George Kinder is internationally recognized as the Father of the Life Planning movement.
Harvard-educated George Kinder revolutionized financial advice for more than 35 years by training over 5,000 professionals in 30 countries in the field of financial life planning. He founded the Kinder Institute of Life Planning in 2003 after 30 years as a practicing financial planner and tax advisor.
George Kinder’s latest book, Reflections on Spectacle Pond: The Weekly Edition, is available as a free email subscription through Substack. Inspired by the 30 years he has spent living at the edge of a small New England pond, the book is a meditative guide to living in nature’s cycle, week by week, and moment by moment. Among his seven books, he has written one on mindfulness, Transforming Suffering into Wisdom, and another book of photography and poetry, A Song for Hana.
His trainings and books are all about Freedom. In his book, A Golden Civilization and The Map of Mindfulness (currently available on Amazon), Kinder draws on 50 years as a mindfulness practitioner, over 30 years as a mindfulness teacher, and his experience training financial advisors globally to challenge the basic concepts of economics, our understanding of democracy, of space-time, and our own hearts. His objective is to bring greater levels of Freedom everywhere.
His three books on money, The Seven Stages of Money Maturity, Lighting the Torch, and Life Planning for You, are considered by many to be the seminal works in the burgeoning field of financial Life Planning. Almost twenty years after its publication, his classic The Seven Stages of Money Maturity was again featured by the Wall Street Journal.
Kinder was the first winner of the Financial Planning Association's Heart of Financial Planning Award which recognizes “individuals who demonstrate commitment and passion in doing extraordinary work to contribute or give back to the financial planning community and/or the public.” He has been named “One of the 35 most influential people in financial services,” “One of the top Icons & Innovators in the financial planning industry,” “the first of 15 transformational advisors whose vision most changed the industry,” and has been inducted into the Financial Planning Magazine Hall of Fame. In 2017, he was awarded the Transparency Trophy by the Transparency Task Force. He has appeared on many radio and television programs and his expertise has been featured in The Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, New Model Adviser, Forbes, Time Magazine, FP Today, The Journal of Financial Planning, Investment News, and The New York Times.
Kinder is known for his dynamic presentation skills and has given speeches at professional conferences on five continents. He has spoken at Harvard University, Boston College, Coventry University, Merrill Lynch, Smith Barney, Fidelity, Charles Schwab, Allianz, AXA, The Financial Planning Association, The Personal Finance Society, and The National Association of Personal Financial Advisors.
Among his early accomplishments: In 1975, Kinder earned the Bronze Medal (third place) on the National Uniform Certified Public Accountant (CPA) exam in Massachusetts. In 1994, he co-founded “The Nazrudin Project,” an influential think tank of national financial advisors dedicated to exploring the human and spiritual aspects of money and personal finance. In 2000, Investment Advisor Magazine, the largest circulation magazine for financial advisors, awarded Kinder its Portfolio Management Award given to those who have “contributed significantly to the art and science of portfolio management.”
Kinder currently resides in Massachusetts and spends several months per year in London and Hana, Hawaii.
A thought leader in the fiduciary movement, Kinder has spearheaded the following legislative proposal:
Videos
Books
Speaking Tour
Golden Civilization Conversations
Kinder Institute of Life Planning
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Reflections on Spectacle Pond
George Kinder’s five-book series, Reflections on Spectacle Pond is available for free to email subscribers, on a weekly basis.
With just an email sign-up, you can reserve a spot on our exclusive distribution list to receive a year’s worth of weekly emails full of inspiration, meditative insights, and stunning visuals of quiet moments on a New England pond. Expanded content offerings will be available on Patreon. More details will be forthcoming.
The Reflections on Spectacle Pond series is a collection of five, the first being Reflections on Spectacle Pond, The Weekly Edition, and the next four being the reaming seasons in The Daily Edition.
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A Golden Civilization and The Map of Mindfulness
George Kinder invites readers to imagine a thousand generations have passed and humanity has at last accomplished a Golden Civilization. What does it look like? Who are we there? Of all our systems and structures currently in place which of them got us there? And which of them were irretrievably heading in the wrong direction? He challenges readers to immediately abandon habits, structures, and systems that won’t take us to a Golden Civilization and adopt those that will.
"Not since Walt Whitman have I heard as visionary a voice of inclusion and longing, seeking to free the spirit of humankind, and setting us on a path of wise, honorable, authentic, participative life. George Kinder has envisioned a new world, a leap of civilization based on the foundation of fulfilling the true potential of the conscious human in a world hungry for change. He sets in motion the examined life of democratic freedom along with our global need for a new economic system rooted in true democratic principles of virtue and equality. Kinder points us toward a global renaissance. This is big! This is true integrity in action. I want to help create and live in the world that Kinder teaches us is possible."
–Eido Frances Carney Roshi, Olympia Zen Center, author of Kakurenbo or the Whereabouts of Zen Priest Ryokan
Transforming Suffering into Wisdom
Mindfulness and The Art of Inner Listening
“In Suffering’s Wisdom, George Kinder has written a meditation book that pulls off the impossible, being instantly accessible and at the same time extremely sophisticated, applying meditation to our most mundane moments and habitual behaviors, while on each page appealing to our highest aspirations to lead more joyous and meaningful lives. This is an exceptionally personal book, from a teacher who has truly lived his meditation practice and constantly renewed it with creativity and passion. Every page is an inspiration and a gift. Don’t miss it!”
— Joel Gluck, MEd, executive coach, meditator, and therapist
Life Planning for You
This do-it-yourself book is life-changing and fun. It is also authoritative, written by award-winning global financial thought leader, George Kinder, with former New York Times personal finance columnist, Mary Rowland. The book will inspire you with stories of how people have made the changes they needed in order to live the life of their dreams. Now you can do it, too. In Life Planning for You the founder of Life Planning, George Kinder, puts in your hands this proven technique that can help you design and deliver your own dream life.
"A triumph! Destined to become one of the most influential books of our time. I found it fascinating, refreshing, educational, practical and uplifting. Kinder's self-help exercises, his case studies, stories and five visions of Life Planning are always inspiring, often deeply moving. He and Mary Rowland provide an exceptional guide to how to find a financial adviser you can trust including a history of the fiduciary movement. In the clarity of his descriptions of Life Planning, he has defined the standard of care against which banks and financial services companies will come to be measured as we move in finance from what he calls a century of sales to an era, global in reach, of empowerment for consumers, delivering freedom. This book is Kinder's masterpiece."
–Steve Conley, former Head of Investments for HSBC and former Chair of Bancassurance Steering Group of British Bankers' Association
A Song for Hána & The Spirit of Lehoʻula
A Song for Hana & the Spirit of Leho'ula is a love story that unfolds across the majesty of the Hana coast, a sacred place threatened by development. In A Song for Hana the author, lost and distracted, becomes engaged with figures of ancient Hawaii, is transformed by the experience, and comes to the spirit of the place and of himself in the hands of Lehoula, heroine of old Hawaii. You can read this book as a narrative, an adventure, or as a spiritual journey. You can explore each two-page spread as a meditation. Or you can simply enjoy the gorgeous images, relax into and savor the beauty of the Hana coast, the last Hawaiian place. Fifty percent of the profits from this book will be dedicated to help preserve the Hana coast, and to preserve and support traditional Hawaiian culture.
Lighting the Torch
The Kinder Method of Life Planning
Each of us carries within our hearts a "dream of freedom" where lives feel fulfilled and are truly worthwhile. Financial planners offer clients the most comprehensive opportunity to discover and integrate a financial life plan that in fact melds meaning with money. No other professional can help the client unveil his or her most profound dreams and values, and then articulate a financial strategy that empowers successful implementation. The book empowers planners with the processes for connecting the client's dreams of freedom with the strategies of financial planning. It provides training in the Kinder Method(TM) of life planning and a skill set that can provide a consistent and successful process with clients, leading to that moment called "lighting the torch."
The Seven Stages of Money Maturity
Discover a powerful new way to look at your money and your life.
Where do our attitudes about money come from--and how do they influence our lives? How can we approach financial issues with honesty and without fear?
In this groundbreaking book, renowned Buddhist teacher George Kinder, a Harvard-trained certified financial planner, demonstrates how we can literally transform our lives emotionally and financially by achieving "money maturity"--a full understanding of the spiritual and psychological issues surrounding our money lives.
Drawing on ancient Buddhist wisdom and his years of financial practice, Kinder has created a revolutionary program that guides us through the Seven Stages of a revolutionary journey--one designed to help us uncover the roots of our attitudes about money, and attain true peace, freedom, and security in our financial lives.