Radical Personal Finance

It's Friday! That means a Q&A show for you. Today, I answer all of these questions.

Here are the questions and the time stamp for where each can be found in the episode.

Enjoy!

Joshua

Links:

In today's world, it's easy to find reasons for pessimism. And yet, we truly live in a time of greater abundance and quality of life than ever before.

Join me today as I share some reasons for being thankful and grateful to be alive today. It's a good time to be alive.

Joshua

Links:

• Ericsson Mobility Report for November 2014
• How Fast is 5G?

Today we have a really fun interview with Steve Maxwell.

Steve is the father of eight and his three oldest sons have all purchased their houses debt-free, in their 20s, and before marriage! His younger two sons have the same vision and are on track for a similar result.

How cool is that?!

Steve is an electrical engineer by training. He left his engineering job however and now spends his time writing books and traveling the country speaking and encouraging others with his ministry organization, Titus 2.

Enjoy!

Joshua

Links:

• Buying a House Debt-Free on Titus2.com
• The Maxwell Family blog

Today, I have a really great show for you with Christopher DeLaney. Christopher and his wife have two little kids and they maintain a modern lifestyle without a car! Impressive!

Christopher is gentle, unassuming, knowledgeable, and very helpful!

Enjoy this interview!

Joshua

Links:

• Article about Christopher and his family on Bike Portland
• Interview with Christopher and his wife on the Sprocket Podcast
• Pictures of a "Bakfeit" bicycle

Well, it took a few days longer than I planned because of the fact that its 600 incredibly dense pages, but today I share with you my review and critique of Tony Robbins' new book.

This was a very challenging project for me and frankly, it simply bogged me down in research.

It's really a great book. Highly recommened. But, it also has some things I'm not imporessed with and some minor and major flaws.

The show is long and in depth and my comments are organized around these themes:

• Intro & Preamble
• Summary of the general layout of the book (16:40)
• Things this book does really well
• Major Lessons I Learned (1:52:23)
• Minor and Major Flaws in the book (2:02:00)

I hope you enjoy!

Joshua

Links:

• Money: Master the Game on Amazon
• The book website
• How Money Walks
• List of Tax Expenditures
• The 2014 Investment Company Institute Fact Book
• Financial Planning Association study (46% of financial planners don't have a retirement plan?)
• Wealthy people are less likely to retire?

In our current culture, it's easy to become discouraged and feel as though the American Dream is out of reach for the common person. Is it easier to achieve now than in the past? Is it harder? Let's leave that debate for another day. Frankly, it doesn't much matter in your individual situation.

What does matter is whether it's possible to improve your circumstances and to pursue your version of happiness.

My guests today are proof that the American Dream is alive and well for some people.

In many ways, Mark and Lauren Greutman embody an oft-repeated scenario. Married young, four small kids, strongly middle class circumstances, mild to moderate overspending and being stuck in circumstances that felt beyond their control.

And yet, a few years after their wakeup experience, they're in a very different place.

Mark recently left his job in the corporate world and he and Lauren now work together in the family business.

Many of the tools we talk about each day in the show were instrumental in their journey and you'll hear how they are all interwoven.

Enjoy!

Joshua

Links:

• IAmThatLady.com
• MarkandLaurenG.com
• Mark and Lauren's podcast: The Simpler Happier Life
• Lauren's book: "How to Coupon Effectively"

Today, we take a look at one of the most misunderstood and underutilized accounts in your tax-planning aresenal.

The Coverdell Education Savings Account can be incredibly useful as a tool for you to pay for:

• elementary school expenses
• secondary school expenses
• homeschool expenses (in some states)
• college expenses
• vocational school expenses
• and more!

Perhaps more importantly, there are very few things you can't use as an investment in the account. You can choose to invest in:

• real estate
• notes
• tax liens
• companies
• precious metals
• etc.

But what about the income limitations? Meaningless. You can circumvent them so easily they're utterly meaningless.

This account is constantly criticized as being useless. Check out my discussion of the details and see if it deserves the criticism.

Enjoy!

Joshua

Links:

• IRS Publication 970: Tax Benefits for Education
• Estate and Gift Tax Treatment of a Coverdell Account

My guest today is David Downie, an attorney from Australia. David found himself stuck in the middle of his career, frustrated at life and simply decided to quit without much of a backup plan.

Many adventures have ensued!

Since that time, David has:

• Written children's books
• Contributed to the book 1001 Beers You Must Taste Before You Die
• Travelled
• Written a book on Radical Immediate Retirement

The interview is thought-provoking in every way!

Enjoy!

Joshua

Links:

• DavidJDownie.com - David's site about his children's books.
• Radical Immediate Retirement - the site and the book
• InteraliaPublishing.com - David's site on publishing
• AustralianBeers.com - David's beer review project
• The Secret Life of Bosses - story about David in the Sydney Morning Herald

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 lifestyle of financial freedom through entrepreneurship.

Tammy Strobel has a Bachelors of Arts in Economics, a Masters degree in Public Administration, and a Masters of Arts in Education.

Before starting her micro-business in January of 2010, she worked in the investment management industry and in the social service sector as a peer counselor.

As an entrepreneur, she sustains herself through writing, photography, and teaching. Over the last two years, hundreds of students have taken her e-courses to explore photography, writing, and what it means to make time and space for what matters.

Enjoy the show!

Joshua

Links:

• www.RowdyKittens.com
• To explore Tammy's content, start here
• For info on Tammy's Tiny House adventures, go here

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.

1. They may not actually take distributions from the retirement accounts.
2. They might pay the 10% penalty tax because it's cheaper than the alternative.
3. They might do a Roth Conversion Ladder
4. They might use the 72(t) SEPP rules.

Enjoy the show!

Joshua

Links:

• New York and California state income tax rates.
• Dinkytown 72(t) calculator
• Kitces article on Bobrow v Commissioner