Hey Radicals! Just a quick announcement show for you--our little baby girl was born early Friday morning. Baby and momma are both doing great and we are enjoying transitioning to our larger family! We're super thankful and beyond excited that she is here. I also thought it would be fun to invite my wife to chat a little bit about her childbirth experience. This isn't related to personal finance--it's just related to the RPF life! If you'd like to hear some of her comments on how we prepared for ...
Jun 26, 2015•40 min
One of the most fundamental transformations of our modern time is taking place in the field of communication. Although it might feel like we're far into this change, we're really not. It's only just begun One of the most important effects of this change is that very small businesses--like financial advisors--can effectively market to the broader market at a very low cost. My guest today is an expert in this field. Bill Winterberg is the founder of FPPad.com . Bill founded FPPad in 2008 to be a l...
Jun 25, 2015•47 min
Our value and contribution in this world will be directly impacted by the level of our education. It's impossible to create more value without more education. (Yes, there are many kinds of education. I'm using the word inclusively.) But, under what system and whose goals have we been educated? Unfortunately, many of us have been educated under a system that promotes someone else's goals over our own. Too few of us know how to sit down and design an educational path that will take us closer to ou...
Jun 24, 2015•1 hr 35 min
Today, I welcome Doug Nordman back to the show! Doug is an early retiree (he retired at 41) and his hobby is helping other military personnel improve their financial lives. One of the more interesting aspects of Doug's financial life is his involvement in private business as an angel investor. He's not only involved with the community of investors near him in Hawaii, he's also committed a substantial amount of his savings toward his investments. In this interview you'll learn: Why Doug invests h...
Jun 23, 2015•1 hr 23 min
Many people would like to earn more money. But, few people know how to actually look at their situation to assess their opportunities to actually do so. In today's show I share with you the framework that I use to think about money. It's simple but effective. And, most importantly, it's exclusively focused on the things you can actually do and change. It's practical and immediately actionable. Listen to the show to hear: The only three variables that affect how much money you earn in a free mark...
Jun 22, 2015•54 min
Hey amigos! Today is my 30th birthday! I'm having an incredible day celebrating with my family and friends.30 is a big milestone for me. I've been reflecting deeply on the last decade and looking forward to the next decade.I thought about creating a "30 Lessons Learned from 30 Years of Living" for you, but I decided to simply share one of my favorite messages with you instead. This audio is a short clip from a Jim Rohn speech. I keep it on my desktop and listen to it at least a couple of times p...
Jun 18, 2015•3 min
Hey Radicals! Just a quick announcement episode to share that the show will be taking a quick summer break for a few days. I have some show-related work to handle and I can't get it done and still continue producing content this week. Also, please expect the shows to be slighly more sporadic during the month of June...details in the audio! Joshua Support Radical Personal Finance on Patreon: http://radicalpersonalfinance.com/patron Get your tickets for FinCon15 with my affiliate link here: http:/...
Jun 08, 2015•9 min
Q&A today and I handle these four questions! Does tax-loss harvesting really offer the kind of benefit that companies like Wealthfront, Betterment, Personal Capital, et al claim? And can a person do it on their own without relying on a firm to do it for them? Thought you should know something I recently found out. California child labor laws no longer apply once you have graduated from high school. In addition, California has a method to graduate by exam (similar to a GED, but GEDs are only ...
May 29, 2015•1 hr 26 min
One of my goals for Radical Personal Finance is to bring more transparency to the world of professional finance. Today, I'm glad to shine the light on the life insurance industry. I've invited a friend of mine onto the show to discuss his 30-year career as a life insurance broker. Todd Simpson CLU®, ChFC® is a veteran of the life insurance business. His specialty is high-risk underwriting, so he brings not only a long career's worth of experience but also a unique perspective to the difficult-to...
May 28, 2015•1 hr 19 min
Many of find ourselves in a situation where we are concerned about the financial well-being of our parents. Obviously, we'd like to help, if possible. But, this is rarely easy. There are many, many challenges that can emerge. In essence, to truly answer these questions you'd not only have to have all of the skills of a financial planner, but also the background of a relationship counselor, a life coach, and more! It ain't easy! I created this show as an overview of ideas that may be able to help...
May 27, 2015•1 hr 18 min
My guest today is a author named Matthew Bracken. Matthew is a sailor, writer, and former Navy Seal . He's the author of four novels (all of which I've thoroughly enjoyed.) Most importantly for our purposes, he is an expert on the topic of achieving a lifestyle of freedom through sailing. He wrote an excellent essay called " Get Yourself a 30-Footer and Go! " which advocates a quick entry into the sailing world as a way to build economic opportunity for yourself. During the course of the intervi...
May 26, 2015•1 hr 28 min
Q&A show today and I answer these two questions for you: Joshua, My parents just moved to Florida last year and got wooed by an advisor that bought them dinner, gave them a free round of golf, etc. and now they're in an annuity and I can't figure out how badly they are getting screwed (not because there's anything inherently wrong with annuities but because the advisor is sadly not a fee-only advisor so I imagine he's taking a big cut of the action). I'm trying to convince them to find a goo...
May 22, 2015•1 hr 9 min
From time to time, I receive questions from listeners about the equipment that I use to produce my show. I also get questions about the mistakes I've made and what I would do differently if I were to do it over again. Today, I share the workflow that I use to create my show and some of the lessons I've learned in 200 episodes of podcasting. This show does not contain any specific financial planning or personal finance content. It does include a discussion of my thought process in creating the sh...
May 21, 2015•1 hr 6 min
Today, we continue the life insurance series with the valuable background of whole life insurance. Exciting stuff! This show is an introduction to the various product features and design ideas. We cover: Ordinary life insurance Limited pay life insurance Cash values Policy loans Nonforfeiture or Surrender Options: Surrender for cash value Reduced amount of paid-up whole life Paid-up term Annuity or retirement income Policy conversion Participating versus nonparticipating policies Policy dividend...
May 20, 2015•1 hr 22 min
I received a question from a listner which I decided to answer for you on today's show: Joshua: So, this is a "fun question" that everyone loves to fantasize about. I hope it will be fun for you to answer, but it could have a really boring answer, but I'm sure you'll surprise me somehow! What would you do if you won the lottery? As a financial planner, what advice would you give to a client who had won the lottery? What would the most optimal tax strategy be? Do you take the payments or the lump...
May 19, 2015•2 hr 29 min
Today, I have a tightly focused show for you with a few key points from the CFP® Board curriculum. You will need this information on the CFP® Board exam and it will be useful for you as an individual. First, I share with you how to choose between needing a 3-month emergency fund and a 6-month emergency fund. Next, I share with you the manageable percentages of your income which you can allocate to debt payments. Enjoy! Joshua Support Radical Personal Finance on Patreon: http://radicalpersonalfin...
May 18, 2015•19 min
Today, I'm cleaning out the voicemail inbox for my Friday Q&A show. Here are the questions for today: What strategies for student loan payoff did I forget last week? How do we help our young kids without enabling them? Thoughts on consolidating retirement accounts. What are the limits on retirement accounts for a stay-at-home spouse? Thoughts on various retirement income distribution strategies. Do I have additional services and options to help with coaching individual people? Enjoy! Joshua ...
May 15, 2015•1 hr 19 min
How much do you spend each year on fuel costs for your car? What is your current mileage per gallon? Before you rush out and buy a new hybrid to save money on gas, consider improving your driving techniques. It doesn't cost you anything except attention and focus and it can make a substantial difference. As an example, check out this guy who got his 3/4 ton pickup truck from an EPA estimate of 15 mpg to almost 60 mpg! In today's show I feature 109 tips for more efficient driving. These tips come...
May 14, 2015•1 hr
Today, we finish out the 3-part series on preparing for layoffs in the coming recession. Today's show will be useful to you, even if you just got notice of your layoff and didn't do anything to prepare for it beforehand. The major theme of today's show is that you need to take appropriate action with appropriate speed. If you're stuck with little savings and no preparation, that means take massive action, now! If you've planned a bit better in advance, it means be strategic and thoughtful. We di...
May 13, 2015•1 hr 5 min
Yesterday, we talked about ways to avoid losing your job in the coming recession. But obviously there are factors beyond your control which might result in your being laid off, even though you've done everything "right." So, you need a backup plan. Don't wait and wonder what you'll do. Make a simple plan now for what you'll do. Think about some different scenarios and play some mental games with yourself. That way, you'll be able to better respond to events instead of being shell-shocked by them...
May 12, 2015•1 hr 9 min
For most of us, our jobs are the economic engine that drive every aspect of our financial plan. One of the worst things that can happen is to lose a job. If the engine on your car dies, you're going to be stuck by the side of the road for a while. That's not pleasant for anyone, even if you're stuck in a safe area. But, if you're driving up a mountain (paying off debt and digging yourself out of a hole), having your engine die can be disastrous. And, if you have a destination in mind (financial ...
May 11, 2015•1 hr
Today, I handle these four questions: 3:02 Joshua, I just started listening to your show and I've learned a lot already. I originally started listening because I have an interest in one day becoming a personal finance consultant, but that's a long way off, for now I just need help with a crazy student loan issue! I am currently paying almost $600 a month for a $102k student loan at 7%, couple of key things, credit is shot due to bk filed last year, the loan is with the nelnet through dept of Ed,...
May 08, 2015•1 hr 3 min
Today we dig into the topic of trading stocks. And who better to speak with than the guy who started a "university" to teach the subject? My guest today is Steve Burns, founder of www.NewTraderU.com . Here's some background about Steve, directly from his About page : "After a lifelong fascination with financial markets, Steve Burns started investing in 1993, and trading his own accounts in 1995. It was love at first trade. A natural teacher with a unique ability to cut through the bull and make ...
May 07, 2015•1 hr 2 min
Today we continue our life insurance series dig into the topic of term life insurance. Term life insurance is an incredible financial product and extremely useful. It also has some options that are not commonly understood or explored. We discuss: What is term life insurance useful for? Normal life insurance policy designs: level term insurance annual renewable term insurance decreasing term insurance increasing term insurance Key policy features: renewability convertibility disability waiver of ...
May 06, 2015•1 hr 35 min
I'm not able to record and release a show for you today so I'm releasing an interview that I gave on the Work Strong America podcast with Rick Seigmund. This interview was originally released on Rick's show on February 4, 2015. Enjoy the show! Joshua Links: Rick's Work Strong America site: http://workstrongamerica.com The original post of this interview on Rick's site: http://workstrongamerica.com/wsa-episode-005-joshua-sheats-interview/ Support Radical Personal Finance! http://radicalpersonalfi...
May 06, 2015•42 min
Years ago, I learned an extremely valuable thinking process from Brian Tracy called Zero-Based Thinking. Today, I share it with you. Here's the question: Is there anything in your life that, knowning what you now know, you wouldn't get into again today if you had to do it over? If the answer is yes, then you follow up with these questions: How do I get out? How fast do I get out? By consistently applying this question to every area of our lives, we can avoid much of the impact of the sunk cost f...
May 05, 2015•40 min
Today, we continue the Q&A blitz! Here are the questions I cover today: Do you have any tips or feedback about how to factor a special needs child when planning for retirement, college, etc?. The typical advice usually is that, typical, once you have a special needs child things change as you dwell into the wonderful world of early intervention, therapies, IEPs, tax planning, etc, I used to think I would just need to change my assumptions in terms of planning for our son to be with us long w...
Apr 30, 2015•1 hr 42 min
I'm continuing my Q&A blitz today. I set out to answer five questions and wound up answering two. Oh well. At least I think you'll enjoy them! Here are the two questions I cover: What are your opinions regarding real estate investing? Should people invest in real estate? What percentage of the portfolio should it be? Thoughts on wholesaling? Flipping? Etc.? My question is can you walk us through your typical financial planning process with an average client of yours. From the initial convers...
Apr 29, 2015•58 min
Today, I do Q&A and answer these four questions: Joshua, I absolutely cannot get enough of your show. Thank you very much for the effort you put in and the thought provoking product you create! It is worth the voluntary money!I've got a very open ended question: You often talk about journaling and writing to help develop thoughts, ideas, and plans. How does one get started doing this? What should your listeners focus on when getting into the habit of journaling? How often do you write in you...
Apr 28, 2015•1 hr
I enjoy looking for financial planning tips from odd corners of the world. Recently, I stumbled across the book Financial Freedom aFloat: How to Pocket a Paycheck in Paradise by Charles Tuller as I was browsing the finance section in my local library. Written for the cruising community, the book lays out some specific ideas and strategies for sailors who either need or want to earn some money to be able to afford to stay out on the water for the long-term. I'm most intrigued by the challenge of ...
Apr 27, 2015•51 min
