Hi,
Thanks for being part of the Get Ready Movement, where we prepare for life’s transitions by changing the way we think and talk about money.
This week’s issue focuses on protecting the foundation of every financial plan, your income and why better questions and open communication strengthen long-term confidence.
🧠 Opening Thought
Strong financial plans are built on steady foundations. Income protection, thoughtful questions, and honest conversations create resilience long before they’re needed.
🎙️ Featured Conversation of the Week: Why Disability Insurance Is the Foundation of a Real Financial Plan
Are you addressing the key gap that puts every financial plan at risk?
🔹 Protect your future earning power, your “yet worth”
🔹 You are more likely to need disability insurance than homeowners or auto insurance
🔹 Disability insurance replaces income loss, while health insurance covers medical expenses.
🔹 Financial planners have an obligation to include income protection in their plans
💭 Tony’s Take: A financial plan only works if income continues. Protecting income is a core building block of a real financial plan, it is not optional.
🎙️ Maxwell Schmitz and Tony Steuer on the Get Ready Before Life Happens Podcast (watch or listen)
➕ Building Financial Fluency and Asking Better Money Questions
Complexity and behavioral blind spots can quietly derail good financial decisions. Also covered are financial scams and red flags, including pressure tactics, secrecy, and “too good to be true” promises, and why these warning signs matter not just for ourselves, but for aging parents and the next generation.
🔹 Why financial fluency starts with asking better questions, not memorizing answers
🔹 How behavioral finance influences insurance and investment decisions
🔹 When permanent life insurance can make sense and when it usually doesn’t
🔹 Common red flags of financial scams and bad actors
💭 Tony’s Take: Values, education and clear communication shape long-term financial confidence
🎙️ Melissa Joy and Tony Steuer on the Women’s Money Wisdom Podcast (YouTube)
➕ Why Great Financial Planning Starts with Better Questions
Are you asking the right questions before you focus on the plan?.
🔹 Ask questions until you understand.
🔹 Relationships are at the heart of effective financial planning
🔹 In the age of AI, advisors will succeed by being great communicators.
💭 Tony’s Take: Curiosity strengthens relationships, and relationships strengthen plans.
🎙️ Adam Koos and Tony Steuer on the Get Ready Before Life Happens Podcast (watch or listen)
🔎 Curated Insights
Planet Squeeze - Your Parents Are Aging. Your Kids Aren’t Launched. And You’re Paying for Both. Many families are supporting aging parents and adult children simultaneously. Clear boundaries and intentional conversations reduce guilt and improve decision-making.
💭 Tony’s Take: Intentional planning and boundaries allow you to support others without sacrificing your own stability.
📖 Jacqui Clarke for Your Personal CFO (read)
Long-term Care: Not Just Numbers. Caregiving is a fundamental human story that touches everyone, an act of compassion that binds us through vulnerability and empathy. Advisors need to ensure that this is part of our focus.
💭 Tony’s Take: Open and honest conversations about aging and caregiving allows for everyone to be on the same page and for intentional and mutually beneficial choices.
📖 By Noel A. Evans for ReThinking65 (read)
Why Power Changes How Women Talk About Money. You don’t need the “right” background to make real change. Leadership doesn’t come from perfect resumes or polished pathways. It comes from lived experience, values, and the courage to step forward when something isn’t right.
💭 Tony’s Take: Anyone can be a force for good and make positive change. Leadership is about stepping forward, even if we don’t feel 100% ready.
🎙️ Emily Weber, Maggie Nielsen and Barbara Provost on the Women & Money: The Sh*t We Don’t Talk About Podcast (Apple Podcasts)
⚡ Quick Hits
🎙️ A Roadmap for Your Child’s Investing Journey with Laura Adams and John Lanza on The Art of Allowance Podcast (Apple Podcasts)
🎙️ From Avoiding Bank Statements to Financial Therapy Pioneer: Bari Tessler's Journey with Bari Tessler and Diana Yanez on the Highly Sensitive Money Podcast (listen)
🎙️ Optimize vs. Maximize. When the pursuit of the perfect strategy begins to compete with living well on Financial Harmony with Dr. Preston Cherry (read)
🎙️ Teaching Money in the Digital Age with Mac Gardner on FPA Live (here)
📖 26 Financial Strategies That Let You Pursue Your Passion While Meeting Responsibilities on the Pursue The Passion Blog by Brett Farmiloe (read)
🤨 If something happened tomorrow, would your family know the plan?
✅ Week 10 Action Item: Have a family transition meeting with your parents and siblings
🌎 The big picture: Parents with adult children need clear transition conversations.
🤔 Why it matters: A family transition meeting helps ensure that there is a plan that can be followed and will avoid issues later on.
💡 Here’s what works:
✅ Schedule the meeting.
✅ Review your final wishes and document locations with your family members.
✅ Instructions and wishes can only be followed if they are known.
✅ Review asset distribution at a high level.
💭 Tony’s Take: Open and ongoing communication makes transitions smoother and less stressful for everyone involved.
🤔 Question of the week: How do you feel about communicating with your parents and siblings?
🛠️ Resources:
Access your resources for this week's action item (#10) from your dashboard (located in Monthly Focus Area 3: Your Team):
- The Get Ready Blueprint week 10 worksheet where you’ll review detailed suggestions for your transition meeting.
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)
📚 Bonus Resource: Mom and Dad, We Need to Talk: How to Have Essential Conversations with Your Parents About Their Finances by Cameron Huddleston (Amazon)
📅 Timely Reminder
Annual bonuses. If you receive an annual bonus from your employer, be intentional with how to use it. Consider using all or most of it to increase your rainy day fund, reduce higher cost debt or long term savings.
🧠 Final Thought
Financial readiness begins with protecting your foundation and continues by building strong habits and having open conversations. Preparation builds confidence. Communication strengthens coordination.
✅ Stay ready.
💬 Start a meaningful conversation.
💡 Share what sparked something for you.
— Tony
Coming Next Week: Get Ready Before Life Happens Podcast Episode 250: How 250 Conversations Changed the Way I Think About Money with Faith Teope and Tony Steuer
P.S. 🎙️ Check out The Get Ready Money Podcast → [Apple] | [YouTube]
