Reflecting on the Historical and Financial Lessons of 9/11

Keen on Retirement

On the morning of September 11, 2001, I was driving on Southwest Trafficway, heading to my office on the Country Club Plaza in Kansas City. When I walked inside the world had changed. My colleagues were huddled around TVs watching the horrific, surreal footage from the terrorist attacks in New York.

About a month later I was in New York for business meetings and I saw the destruction first-hand. Everyone was wearing facemasks because the air was still heavy with soot. At Ground Zero, some parts of the remaining tower structures were still burning from the intense heat.

You could feel the grief and the fear. But there was also a remarkable sense of resilience. People were pulling together, helping each other, doing their part. And, little by little, the city, the country – and, yes, the markets -- began to recover.

On today's show, my cohosts and I discuss our memories of that terrible day before zooming out for an analysis of how major historical events can affect the global economy and individual investors.