001: George Kinder – Making Money the Servant, Not the Master

George Kinder is the Founder of The Kinder Institute of Life Planning and the author of multiple bestsellers, including The Seven Stages of Money Maturity and Life Planning for You. He has revolutionized financial advice for more than 35 years by training over 4,000 professionals in 30 countries in the field of financial Life Planning. George has won many awards in the financial planning industry, and was named one of the thirty-five most influential people in financial services.

Today, Jonathan and George talk about the psychology of money and where George’s unique perspective on money originated. George expounds on The Three Domains of Freedom and why he believes that life outcomes are more important than financial ones. Finally, George talks about his current project, Reflections on Spectacle Pond, which is being released serially (for free) via email.

Watch on YouTube

https://youtu.be/ShrEFj27Ubg

Key Takeaways

00:43 – Jonathan introduces today’s guest, George Kinder who joins the show to share some of the early lessons he learned about money growing up

05:32 – George expounds on his views on money

07:48 – Where George’s unique perspective on money originated

10:52 – Why life outcomes are more important than financial outcomes

12:10 – The Three Domains of Freedom

16:13 – The transition from financial advisor to training financial advisors

22:31 – The psychology of money

25:45 – Financial tips and best practices

30:35 – What people should ignore when it comes to finances

31:50 – The art of inner listening

35:37 – Jonathan thanks George for joining the show and asks a couple of closing inquiries

Tweetable Quotes

“As I’ve grown older and explored more, I think that the lessons were deeper, and earlier, and richer, and went back even before money was a conscious thing for me.” (03:39)

“Money is an abstraction. What’s important is life, each of our lives, and the freedom we feel in life.” (04:57)

“I want to live with my writing, with my spirit, with my graphics, with my art. I want to live like an artist. I want to live completely free in that world so that what I bring into the world is pure, and unusual, and intriguing, and not governed by financial forces.” (11:27)

“I think the Dalai Lama said this, but I completely concur. I think it’s an enormous moral failure in America, and in the West, that three men own as much as half of the American population own.” (15:36)

“Saving is really valuable. The more you can save, the better. And the more early on you can save and put it to use so it compounds, it’s just amazing.” (26:58)

“When I think about what I would love as a tombstone – what people might say about me – is that he encouraged us to be more of who we are. He encouraged us to be more ourselves.” (37:07)