Radical Personal Finance

What can you do if you're feeling a bit stuck financially? Basically stuck in the rat race? Expenses about equal to income and some debt hanging on? Well, one strategy you could pursue would be to dramatically reduce your expenses by getting rid of your stuff, downsizing into a "tiny house," and getting rid of your cars. Today's guest did that! And it ultimately led to her being able to build a li...

I've done a number of interviews on the show with early retirees and early retiree hopefuls. One common theme is that many of them are using traditional retirement accounts but are planning to retire before 59.5.  How is that possible without paying a bunch of penalty tax? Today, I share with you the answer to that question. They may not actually take distributions from the retirement accounts.  T...

It's Friday! Today, I have a Question and Answer show for you and I've decided to handle a bunch of your questions. I felt like I cheated you last week by only answering 3 questions. (6:27)  How do I calculate a portfolio distribution amount that retains 50% of my portfolio at my death? (20:31)  Is it ok to keep money in cash or do I need to invest right away to start getting compound interest? (4...

There's a lot of interest in our current-day world with the ideas of survivalism and prepping. One visit to your local bookstore's magazine rack will illustrate this to you. Economic recessions and depressions, market instability, political gyrations...all of these things contribute to a general sense of unease for many people. What could we learn about financial planning if we applied the mindset...

Planning for a child's college expenses is a major financial goal for many parents. Unfortunately, this is an area filled with conflicting advice.  Some people feel that saving for college is a financial goal of utmost importance; others feel it's not worth the money. Many that desire to save for the goal get constantly conflicting advice on whether to do a pre-paid tuition plan, 529 college savin...

Today, we celebrate our 100th episode! I'm thrilled to hit this milestone! In today's show I share with you a bit about the genesis of the show, the path we've been on so far, and why I have done it the way I have. Additionally, I share with you my vision for the future of the show. Specifically, today I'm launching The Irregulars, my new membership  support program. Please listen to the show and...

Today, we continue our education series with a discussion of my ideas and vision for primary and secondary school education.  One large problem in the world of financial planning is that often parents wait too long to consider college planning. I propose that we instead consider college planning at birth and build flexible, comprehensive plans. This show is purely about some of my ideas for my son...

It’s Friday! Time for another Q&A show! I was able to answer a total of three questions: I basically doubled my income from $100,000 to $190,000. I’m spending $30,000 per year. How do I invest all the extra money? My parents want to retire but they only have $150,000 of home equity and Social Security. What […]

Sometimes it’s easy to think that financial independence is accessible only to “extreme” people. That’s simply not the case. You don’t have to live in a tent in the woods in order to gain financial independence. Certainly, you might be able to do it faster by living in a tent, but if you don’t want […]

Many of you have asked me to do a show on dividends and dividend investing. I decided to do it with an interview format instead of on my own. Today, we talk with Jason from DividendMantra.com about his path to financial independence. Jason woke up financially at the age of 27 to realize that he was […]

Today, we continue the Early Retirement FAQs series with Arebelspy, one of the lead moderators in the Mr. Money Mustache forums. We tackle the question of “Should I pay off debt first or invest first?” from every angle we can think of. This show is packed with ideas and perspectives, many of which I’ll bet […]

Babies are expensive! Right? Well, Mrs. RPF and I haven’t found it to be so. Today, I’d like to introduce you to my wife and we’ll share with you some of the strategies we’ve found useful in raising our son. General themes: Kids will cost you exactly as much money as you have. Or as much as […]

It’s Friday! That means it’s time for Q&A! Today, I take one comment from a listener and two questions: A listener did their cash flow statement “Joshua’s way” and discovered taxes are the biggest item in their budget!!! How many different business entities do I need if I want to start some sideline businesses? Should […]

I’m constantly asked about the topic of hiring and working with a financial advisor. I’m asked how to find a good advisor, what makes a good advisor, and how to know if you have a good one. I’m also asked how anyone with morals or scruples could ever be a financial advisor, why anyone would ever […]

Many of us have had exposure to various forms of insurance throughout our lives. But how do you make the initial decision whether insurance is appropriate for you? Today, I share with you a framework for considering various risks that you face and various ways to deal with those risks. Enjoy! Joshua Terms from today’s show: […]

This is an audio recording of Dorothy Sayers‘ well-known essay entitled “The Lost Tools of Learning.” The Lost Tools of Learning Dorothy Sayers That I, whose experience of teaching is extremely limited, should presume to discuss education is a matter, surely, that calls for no apology. It is a kind of behavior to which the […]

Today we have Part 2 of my interview with Brett Veinotte on the history of school. If you haven’t heard it yet, start with yesterday’s show! Joshua Links: Brett’s website: www.schoolsucksproject.com Gatto’s book: An Underground History of American Education Dorothy Sayers: The Lost Tools of Learning The Story of Two Buses

Today, we continue our education series by exploring the history of school with a special focus on the information you probably don’t know.. Education is a fundamentally important topic in financial planning both within the context of our own learning and also within the context of planning for our children’s education. It’s also often incredibly […]

Intentional minimalism is a powerful strategy to consider for personal financial planning. The richest man is not he who has the most but he who needs the least. My guest today is Joshua Becker. He is a normal, married, middle class man with two children. He and his wife discovered the joy and abundance of […]

Do we really need another book on finance? There are already tons of really great books on finance extant. But, how can we reach those who really don’t read very much? My guest today is Joey Fehrman, CFA and he decided to create a pirate adventure novel as a conduit for teaching the lessons of […]

The Personal Finance blogosphere is healthy and growing. Many of the writers who heavily influenced and contributed to the growth are no longer writing. And, many new writers are doing an excellent job! But, only a few have been around since the beginning and are still going. My guest today is one of those few. […]

Since we’re constantly working our way around the triangle formula of wealth (income, expenses, rate of return on the difference), there is a consistency to all aspects of financial planning. We’re either focusing on increasing/optimizing income, decreasing/optimizing expenses, or we’re optimizing rates of return. That’s it. That’s the essence of financial planning. Today, we focus […]

Many people today are concerned with the potential impact to their wealth of long-term inflation, mass inflation, and hyper inflation. Few have a plan to deal with it. Today, I present one strategy that could be implemented which would help to protect your standard of living. It’s called The Alpha Strategy. The Alpha Strategy is […]

I’ve got a great Friday show for you! Today, we’re going to interview early retiree Justin who writes at www.rootofgood.com. Justin has a great story. Why should you listen to him? Well, he retired at 33 as a millionaire, even though he followed a relatively mainstream path through college and law school I’ll pull this […]

I’m interested in the topic of Peer-to-Peer lending but I’m not an expert on the subject. So, I went out and found an expert to teach us about the basics! Simon Cunningham is the founder of www. LendingMemo.com and is an expert on Peer-to-Peer Lending. He has borrowed through the system, he’s lent through the system, […]