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Thoughts On Money [TOM]

Thoughts On Money [TOM]

By: Trevor Cummings
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Summary

THOUGHTS ON MONEY [TOM] is a podcast looking at simple truths on money. Everything from budgeting to investing to decision making. A great place to come for answers to your personal financial questions or to spark thought on how to improve your financial life.© Trevor Cummings All Rights Reserved Economics Personal Finance
Episodes
  • Ten-Dollar Finance Words
    May 1 2026

    This week's blogpost - https://bahnsen.co/4tJyhFD

    Trevor Cummings hosts a “Thoughts on Money” podcast episode with Blaine Carver and Brett Bonecutter, discussing Brett’s lighthearted blog post “$10 Finance Words” and how financial jargon can confuse or impress audiences. They contrast unavoidable shorthand with performative buzzwords, share pet peeves (like “curated,” “circle back,” and “HBD”), and emphasize knowing your audience and translating terms for clients. Brett explains meanings and pitfalls of terms such as EBITDA (including WeWork’s “community adjusted EBITDA”), fungible vs. non-fungible, and deal jargon like cap stack, mezzanine financing, and waterfalls, plus corporate euphemisms like “right-sizing” and the sometimes-deceptive use of “leverage.” They close with jokes about pop-culture references, slang, and invite listener emails and podcast ratings.

    00:00 Welcome And Setup

    01:26 Why Finance Jargon

    06:39 Words And Pet Peeves

    10:25 EBITDA Explained

    17:30 Snooty Language Signals

    18:34 Gray Poupon Reference

    20:16 Fungible And NFTs

    23:22 Capital Stack Basics

    26:05 Euphemisms That Stick

    26:26 Right Sizing Explained

    27:17 Idioms Across Cultures

    28:43 Leverage Versus Debt

    31:29 Leverage In Real Markets

    33:01 BDCs And Private Credit

    35:15 Optionality Word Nerds

    36:32 Cosplay And Meme Slang

    38:49 Pop Culture Blind Spots

    41:47 Closing Thoughts And Feedback

    Links mentioned in this episode:

    • http://thoughtsonmoney.com
    • http://thebahnsengroup.com
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    45 mins
  • The Next Bear Market
    Apr 24 2026

    This week's blogpost - https://bahnsen.co/42ccBWB

    In this week's Thoughts on Money, Trevor, Blaine, and Brett discuss Blaine's article, “The Next Bear Market,” which argues that a 20% market decline will happen at some point and that recent, fast recoveries (COVID, 2022, 2023 bank failures, and a short-lived 2025 ~19% drawdown) may be breeding investor complacency. They distinguish corrections (10%) from bear markets (20%), highlight how intra-year drawdowns often fade in annual returns, and emphasize the market’s interconnected participants, leverage-driven selling, and the expectation that the Fed will intervene. The group focuses on preparing through adequate liquidity and safety nets to avoid selling at the wrong time, understanding why you own assets, and emphasizing dividends and income as part of total return. They note risk surveys can misstate real behavior, advisors act as guides to help clients endure volatility, and premium returns require accepting volatility as the price of admission.

    00:00 Podcast Intro

    00:30 Why Bear Markets Happen

    03:05 Drawdowns vs Annual Returns

    05:02 Statement Pain Explained

    07:19 Too Big to Fail Mindset

    10:17 Complacency After Long Runs

    18:40 Corrections vs Bear Markets

    20:37 Risk Tolerance Reality Check

    23:04 Long Horizon Portfolio Buckets

    24:15 Focus on Dividends Not Price

    25:47 Dividends And Total Return

    26:22 Safety Nets And Inflation

    27:31 Bear Markets And Labels

    28:57 Recession Versus Bear

    29:37 Markets Versus Economy

    30:40 Why Cash Reserves Matter

    32:51 Leverage And Forced Selling

    34:24 Liquidity And Buyer Shortages

    35:24 Life Transitions And Risk

    37:00 Advisor Psychology And Coaching

    40:38 Guides Expand Risk Tolerance

    41:42 Portfolio Rules Of Thumb

    43:38 Volatility Price Of Returns

    45:32 Time Horizon Is The Edge

    46:35 Wrap Up And Disclosures

    Links mentioned in this episode:

    • http://thoughtsonmoney.com
    • http://thebahnsengroup.com
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    49 mins
  • If You Could Ask Just One Question
    Apr 17 2026

    This week's blogpost - https://bahnsen.co/4mUGiFb

    Trevor Cummings hosts the Thoughts On Money podcast with Brett Bonecutter to discuss a due diligence hypothetical: if you could ask an advisor or investment manager only one question, it should be “How do you invest your money?” Drawing on Nassim Taleb’s “skin in the game” idea, Trevor argues behavior and portfolio holdings reveal true beliefs more than polished pitches. He recounts meeting a Twitter-famous fund manager whose personal investments didn’t match his fund strategy, reinforcing the “eat your own cooking” rule while noting it isn’t a complete substitute for full due diligence or diversification. The conversation explores aligned incentives versus fiduciary labels, Buffett’s Goldman Sachs deal requiring executives to retain shares (“buying the jockey”), 1929-era disclosure rules on insider trading, and Trevor’s real example of a near-retiree concentrated in two stocks despite claiming high confidence.

    00:00 One Question Diligence

    01:40 Skin In The Game

    02:48 Quitting Social Media

    05:31 Fund Manager Test

    09:22 Eat Your Cooking

    14:34 Buffett Deal Lesson

    18:35 Limits Of Skin

    19:56 Peace Child Setup

    20:26 Judas and the Gospel

    21:24 Peace Child Incentives

    22:21 Advisor Skin in Game

    23:42 Fiduciary vs Incentives

    25:09 Taleb Fund Cycle

    28:35 Do You Follow Advice

    31:41 1929 Insider Reporting

    35:06 Eating Own Cooking

    35:39 Diversification Wake Up

    38:04 Due Diligence Wrap

    Links mentioned in this episode:

    • http://thoughtsonmoney.com
    • http://thebahnsengroup.com
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    41 mins
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