News you can't use
Parsing out financial headlines to avoid driving each other crazy.
There’s nothing Heather loves more than when I share the latest financial headlines with her over breakfast.
I’m kidding. She doesn’t give a damn.
As I sip my coffee in the morning, reading about some obscure economic data point that’s all the rage on X, I can’t help but bring it up as we’re trying to get our kids out the door for school. Usually, Heather responds with an eyeroll and some version of, “Why does this matter to us?”
She’s not wrong to ask. We’re bombarded with steady stream of financial news, curated to grab our attention with big, scary, or euphoric words. Headlines like, “The Recession is Coming!” or “Markets Soar to New Heights!” or “Steve from the Internet Predicts Hyperinflation!” fill our inboxes. Sometimes, I’ll read five articles claiming the economy is on the brink of collapse, while another five say the exact opposite—everything is awesome, we’re going higher.
Talk about mixed messages.
Which of those headlines should you actually pay attention to? When you’re planning for your future or just trying to figure out how to make budget for the month, does it matter that the Fed is likely to tinker with interest rates again? Or that consumer sentiment rose by two whole points last month?
No. Honestly, a lot of it doesn’t matter, and I say this as someone whose profession revolves around interpreting and applying financial data to actual human lives.
What we often fail to remember is that we’re reading snapshots of a massively complex system. An economy isn’t just one or two data points—it’s millions of decisions, events, and cyclical factors all working together as one. If you zoom in on any single headline too closely, you miss the bigger picture. And when you’re dealing with your own household finances, it’s your picture that really matters: your income, expenses, goals, and dreams.
You are not the economy. You’re part of a household within the economy.
That means the big headline of the day might not directly impact your life today. So, this week, let’s talk about how to filter through the noise, figure out what’s relevant to you, and navigate your conversations around these developments without driving each other insane.
Heather has become my unofficial headline filter, and I recommend you find someone like this in your life, too. When I read a piece about the inflation outlook, for instance, and then come crashing into the room to tell her about it, she typically responds with some version of: “Great, so what does that mean for our budget?” If I can’t connect the dots quickly—how it might impact our mortgage rate or grocery bill or long-term financial plan—she is more than happy to tell me to get lost. And she’s right. If you can’t tie a particular piece of news directly to your household finances or long-term goals, it’s probably more “noise” than “signal.”
Still, I’m often asked, “How do I know if it matters to us?” and that’s a great question. Think about whether the news impacts:
Your income: Does it suggest job losses in your industry? How about wage growth?
Your expenses: News about rising interest rates, for example, could affect your credit card rates or a car loan, if you’re in the market for one.
Your investments: Is there a direct link between your portfolio risk and the news? Key word being, direct.
Your goals: Does the news influence your timeline(s) for retirement, saving for a house, or paying down student debt?
If it doesn’t impact any of the above, it’s probably not worth losing sleep over.
There’s a delicate balance between tuning out the day’s fear mongering tactics and staying informed. At times, major policy changes like new tax laws and changes to student loan forgiveness programs can significantly alter your financial landscape. But 99 percent of the day-to-day chatter is about potential changes or passing market fluctuations. All of these what ifs leave the door open to another day, another story, another reason to leave you questioning whether you’re doing the right thing.
A bit of perspective can add clarity to these moments and help you tune out the noise and maybe avoid an argument, too. The next time financial news leaves you feeling a bit uneasy, do the following:
Reevaluate your media diet: Maybe you should only check the headlines once a day—and no early morning or bedtime doom-scrolling on your phone.
Consider the source: Are you consuming news from a reputable journalist, media outlet, economist, or financial professional, or did a Davey Day Trader wannabe find his way into your TikTok algo?
Keep history in mind: Markets go up, and markets go down. Policies change. But over time, the trajectory for a well-diversified investor is typically upward.
Focus on what you can control: Your savings rate, your spending, your hedges against risk, your career—at least in theory, these items are in your hands in a way that Federal Reserve policy is not. My point is, keep your concerns proximate to you.
At the end of the day, Heather reminds me that no matter how dramatic they are, some headlines just don’t have a place in our money conversations. She’s got a point: your personal goals should guide your financial decisions more than the latest hot takes available for consumption.
So, the next time you’re bombarded with push notifications about the Dow dropping 500 points or a sensational “the world is ending” op-ed, take a step back and give yourself the litmus test: Does this change anything about our lives?
If the answer is no, you have my full permission to shrug it off, keep calm, and scroll on.
How do financial headlines impact you? We want to know!
The Substack Market Forecast Summit
On a related note, consumers love a good market forecast. The day after New Year’s, the headlines will read something like “Wall Street Predicts a 10% Gain This Year,” and by mid-year, you’ll see “New Predictions Signal 20% Drop.” Forecasts are educated predictions from professionals (and sometimes amateurs) about what might happen next. My take is that we should absolutely pay attention to big-picture opportunities and risks but not rearrange our entire financial lives around short-term predictions. Now, if you want to hear more about the outlook for 2025—and how to apply that big-picture thinking to your own financial life—allow me to promote an event I’m really excited about.
On Friday, January 31st, I’ll be speaking with my good friend, Sam Ro of TKer, at Substack’s Market Forecast Summit in a session called “From Financial Markets to Financial Planning.” We’ll be taking a closer look at:
Key risks and opportunities we see in the markets for 2025
What these trends actually mean for your finances
How individual investors can think about the years ahead without losing their minds (or their shirts)
If you’ve been itching to separate the signal from the noise in financial news—and want to do it with a couple of finance nerds who live, breathe, and sometimes dream in spreadsheets—this is the sesh for you. Think of it as a chance to get the inside scoop on how to distill important market concepts into actionable items in your financial plan without letting fear run the show.
You’ll need to download the Substack app to join our conversation. This is for everyone, whether you have a paid subscription or not. If you enable notifications, the app will notify you when I’m live on Friday. Just tap that, and you’re in.
TJA in the news
I chatted with CNBC about how to properly vet “finfluencers” and money advice on social media.
I also discussed why now is good time to reassess your retirement savings and offered tips on helping you get started.
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The content shared in The Joint Account does not constitute financial, legal, or any other professional advice. Readers should consult with their respective professionals for specific advice tailored to their situation.
Thanks…I needed that…