On a few different occasions, over the last handful of weeks, I’ve had the pleasure of filling in for David Bahnsen on The DC Today. The format and style of these [The DC Today] writings are a lot different than what I am accustomed to. The focus is much more on current events, tidbits of all things markets, and politics happening around the world today.

When asked to fill in, I was reluctant at first. If I am being honest, I was a little overwhelmed by the task, but in hindsight, I can say that I really enjoyed the opportunity. I also gained even more respect for David Bahnsen – if that is possible, based on my already high regard – knowing that he produces this content plus much, much more, day in and day out. In the end, I did find it enjoyable/fulfilling to help people cut through all the noise of the everyday news cycle and to package everything in an easy-to-digest recap of the day.

This experience also made me meditate on the idea of how one goes about converting these tidbits of current events into application on the financial planning side. Yes, I know that not every news feed that comes across your desk will be or should be actionable, but I also know that if digested correctly, these small bits of information can be additive to your overall foundation of knowledge. And it is through this foundation that you derive your financial decisions and plans.

Today, I thought it would be fun to hopscotch through David’s common DC Today headers and discuss how these current events can be viewed, assessed, and applied. The intent, as is often here on TOM, is to teach you how to think and to give you a sneak peek into the paradigm of a financial planner.

So, off we go…

Links mentioned in this episode: