quick Hits
📖 When Money Gets Loud: Why Husbands Hear It Differently (And What Couples Can Do About It) by Prudence Zhu (LinkedIn)
📖 When Your Partner Loses Their Job: How Couples Can Navigate the Storm Together by Leah Hadley (LinkedIn)
🎙️ The Future of Advice Delivery: What Financial Advice Will Look Like in 2030 with Adam Holt and Ashley Quamme on the Planning & Beyond Podcast (Apple Podcasts)
📖 The Peace of Mind Report: How Estate Planning Shapes Mental Health in America by Mark LoCastro for Trust & Will (here)
📖 Navigating Family Philanthropy. Defining Your Philanthropic Purpose. National Center for Family Philanthropy (here).
🔟 Weekly Action Item
🧐 Do you know which financial documents to keep and which ones you can purge?
✅ Week 6 Action Item: Declutter Your Documents.
🌎 The big picture: While it’s important to cut down on the clutter, you need to know what’s essential and what you can get rid of.
💡 Here’s What Works:📄 Review the purge dates for different document types.
📌 If there is no purge date, you’ll probably want to keep that document forever or use your best judgment on how long to keep it.
🗑️ Shred all purged documents to reduce the risk of identity theft.
💭 Tony’s Take: Knowing what documents to keep will guide you in making sure that you have the documents that you need, as well as knowing what documents you can safely get rid of.
Get Ready Library and Toolkit members can access your resources for this week's action item (#6) from your Get Ready Library dashboard (located in Monthly Focus Area 2: Be Prepared):
- The Get Ready Blueprint Week 6 (fillable PDF) where you’ll review your documents, how long to keep them and decluttering status.
- Personal Papers and Documents Worksheet (week 5) - you can use this as a guide to organizing specific documents and see how long you should retain them.
Source: The Get Ready Blueprint: A 52 Week Guide to Changing the Way You Think About Money - an easy-to-use road map that illuminates how everything in your financial life fits together and shows you how to take the steps toward financial preparedness. (Amazon) (Bookshop)
🧠 Final Thought
Readiness is built long before it is needed. When families plan with intention and empathy, money becomes a tool for coordination and care rather than crisis. Clarity grows when conversations start early.
✅ Stay ready.
💬 Start a meaningful conversation.
💡 Share what sparked something for you.
— Tony
Coming Next Week: Empowering Women to Say “I Can” with Melana Carbary
P.S. Get the Tony Steuer Bookshelf (here)
