This week's blogpost - https://bahnsen.co/3RTyKah

Trevor Cummings hosts the Thoughts on Money (TOM) podcast with Brett Bonecutter and Blaine Carver to discuss Brett’s article on food and its economic and cultural implications. They explore how nearly any topic connects to money, then reflect on family dinners, modern home layouts, and how convenience and abundance may reduce intentional time together. Brett shares “food dollar collapse” data: food fell from nearly 50% of household budgets in the early 1900s to 9.7% in 2025, while spending has flipped from mostly groceries to mostly eating out/convenience, and time in the kitchen dropped from six hours per day to about 45 minutes. They discuss trade-offs like lowered appreciation, snacking, delivery markups, loss of cooking skills, and “options overload” in stores with 32,000 items, plus a brief MAHA-related comparison of past low medical spending versus today’s higher costs.

00:00 Welcome to TOM

00:14 Why Talk About Food

02:15 Dinner Table Culture

06:30 Food Memories and Nostalgia

09:46 Food Dollar Collapse

15:29 Abundance Trade Offs

20:12 Convenience and Eating Out

22:04 Convenience And Doomscrolling

23:50 Cooking As Joy And Budget

26:55 Learning Kitchen Skills

28:36 Generations And Eating Out

30:42 MAHA Food And Healthcare

33:09 Pop Tarts And Choice Overload

36:09 Tradeoffs Gratitude And Wrap

Links mentioned in this episode:

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

This week's blogpost - https://bahnsen.co/4voyr5t

Trevor Cummings and Brett Bonecutter discuss superheroes as a metaphor for investing, contrasting “superhuman” finance promises that are often too good to be true with the practical “Batman” approach of using tactical discipline. Trevor argues that earmarking—assigning a clear purpose and time horizon to every dollar—is a personal finance superpower that guides account selection, tax strategy (e.g., using a 529 for college savings), liquidity needs, and asset allocation, and helps avoid being over-allocated to either stocks for near-term needs or cash for long-term goals. They explore why common allocations like 60/40 exist, how disconnected investors can be from the purpose of their portfolios, how estate planning naturally forces earmarking, and why some clients with projected surpluses may benefit from gifting during their lifetime, while warning that earmarking can be overdone in retail banking-style account proliferation.

00:00 Welcome

00:34 Superhero Fandom Stories

02:32 Favorite Powers and Old Movies

04:37 Batman vs Superman Finance

07:09 Earmarking Explained

10:45 Purpose Before Investing

14:12 Portfolio Theory vs Reality

15:22 Why 60 40 Exists

20:34 Popcorn Portfolio Metaphor

22:42 Big Expense Earmarks

25:34 Vacations Versus Budget

26:35 Legacy And Estate Goals

29:40 Gifting While Alive

32:14 4 Percent Rule Surplus

34:01 Overearmarking Cautionary Tale

36:47 Envelope Method Explained

41:31 All Money Has Purpose

43:29 Cash Heavy Portfolios

45:55 Conclusion

Links mentioned in this episode:

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

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

Today, Matthew Gregory writes the Thoughts on Money article, and discusses with Trevor about how to reframe estate planning from something morbid into an act of love that protects the people you care about by reducing logistical and legal burdens during grief. Using The Princess Bride’s “prepare to die” line and analogies like board games and omakase, they emphasize starting with basics (wills, trusts, medical directives, powers of attorney, guardianship) before complex strategies, and ensuring plans are stored and understood (even via one-page flowcharts). They note estate planning applies at all ages, including young adults facing HIPAA limits, and can be revisited as life and laws change. Trevor argues estate planning often ranks ahead of investment strategy, and they close by suggesting viewers consider whether planned end-of-life gifts (to family or charity) might be better made during life for qualitative and potential tax benefits.

00:00 Intro

00:49 Estate Planning as Love

03:50 "Prepare to Die" Moment

05:41 Executor Lessons and Family First

08:34 Start Simple, Not Complex

11:38 Settler's of Catan Strategy

16:39 Guided Advice, Omakase Style

19:59 Estate Planning Before Investing

25:47 All Ages and Family Transparency

27:52 Avoid Overengineering the Plan

32:45 Lean Into Discomfort

33:48 Give While Living

35:57 Wrap Up and Conclusions

Links mentioned in this episode:

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