Hi,
This week’s issue centers on one idea: Better questions lead to better outcomes.
Inside this week:
• one conversation on financial confidence and access
• signals reshaping decision making
• one move to strengthen your financial foundation
🧠 Thought of the Week
Money decisions start with how we think, feel, and interpret our experiences, not spreadsheets.
Curiosity helps us slow down and move forward with intention.
Featured Conversation: Digital Financial Literacy, Inclusion, and Peace
When people feel confident and included, their relationship with money changes for the better.
That’s the power of digital financial literacy and inclusive access.
👉 Financial peace starts with making peace with what you have
👉 Focusing on what you can control reduces money anxiety
👉 Strong financial communities are built by including everyone
👉 Your money journey is personal, you don’t need validation from others
👉 Financial literacy efforts are stronger when advocates work together
💭 Tony’s Take: Technology can empower underserved communities. Redefining our relationship with money leads to greater confidence and well-being.
🎙️Dr. Lalua Rahsiad and Tony Steuer on the Get Ready Before Life Happens Podcast (watch or listen)
➕ Also This Week: Why Slowing Down Leads to Better Money Decisions
👉 Slowing down creates space to understand why you want to take action
👉 Emotions play a central role in every financial decision, they cannot be separated from logic
👉 Awareness helps identify when emotions are supporting or undermining good decisions
💭 Tony’s Take: A simple, intentional process matters more than chasing perfect outcomes.
🎙️ Michael Ervolini and Tony Steuer on the Get Ready Before Life Happens Podcast (watch or listen)
📰 In the News:
On the Highly Sensitive Money Podcast with Diana Yanez, I shared my journey: From Insurance Analyst to Advocate: Tony Steuer on Curiosity and Financial Literacy.
👉 Behavioral finance unlocks the concept of emotions and money stories that drive financial decisions
👉 How financial predators target vulnerable communities, particularly widows and people of color.
👉 How I channeled my anger about these injustices into advocacy work that centers on curiosity and empowerment.
💭 Tony’s Take: Curiosity is your greatest financial tool. When you ask questions, you get the information that you need to make informed decisions.
🎙️ Tony Steuer and Diana Yanez on the Highly Sensitive Money Podcast (listen)
🧭 The Readiness Brief: What’s shaping how we think about money this week
The OARS Technique: A Better Way To Talk About Money. OARS is a powerful framework from motivational interviewing that can transform how you connect with people whether you’re talking to clients about their resistance to your financial advice or trying to get your partner to open up about their day.
👉 Open-ended questions
👉 Affirmations
👉 Reflective listening
👉 Summaries
💭 Tony’s Take: Better conversations lead to better (financial) decisions.
🎙️ Meghaan Lurtz and Ashley Quamme (read/watch)
The Etiquette of Empathy: What to Say (and Not Say) in Times of Loss
An exploration of the concept of becoming “grief literate” and the etiquette around it: understanding the realities of grief, recognizing that loss extends far beyond death, and learning how to show up with real presence instead of reflexive optimism. With loss, major financial decisions often follow. Have the hard conversations now, long before a crisis.
💭 Tony’s Take: Empathy creates the foundation for meaningful financial conversations.
🎙️ Kathi Balasek and Karen Coyne on the Money Without Math Podcast (YouTube)
The Financial Do-Over Series by Kahlilah Dowe, CFP
More Money, Same Problems. Financial fragility despite high income often comes with shame and embarrassment. For most people, it’s not that they’re bad with money or careless. We learned how to acquire the life, not how to build and support it.
We Outside! For many of us, we live the life that we want to live on the outside because we have always known what that looks like on the outside, but we were never taught how to actually build the infrastructure to support it from the inside and we find ourselves struggling to sustain it. The feeling inside you saying, it is not supposed to feel this hard, is absolutely right.
The Do-Over. It is important to give yourself permission to take a Do-Over. You do not have to fight your past to move forward, you just have to be willing to build differently from here. Financial freedom is less about how much you make and more about how you have used that money to build. This is the work. No matter where you are standing right now, no matter how messy it feels, no matter how late or behind you think you are, you still have time.
Seriously, What Will It Take? The Infrastructure
I want you to think of affordability as being directly linked to your financial goals. Without first establishing tangible goals, there is no way to truly know what you can afford. When you are tethered to specific, measurable goals, something that stretches you, there’s an inherent trade off. The question of affordability becomes: what does this compete with? To what degree would this require me to forego what I am working toward? There’s an immediate feedback loop.
Learning Enough. I’m saying the very process of a financial Do Over is learning what Enough means for you. Enough is not a number you arrive at. It’s a position and a heart posture. The position says, “less does not define me, nor does more inflate me”. The posture says, “I am not ashamed nor elevated no matter where I am standing, in less or more”.
💭 Tony’s Take: Financial freedom is about choosing your own path and goals.
📖 Part 1 (LinkedIn), 📖 Part 2 (LinkedIn), 📖 Part 3 (LinkedIn), 📖 Part 4 (LinkedIn)
⚡ Quick Hits
🎙️ Money Tips From Old Married Couples. Christine Luken on the Money Is Emotional Podcast (listen).
🎙️ Don’t Assume You Know What Your Clients Want. Adam Holt and Kelly Waltrich on the Grow Intentionly Podcast (YouTube)
📖 Women Re-Writing Rules of Wealth By Lynn Toomey (read)
📖 Lifestyle Creep Isn’t About Spending More by Derek Hagen for Meaningful Money (read)
📊 The Scam Economy: The True Cost of Online Scams and Crimes in America from the Consumer Federation of America (report)
📖 What the Heck are Passkeys? And Should I Be Using Them? By Mike Piper for the Oblivious Investor (read)
🧭 One Move to Get Ready
🤔 What are your money accomplishments over the last 3 months?
🌎 The big picture: Take a deep breath and think of all that you accomplished over the last quarter.
🤨 Why it matters: Reflect on positive progress and challenges overcome, and to celebrate your wins.
💡 Here’s what works: Reflect on your progress with the Get Ready Habits.
- Goals defined: What are they, are they important, and what is their time period?
- Educate yourself: Know how to use what you learn and keep it fresh.
- Think about how you think: Have a positive mindset and act with intent.
- Relevancy to you: Understand who you are and align with your values.
- Evaluate your options: Choose wisely and monitor fees and expenses.
- Assemble the pieces: Know how everything fits together and what’s missing.
- Detailed focus: Review the details, seek balance, and know when you need help.
- Yearly review: Keep up to date and follow the Get Ready Method.
💭 Tony’s Take: The Get Ready Habits empower you to take control of your financial life.
🛠 Resources
Access The Get Ready Blueprint week 13 worksheet, where you’ll reflect with the Get Ready Habits with space to log your progress (located in Monthly Focus Area 3: Your Team).
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
Life moves quickly.
Preparation gives us the ability to pause, reflect, and respond with intention.
That’s how confidence is built over time.
👀 Coming Next Week: Scams, Digital Literacy, and How to Stay Safe With Your Money with Frances Yong
☕ Support the Get Ready Movement.
If these conversations help you think differently about money or prepare for life’s what-ifs, your support helps expand financial readiness education and keep this work accessible.
👉 Support (here)
Stay ready.
Start the conversation.
Ask questions.
— Tony
