Radical Personal Finance

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 good fee-only advisor to help them get set up for retirement but I'm not sure how to go about finding a good one. Thanks for the help!
• Joshua, I can't thank you enough for starting Radical Personal Finance; been a fan since you did the interview with Jacob Fisker :) I have learnt so much from you and others in the personal finance community - I'm unable to quantify with an exact figure yet, but I know it's going to compound to a huge amount (possibly millions?) over my lifetime. This morning I just signed up via Patreon to support your show. It's a small amount, but one important thing I've learnt on my PF journey is learning to pay for value rather than simply focusing on cost. I have a question which relates to the investment part of building wealth. How should I invest an idle USD$20,000 that's sitting around in my savings account for maximum returns? I feel I'm sufficiently exposed to the stock market at this stage and diversified enough within and outside the publicly traded securities realm. I don't want to pour money into publicly traded stocks as due to mean reversion, future returns tend to be lower when markets are at highs. Please feel free to suggest the most radical ideas you have - that's why I love the show! Some background on myself: I'm 28 years old living in Singapore. My marginal tax rate is 7% but we are forced to contribute 20% to our own tax-free housing/medical/retirement accounts. Annual take home salary (post taxes and retirement etc contributions) is about USD$50,000. Invested USD$60,000 in semi diversified stocks, ETFs and REITs. USD$20,000 in alternative non-publicly traded investments. Have 6 months emergency fund. Have a 30 year level term insurance for USD $400,000. Time horizon: >20 years. I consider myself an aggressive investor willing to take large risk on small sums of money for the potential return, if the mathematics are in my favor (eg NO lotteries, YES to EM stocks). I know it's hard to provide investment suggestions without knowing the nuances of each individual situation. Right off the bat I know I should be focusing on: increasing my salary/earning potential and starting a side business. Should I be getting more insurance coverage? Should I be maxing out retirement accounts when my marginal tax rate is only 7%? Is there anything else I'm missing? As a goal oriented person (and my goal is to reach FI fast!), I can't stand the fact that my money is idling in my savings account earning a negative real rate of return. Keep doing great work!

Enjoy the show!

Joshua

• Support Radical Personal Finance on Patreon! http://radicalpersonalfinance.com/patron

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 show and how I selected my Unique Selling Proposition for the show.

Resources mentioned:

• I use a Heil PR-40 Dynamic microphone. If I were to do it over again, I would simply use an Audio-Technica ATR2100 Dynamic microphone.
• I use a Behringer mixer and a Roland R-05 audio recorder. If I were to do it over again, I would buy the Zoom H6 audio recorder.
• I also have two Shure SM7B Dynamic microphones for my mobile interview kit.
• Cliff Ravenscraft's podcast workflow.

Enjoy the show!

Joshua

• Support Radical Personal Finance on Patren! http://radicalpersonalfinance.com/patron

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 options
  • Cash
  • Applied to premium
  • Used to purchase more insurance (fully paid up)
  • Left with insurer to earn interest
  • Used to purchase more insurance (term)
  • To overpay premiums until policy is fully paid up

Enjoy the show!

Joshua

• Support Radical Personal Finance on Patreon! http://radicalpersonalfinance.com/patron

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 sum? Would the up-front tax hit be worth it for the long term capital gains? -Micah

So, today I tackled the question! Be prepared...my answer is a bit different from many people's answers to this question.

I do share very specifically with you what I would do. I share what I would buy and what I would invest in. But, I felt it was important to go ahead and address a few of the reasons why I feel the way I do.

This show is very personal to me and it involves a lot of how I see the world. I hope you enjoy it!

The show is divided into three parts. Feel free to pick and choose if you want to, but give it a shot listening straight through:

1. The first 47 minutes of the show are about lotteries in general and why I'm not a fan.
2. Starting at 47:00, I share the underpinnings of my worldview and the framework for how and why I handle money.
3. At 1:41:00 I share specifically what I would buy and what I would invest in.

Enjoy!

Joshua

• End the Government's Lottery Monopoly - Daily Beast
• History of Gambling in the United States
• 2,350 Bible Verses on Money
• Support Radical Personal Finance on Patreon! http://radicalpersonalfinance.com/patron

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://radicalpersonalfinance.com/patron

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

• Support Radical Personal Finance on Patreon: http://radicalpersonalfinance.com/patron

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 from the good folks at the Ecomodder forum.

Listen to (or read) the list, choose a couple of techniques and start practicing! Enjoy the savings and put the money to work elsewhere in your life!

Joshua

• Almost 60 MPG on a Diesel Pickup! "2,009.6 mi on one 35 gal tank ('07 Dodge Ram 2500 quad" cab) http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthread.php/double-kilotank-2-009-6-mi-one-35-a-26259.html
• 109 hypermiling / ecodriving tips http://ecomodder.com/forum/EM-hypermiling-driving-tips-ecodriving.php
• 68 vehicle mods for better fuel economy ... http://ecomodder.com/forum/fuel-economy-mpg-modifications.php
• Support Radical Personal Finance on Patreon! http://radicalpersonalfinance.com/patron

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 discuss:

• The impact of self-confidence on your job hunt.
• The importance of having work now and not being unemployed for a long time.
• How to take massive action on your job hunt for quicker results.
• What types of approaches are most successful for job hunters.
• Some radical strategies you can plan for that will enable you to simply wait out and enjoy the recession instead of being stressed by it!

Enjoy!

Joshua

• Many If Not Most Employers Hunt for Job-Hunters in the Exact Opposite Way from How Most Job-Hunters Hunt for Them http://www.jobhuntersbible.com/jobs/view/what-to-beware-of-in-searching-for-job-vacan-2
• Support Radical Personal Finance! http://radicalpersonalfinance.com/patron

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. Today's show covers:

• The importance of planning to avoid emotional stress when you get laid off.
• The direct impact of losing your income and how to plan for it.
• The impact that losing your group benefits can have on your financial life.
• Why you should consider establishing lines of credit before you need them.
• How you can stockpile both money and the simple necessities of life.
• The simple things you can do that will make it much easier to get your next job.
• The importance of proactively building and maintaining a network.
• How thinking like a consultant will help you now and help you later.

Enjoy!

Joshua

• The Queen of Versailles
• Living On Our Food Storage: One Family's Experience Of Living Without Income For A Year
• Support Radical Personal Finance! http://radicalpersonalfinance.com/patron

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 independence), losing the engine in your car will at least delay you from reaching your destination.

So, the key is plan in advance to not lose the engine. Make sure you're doing the things you need to be doing now to avoid being laid off.

Obviously, you can't guarantee that you'll never be laid off, but you can do a lot to improve your possibilities!

On today's show, we cover:

• The need to proactively improve your position within your company, your company's position within the industry, and your industry's overall prospects in advance.
• Some ways to know if you've got a big target on your back or a small target on your back with the HR people are figuring out who to cut.
• The importance of competing with your fellow employees and of collaborating and cooperating with them and why both are valuable.
• Ways to stand out and produce up to 4x the output of your fellow employees.

Enjoy the show!

Joshua

• Business Insider: 13 Things Everyone Does At Work That They Don't Want Bosses To Know About
• Federal Reserve: Average Annual Hours Worked by Persons Engaged for United States
• Support Radical Personal Finance! http://radicalpersonalfinance.com/patron