Radical Personal Finance

Fun question today for our Friday episode...comes in from Chris:

Joshua,

Looking to see if you have any insight on emotional/psychological decisions versus logical decisions when it comes to finance.

Back story -

I have a paid for 20 year old Harley. I have not ridden it in three years, I spend $200/year on an insurance policy, each spring I do maintenance on it which costs about $30, and living in Minnesota, we only really have 6 months or so of decent riding weather. I have a big garage so storage is not an issue, apart from each winter when I have to move it around in and tell myself I'll sell it in the spring.

I can make the logical argument to myself that I need to sell this. It is a depreciating asset, costs money to maintain and insure, and it really brings no value to my life.

However, I can not bring myself to sell it. I have no pressing financial obligations so the $5-6k that I would get from selling it would really not do much to improve my life. About the only thing that I would do with the money is put in a taxable brokerage account (through a RPF link tradeking account, of course).

I have told myself I am going to sell this bike for years now, but I still can't figure out why I still have it.

Any insight would be helpful, and as always, thanks for the great show!

I thought about simply calling today's show, "On Hammers." You pick the title you prefer...but recognize the truth: tools are tools and their usefulness depends not on their inherent attributes but on their appropriate application.

Joshua

• Please support RPF on Patreon: www.radicalpersonalfinance.com/patron

Today's show rounds out a special series of live Q&A shows. Today we cover:

• 1:20 Should I put more money into my retirement plan or buy a house?
• 18:45 Can I use a donor-advised fund as a smart way to get a bigger tax deduction for my contribution to my local church?
• 32:30 Should I move from a commission-based job to a salary job which also means a salary cut?
• 39:10 Should I buy a joint universal life insurance policy to protect my new baby?
• 1:10:00 Should I keep an India-based whole life insurance policy now that I'm a US resident?

Enjoy the show!

Joshua

• Please support Radical Personal Finance on Patreon! www.radicalpersonalfinance.com/patron

I've been doing a live Q&A series...today we cover these:

• 1:24 - Can I Pay for My Seminary Degree with Early Distributions from a Retirement Account?
• 13:30 - Can I Still Become Financially Independent if We Move to Paradise First?
• 25:45 - Should We Sell our Rental House Two States Away or Plan to Move Back to It In Order to Get the Tax-Free Gains on a Future Sale?
• 37:45 - Are Healthcare Sharing Ministries Like Samaritan Ministries Any Good?

Joshua

• Ph.D. for under $15,000 https://americanvision.org/6383/b-a-to-ph-d-for-under-15000-how-i-did-it/
• Healthcare Sharing Ministries https://radicalpersonalfinance.com/health-care-sharing-ministries/
• Support RPF on Patreon: www.radicalpersonalfinance.com/patron

As we all watch and process the mass shooting in Las Vegas this weekend, I thought it would be appropriate to share a few lessons learned. I always try to process an event like this with an eye towards the lessons I can learn.

The tactical situation in Las Vegas was impossible. I don't think you could imagine a worse situation to be in as a concert-goer. An absolute nightmare.

But, I do have a few thoughts that I think can help. And since I don't hear anyone sharing anything practical, here are my suggestions.

If you have additional practical, actionable ideas, I'd love to hear them.

Joshua

• The flashlight I use is the FourSevens Mini Mark II. It's awesome. http://amzn.to/2fMdtNM

I'm hosting a special Q&A series this week which is open to the entire listening audience.

Today we tackle:

• What Should I Do With a Large Bonus?
• How Can I Counsel a Young Lady Who Is Using Her Earnings to Support Her Poor Mother?

If you'd like to call in for tomorrow's show, here are the details you need to know.

Joshua

On Friday's, we do Q&A for our Patrons! Today, we cover:

• Should I Use a Whole Life Insurance Policy as My Retirement Bridge?
• Should I Concentrate All of My Investment Accounts With One Manager?

Joshua

• I forgot to mention at the end of the discussion...if you sign up for a free Personal Capital account with this link, I get a small commission. www.radicalpersonalfinance.com/personalcapital
• IRS instruction on avoiding the early distribution penalty: https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/plan-participant-employee/retirement-topics-tax-on-early-distributions
• Here are the call-in instructions for next week's special call-in shows. httpshttps://twitter.com/JoshuaSheats/status/913854177721376768://twitter.com/JoshuaSheats/status/913854177721376768

I feel like I owe it to you to keep you semi-current on the state of tax policy in the USA. But, it's too early to have any serious details about the current Republican proposals.

I thought instead we could have a useful philosophical discussion about taxation. My challenge to you today is to answer these questions, for yourself.

• Do you believe that a civil government has the moral right to tax an individual's income? Why or why not?
  • Do you believe that the US civil government has the constitutional right to tax an individual's income?
• If you believe that a civil government does have this right, how much of a person's income can they claim? What's the right number and how would you know?
• Do you believe that everyone should be required to pay income taxes?
• Do you believe that some people should be treated differently than others and so be ordered to pay a different rate of income tax than others? Why or why not?
  • If so, how would we determine who should be treated differently and how much of a difference there should be?
• Do you believe that government tax policy should be used to incentivize certain behaviors or to dis-incentivize other behaviors?
  • If so, how would we know what behaviors should be incentivized and which ones shouldn't?
• Do you believe that tax policy should be used to give some people special benefits because of certain behaviors?

Joshua

Today's question involves a generous financial gift from an in-law. How should this listener handle it to make sure it's a blessing and not a curse?

Joshua

• Support RPF on Patreon: www.radicalpersonalfinance.com/patron

I'm just wrapping up a week and I've been off the mic for all of it due to being sick.

Wanted to share with you a short motivational monologue to encourage you to keep pressing forward in the challenges you're facing today.

This too shall pass.

Joshua