Radical Personal Finance

While I was in Charlotte for #FinCon15, I connected briefly with a man named Peter Polson who told me about a new tool he had built to automate the creation of financial spreadsheets. After I got home I signed up for his service and started testing it. I like it! And I think some of you will find it very useful. The Tiller service is a way to automate the import of financial data to your spreadshe...

Does being frugal and building financial independence mean that you can't have any fun? And, is it possible to get through college on a budget and still have fun? Today we have a fun discussion with Martin Dasko from the personal finance blog Studenomics. Martin has an awesome approach to teaching young men and women how to build financial independence without missing a party! Enjoy! Joshua Martin...

It's easy to jump into holiday mode, but don't jump just yet! Let's keep our work boots on and learn just a little bit about investing today before we get into the Thanksgiving holiday. My guest today is Rick Ferri, founder of a company called Portfolio Solutions. Rick is a really great guy and a real expert at investing and portfolio construction. You'll hear his detailed background in the show a...

Today on Radical Personal Finance I'm pleased to introduce you to a brand-new sponsor! And, it's a sponsor who will help you save some cash! I've been aware of SoFi for quite awhile and they were high on my list of brainstormed potential sponsors for the show. I was finally able to connect with them at #FinCon15 in Charlotte this year and to hammer out the terms of a sponsorship agreement. SoFi is...

During October and November I've been doing a weekly conference call with Patrons of the show.  We've been talking about all kinds of interesting subjects! On today's call we chatted about: disability insurance (including disability overhead expense insurance and cash indemnity long-term care policies) investment planning the politics of money and more! Enjoy! Joshua Have student loans? Before you...

We talk a lot about diversification within the context of investments. But what about diversification of your income? After all, how risky is it for you to depend on a single source of income to fund your life and lifestyle? The paradox is this: the more specialized you become in your career, the more you can earn. But the more specialized you are, the riskier your income is! The challenge is for...

BiggerPockets.com is the largest real estate resource online--perhaps in the world. Today we have Josh Dorkin, the founder of Bigger Pockets, on the show to share the story with us. The story is a classic case of an entrepreneurial endeavor gone well.  Sit back, pay attention, and learn the lessons and themes of how one person went from struggling real estate investor to become king of a real esta...

The word "trust" has a bit of a mystique in the modern financial world. It's a word that everyone knows (we all know a "trust fund kid") but few people understand and even fewer understand accurately. Trusts are both simple and complex. They're simple in concept but can be quite complex in application. Today I share with you some basic background on trusts and trust planning.  I also share with yo...

Wouldn't it be cool if you could work really hard for a few years, save aggressively, and then quit your job and travel the world? Today's guest has done just that. Today I have Brandon, the Mad Fientist, and his wife Jill on the show! Brandon recently hit his Financial Independence number and he and Jill hit the road for some long-term travel. Enjoy this interview where we dig into what's great a...

I'm thrilled to bring Jay Fleischman back on the show. Jay was a guest on Episode 214 of the show and it was a popular show and I received a lot of great feedback. Most importantly, I learned a ton from the interview! Today, Jay and I tackle the actual process of analysis. If you have student loans, Jay gives you the step-by-step action plan for what you need to do in order to analyze your options...

Ever wondered about the basics of estate planning? Today's show is a simple overview of the major estate planning documents. We talk about wills, living wills, and powers of attorney and discuss what they mean and why they're important. This is not a technical deep-dive; this is a light and friendly overview. Enjoy the show! Joshua Do you have a question you'd like me to answer about estate planni...

Many of us are focused on the primary goal of transitioning from work that doesn't suit us to work that does. After all, if we can solve the work conundrum, our lifestyle can be massively improved even if we're not yet rich! My guest today is Jeff Goins and he has blazed the trail ahead of us and has successfully made the transition to a career he loves. Even better, he's written a book on how you...

It happens to so many people: your car breaks down at an inconvenient time and you're facing a massive repair bill. The stress starts to mount and you find yourself wondering--should I just go out and buy a new one? Or, sometimes worse, you feel like every other week you're flushing money down the drain to fix your car and you're getting tired of it. Feeling totally frustrated, you're tempted to t...

I had the opportunity to connect with JD Roth, one of the most well-known personal finance bloggers in the industry while I was in Charlotte, NC at #FinCon15. We had a great interview.  We talked in detail about JD's personal story with finance and how he set out to Get Rich Slowly--and wound up getting rich fast. We also talk about the great things and not-so-great things that resulted from the j...

Today I'm sharing with you the audio from the live conference call I recently hosted for all the Patrons of Radical Personal Finance.  This was a super-fun experience for me! Having the live interaction was fun. Topics included: social capital entrepreneurship long-term care insurance investing career development and more! Enjoy! Joshua Sponsor: Interested in publishing a book? Call my publishing...

Shannon McLay from the "Martinis and Your Money" podcast invited me on her show last month to talk about life insurance as part of "Life Insurance Awareness" month. Enjoy this interview with me where I share all of my advice and thoughts about how to approach the life insurance situation. The original interview with Shannon appears on her site here:  http://financially-blonde.com/radical-thoughts-...

Have you ever thought about writing a book? If you have, you're part of the 80% of Americans that dream of doing just that! But how do you go about it? And, perhaps more importantly, why should you consider it? Today I present to you an interview with my personal publishing coach, Patrick Snow. Patrick is an international best-selling author, professional speaker, publishing, speaking, and book ma...

Let's put our work boots on today and dig into some of the science of financial planning. We've been doing a lot of fluffy, motivational-type stuff on Radical Personal Finance recently. That stuff is really valuable but it needs to be tempered with some serious knowledge. Today, let's talk about annuities. Annuities get a bad rap in the financial marketplace. And rightly so. They've been shamefull...

We've generally been trained how to think about finance by the financial services industry. Their plan for your finances? Well, each step involves a financial product of some sort or another. But what if we think a little more strategically? Could we get better results? I think so. After speaking with today's guest, Doug Goldstein, I think that the metaphor of chess is a good way to train our thin...

One of the benefits that $200/mo. Patrons of Radical Personal Finance get is being able to choose a topic of the show. Here's the note that prompted today's episode: Joshua, Double income medium- to high-earning couples frequently ask me how to lower their taxes (the second income is at a higher rate of >28%, plus state 3.75% and social security 7.65 or 40% all in). I don't have a lot to tell them...

The most challenging question that I get asked on Radical Personal Finance is this: "Joshua, how do I find a great financial advisor?"  It's hard because there are great advisors at most (all?) firms and there are terrible advisors at most (all?) firms. More importantly, there are different advisors for different stages of life and different levels of need. Unfortunately, all these get lumped toge...

After a way-too-long hiatus, Friday Q&A is back! On today's show, we cover: Online Savings Accounts Commission-Free Life Insurance Why Don't I Have a CIMA Designation Would I Do A Daily Podcast Again Should I Max My 403(b) or Save for a Down Payment 529 Plan for Myself, and Thoughts on Leveraged Index Funds Enjoy! Joshua If you don't already use the YNAB budgeting software, download a 30-day free...

Sometimes you discover something that's been out there for years and you want to smack yourself in the head for not tuning in to it sooner. That's how I feel when it comes to YNAB. (For the uninitiated YNAB stands for You Need A Budget.) I used YNAB years ago and my response at that time was, "ho-hum." I then proceeded to ignore it for the next 6 years to my own detriment. Bummer. I wish I'd paid...

I love to talk with people who have achieved financial independence. But I especially love to talk to those financially independent people who have achieved it in a very accessible way! Frankly, it's hard to relate to a tech titan who sells their latest greatest app company for a billion dollars. But I can relate to someone who has simply worked hard, saved aggressively, invested conservatively, b...

When I was younger my brothers and I spent lots of time talking about how to make our millions of dollars with passive income. Two businesses seem to be prominent when you go down that line of thinking as a young person: car washes and vending machines. We didn't pursue either of those businesses. But much later I did wind up working with some clients who had a vending business. And I was intrigue...