Hi,
Welcome back to the Get Ready Movement navigating life’s what’s if’s by changing the way we think (and talk) about money.
🧠 Thought of the Week
Every financial decision has two sides, the objective component and the subjective mindset behind it. We talk openly about the numbers, but we rarely talk about the emotions and stories that drive them. When we understand both, our decisions become clearer and more aligned with who we are.
This week:
💡 What if your financial advisor listened like your doctor?
💡 Are you ready to unlock your purpose?
💡 How the increasing gender pay gap impacts women’s wealth
1️⃣ What if your financial advisor listened like your doctor?
I joined Marla Sofer on the Knowing Me, Knowing You Podcast to explore what happens when advisors adopt a doctor’s mindset: listen first, understand fully, and then diagnose and recommend.
👉 What advisors can learn from doctors
👉 How the financial services industry can become more inclusive
👉 Why great advice comes from asking the right questions
💭 Tony’s Take: When we start with values, goals, and mindset, we are able to make the right diagnosis and better decisions.
🎙 Listen to “What If Your Financial Advisor Listened Like Your Doctor? Asking The Right Questions” on (Apple Podcasts)
2️⃣ Are you ready to unlock your purpose?
A conversation about mindset, purpose, and financial empowerment.
👉 Why high-achieving women often hesitate to invest in themselves or take risks
simultaneously
👉 The importance of challenging inherited "rules" and setting boundaries for your time
👉 Practical approaches for service-based entrepreneurs to price and value their work realistically
💭 Tony’s Take: As the New Year approaches, consider your purpose and aligning it to your life and money.
🎙 Unlocking Purpose and Financial Empowerment with Katie Pulsifer and Misty Lynch on the Demystifying Money Podcast (Apple Podcasts).
3️⃣ How the increasing gender pay gap impacts women’s wealth
Why Building Wealth Hits Different for Women
👉 From wage gaps to caregiving and fertility costs, Denise Sarkor breaks down the financial challenges women face and why entrepreneurship can help close the gap. T
👉 Building wealth isn't one-size-fits-all, especially for women navigating systemic barriers.
🎙 Denise Sarkor and Dr. Severine Bryan on the Dr. Sev Talks Money Podcast (YouTube)
The gender pay gap is getting wider, reversing progress
👉 The median woman working full time in 2024 earned 81% of what the median man earned — a drop of 2 percentage points from the year before and the second consecutive annual decline.
👉 The wage gap doesn't necessarily mean women earn less than men for the same types of jobs. Instead, it is a useful indicator of broad inequality between men and women in the labor market.
👉 Women make up the majority of low-wage workers in the U.S., partly because many are juggling paid work with caring for children. Jobs that can accommodate those schedules tend to pay less.
📖 Emily Peck for Axios (read).
💭 Tony’s Take: The gender pay gap, combined with caregiving demands and longevity makes financial planning more complex for women. Know your worth, ask for it, and advocate for equitable systems.
4️⃣ How confident are you in your financial decisions?
👉 Why confidence comes from knowledge
👉 How financial stress can quietly derail your goals
👉 Why talking about money openly changes everything
👉 Insurance is a key building block
💭 Tony’s Take: Financial fluency builds confidence and empowers smarter choices at every life stage.
🎙️Miguel Ferreira and Tony Steuer on The Get Ready Money Podcast (watch or listen)
5️⃣ Will Consumers Trust AI To Do Their Financial Planning?
One possible red flag for advisors from an Intuit study is that 75% of respondents said that AI tools enable them to ask questions that they are too embarrassed to ask anyone else.
👉 These findings suggest that the ability for advisors to listen with empathy – and without judgement – is a critical skill, especially when dealing with clients who lack confidence in their financial decision-making capabilities.
👉 52% of respondents said they made a poor financial decision or mistake based on the information they received from an AI tool. This suggests that these tools are either giving bad advice, or that consumers are having difficulty implementing that advice (or both).
👉 61% of respondents in the Empower survey said they would use AI tools along with human financial advisors in order to achieve better financial outcomes.
📖 Chris Heye for The Whealthcare Wire (LinkedIn)
📓 The Rise of Fin-AI: Why Americans Are Trusting Generative AI With Their Wallets - Intuit Credit Karma Survey (here)
💭 Tony’s Take: Advisors who create relationships and communicate effectively will have success in the age of AI.
6️⃣ How To Get More Done by Doing Less (Yes, Really)
Let’s rethink productivity and build a healthier operating rhythm for the year ahead.
👉 The generational pressure many women feel to overachieve, over-deliver, and never say no.
👉 How boundary-setting is now essential not just for wellbeing, but for strong financial planning over a lifetime.
👉 How the Move–Think–Rest framework helps build creativity into daily routines
💭 Tony’s Take: Productivity isn’t about doing more, it’s about operating with intention. When we align our energy with our priorities, both our wellbeing and financial decision-making improve.
🎙 Dr. Natalie Nixon and Melissa Joy on the Women’s Money Wisdom Podcast (listen)
Are your financial documents organized and ready if an emergency hits? Get Ready: A Step-By-Step Planner for Maintaining Your Financial First Aid Kit provides a comprehensive, easy-to-follow step by step process to organize and review all of your financial documents. Pick up your copy (Amazon) (Bookshop)
7️⃣ What can parenting teach us about money?
More than you might think ranging from patience and long-term thinking to communication and values.
👉 Communication is key to both parenting and money
👉 Patience and long-term thinking win over quick results
👉 Money is a tool for building values and helping others
💭 Tony’s Take: The way we teach and talk about money at home shapes the next generation’s mindset for life.
🎙️Rebecca Gao and Tony Steuer on The Get Ready Money Podcast (Watch or listen)
8️⃣ 🏆 Plutus Corner: Overcoming Money Wounds, Bernadette Joy’s Journey from Debt to Angel Investor
What does it really take to break through the myths of entrepreneurship and build a financially independent life—especially as a woman?
👉 Rethink traditional notions of wealth, investing, and risk-taking by exploring the power of money mindset, resilience, and strategic investing.
👉 As a life and money coach, Bernadette Joy opens up about her unconventional path from paying off $300,000 in debt to mentoring the next generation of women investors and entrepreneurs.
👉 Her journey is shaped by personal experience, a mission to help others overcome financial misconceptions, and a passion for demystifying the road to millionaire status—especially for women and communities of color.
💭 Tony’s Take: Bernadette’s story spotlights that healing our money wounds and aligning our values with our decisions can transform our financial lives.
🎙 Bernadette Joy and Marcia Dawood on The Angel Next Door Podcast (Apple Podcasts)
9️⃣ ⚡ Quick Hits
📖 Money Habits for Families Who Never Had a Financial Role Model by Bobby Clark (LinkedIn)
🎥 Advisors Win by Guiding Clients Through Life's Toughest Challenges with Lauren Clough and Sheryl O’Connor for the Income Conductor Trailblazer series (YouTube)
🎙 Finding the Right Accountant with Clair Gallant, Logan Holman and Steve Jarvis on The Retirement Tax Services Podcast (listen)
📖 From Transactional To Transformational: Rethinking Client Events By Larry Sprung for FinancialAdvisor. Read (here).
🎙 Feeling Time Poor? The Journey to Owning Your Time. Andy Hill and Jesse Cramer on Personal Finance for Long-Term Investors - The Best Interest Podcast (Apple Podcasts)
📖 ‘Tis the Season – for Scams - 10 scams that you may encounter this time of year: - from Fraud.org
🔟 The key year-end money deadlines you don’t want to overlook…
✅ Week #50 Action Item: Review end of year items
🌎 The big picture: End-of-year deadlines can have a meaningful impact on your financial life.
💡 Here’s what works:
📊 Stick to your holiday budget: Use rewards cards strategically and pay off balances to avoid interest.
💼 Spending Accounts (Flexible Spending Accounts - FSA and Dependent Care Spending Account). FSA’s may be use it or lose it - DCSA’s are use it or lose it: Eligible expenses include vision care, chiropractic, therapy, and prescription meds.
🎁 Charitable donations: make a positive difference and to be able to claim your tax deduction. Be sure to check whether your donation is tax deductible.
🎁 Max out gift tax exclusions: Complete gifts before year end to take advantage of annual limits.
📈 Review your IRA and 401(k) contributions and distributions. If you had to take a first required minimum distribution by April 1, you must take your second by December 3.
🩺 Medicare: Open enrollment ends December 7th, 2025. Changes take effect January 1, 2026.
💭 Tony’s Take: Reviewing end-of-year items helps you maximize your financial life.
🛠️ Resources:
Access your resources for this week's action item (#50) from your dashboard (located in Monthly Focus Area 12: Wrap Up Loose Ends):
- The Get Ready Blueprint week 50 worksheet where you’ll review a detailed list of end of year items.
- Review relevant worksheets for your end of year items such as:
- Spending Accounts (Group Employee Benefits worksheet - week 40)
- Retirement Plan Contributions (week 36)
- Charitable Donations (week 48)
📅 Timely Reminders:
- December 31: Flexible spending account (FSA) and dependent care spending account (DCSA) claim deadlines. Employers can extend the claim deadline for FSAs to March 15 of the following year. Your employer may allow you to carry over $500 in unused funds to the following year; if they do not, this is the “use it or lose it” date. Health savings accounts (HSAs) allow you to carry over your full balance.
- December 31: Complete any charitable donations.
- December 31: Contributions to employer-sponsored retirement plans (401(k), 403(b), 457, or federal thrift savings) must be completed.
- December 31: If you had to take your first required minimum distribution (RMD) from your IRA or 401(k) by April 1, you must take your second RMD by December 31.
🧠 Final Thought
Financial clarity starts with self-awareness, knowing your money stories, habits, values, and purpose. When we understand why we make certain choices, we gain the power to change our decision making process.
✅ Stay ready.
💬 Start a conversation.
💡 Share what sparked something — with a friend, client, or in the comments.
— Tony
Coming Next Week: Rethinking Community, Caregiving & Financial Planning with the Midlife Concierge, Merridith Gonzalez.
P.S. Get Organized in 2026 with Get Ready: A Step-By-Step Planner for Maintaining Your Financial First Aid Kit provides a comprehensive, easy-to-follow step by step process to organize and review all of your financial documents. Pick up your copy (Amazon) (Bookshop)
🤝 In Partnership with the Plutus Awards, presented by the Plutus Foundation — celebrating excellence in financial media and education. Learn more at plutusawards.com
