Tue, 31 March 2015
![]() Retirement planning is at the core of the financial planning profession. But, it's a very complex subject and it's tough to wrap your head around the process. I've invited Roger Whitney, CFP®, CIMA®, CPWA®, AIF®, financial advisor and host of the Retirement Answer Man Podcast on the show today to chat about retirement from his perspective. Roger specializes in working with retirees and prospective retirees in a formal financial planning capacity. I think you'll be intrigued by some of his perspectives. Show topics include:
Enjoy! Joshua
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Mon, 30 March 2015
One of the challenges of personal finance math is the relevance of a particular scale. Sometimes you can get a massive benefit by switching to a different scale. One famous example is the daily latte. $4 for a latte sounds about right in today's world. But if you do it every day, it adds up. To fully appreciate the impact of the seemingly small expenditure you can change the scale from daily to annual. $4/day x 5 days per week x 52 weeks per year is $1,040/year spent on coffee. That's a lot of money! If you're scared that I'm trying to take away your latte, don't be. I'm not! But I do want you to use and apply that tactic to the actual numbers from your financial life. In today's show:
Enjoy the show! Joshua Links:
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Wed, 25 March 2015
I've got a double problem this week that is keeping me from releasing shows:
So, I'm releasing a couple of interviews that have been recorded with me in the past. This one is very good. Rob is a great interviewer and he was able to get very in-depth. This show has an in-depth discussion of the benefits and problems of financial advisors. Rob was also able to pull some pretty personal stuff out of me from my past! Joshua Links:
Direct download: DR_123-Joshua_Sheats-Radical_Personal_Finance.mp3
Category:podcast -- posted at: 3:42pm MDT |
Fri, 20 March 2015
![]() I'm not able to record a normal show today, so I'm releasing a copy of an interview I conducted with Nick Loper from Side Hustle Nation. This interview was released on February 19, 2015 on Nick's show, just in time for tax-time! This show is a good overview of some general tax tips:
Enjoy! Joshua Links:
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Thu, 19 March 2015
![]() My guest today is a veteran of financial reporting. Fred Gabriel has spent the last 17 years reporting on the financial advice industry. He began his career as a mutual fund reporter and progressed to be named the editor of Investment News in 2012. I spoke with Fred at the Technology Tools for Today Conference and we focused our conversation on the changing landscape of financial advice. Due to the nature of his job, Fred has a front-row seat on all of the changes happening in the industry. The interview focuses primarily on the investment advice industry but does have ideas and content which can be applied to other industries. Topics include:
Enjoy the interview! Joshua Links:
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Wed, 18 March 2015
![]() On Monday, I released the show on new cars vs used cars. It became clear to me while doing that show that I really needed to do an in-depth discussion of the concept of Opportunity Cost. If you understand Opportunity Cost you can easily help people to make better decisions. All of us make decisions based on what we value. Every transaction is based on each party involved preferring what the other has more than what he/she has. Good decision making is largely based on simply understanding all of the options that each of us has, considering the various scenarios, and then choosing which scenario is most ideal for our circumstances. In today's show I add some serious meat to this idea with a bunch of pertinent examples:
At the end of the day, you control your own life. Consider your decisions carefully and simply make the decision that is best for you. Joshua Links:
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Tue, 17 March 2015
![]() I've brought you some shows on the concept of advancing your career by attending industry conferences. But what about getting a double bonus by organizing the conference yourself? That way you get all the benefits you would get from attending but you get the added bonus of becoming an industry leader. Plus, perhaps you can make some money on the event! My guest today is Philip "PT" Taylor, founder of http://ptmoney.com/ and http://finconexpo.com/. PT started working as a CPA, transitioned to full-time financial blogger, and ultimately created one of the most well-loved financial conferences: FinCon. The interview is a complete discussion of:
Enjoy the discussion! Joshua Links:
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Mon, 16 March 2015
Ahhh, the great debate over cars! Should I buy new or should I buy used? In reality, the answer is simple:
Choose the option that fits best. But, of course, there are as many ways to answer those questions as there are people in the world. Regardless of the decision you make, here are some ideas for you to consider to lower the total cost and enhance your results:
Enjoy the show! Joshua
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Fri, 13 March 2015
I'd like to share with you a look behind-the-scenes of the business of Radical Personal Finance. I want you to know why I host a daily (or at least almost-daily) podcast and why I've stuck with that, even with many people suggesting less frequency. To be clear: I don't think you should copy what I'm doing. But perhaps if you understand why I'm doing what I'm doing you may be able to apply it to your own endeavors. I'm creating this show for a few reasons:
This show is going to sound very me-focused. It's intended to be helpful for you but I'm sharing all of my personal, selfish motivations to demonstrate my way of thinking. My reasons:
I'm not committed forever to this format. I'm still experimenting. But for now, the benefits are so great in comparison to the drawbacks that I'm continuing forward. The competitive landscape is changing. I may change in the future. But for now, my barometer for success is the heartfelt emails I receive from committed listeners who really value my content. I'm having a connection and an impact on the community. I believe what I'm doing is working and I won't change it until I find something I believe will serve more effectively. At this stage, I'm creating a body of content and building an audience. I might shift my focus in the future. But not yet. I understand where I am in the phase of my business and this is one piece of my plan. Take these things and apply them to your business and life endeavors.
Focus on what you can do, not on what I can do. There are many, many other things that I would love to do more than I'm doing now. I don't have the capacity yet to do them. But I can focus on what I can do. And that's working. My format is not my pledge or my brand. My content is. If I don't have something worth saying and if I'm not prepared to deliver a show, I'm not going to waste your time. My commitment is to the audience. To bring you an idea worth hearing that is well prepared and well presented and that is useful to you. That's my brand. Not doing a show every day. I also don't care if a show is 3 hours long or 3 minutes long. It should be exactly as long as it needs to be to convey the point and to be effective. Sometimes that's short. Sometimes it's long. Sometimes it's being split into two or three parts. But format does not equal content. Enjoy! Joshua Links:
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Wed, 11 March 2015
![]() This week I'm focused single-mindedly on the new version of the Radical Personal Finance website. So, I'm releasing some alternative content to you for your listening pleasure. This is Part 2 of an interview I gave on the Family Adventure Podcast with Erik Hemingway. It was released in November 2014. The interview is an introduction to a bunch of concepts on how to focus your budget so that you can afford long-term adventure travel. It's super fun. Erik has a great podcast that my wife and I enjoy listening to together. Enjoy! Joshua
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Tue, 10 March 2015
![]() This week I'm focused single-mindedly on the new version of the Radical Personal Finance website. So, I'm releasing some alternative content to you for your listening pleasure. This is Part 1 of an interview I gave on the Family Adventure Podcast with Erik Hemingway. It was released in October 2014. The interview is an introduction to a bunch of concepts on how to focus your budget so that you can afford long-term adventure travel. It's super fun. Erik has a great podcast that my wife and I enjoy listening to together. Enjoy! Joshua
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Mon, 9 March 2015
This week I'm focused single-mindedly on the new version of the Radical Personal Finance website. So, I'm releasing some alternative content to you for your listening pleasure. This is an interview I gave that was released on September 4, 2014 on the Create My Independence Podcast with Kraig Mathias. It was the first podcast interview I ever gave after starting my show! Joshua
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Fri, 6 March 2015
![]() It's Friday and on Fridays, I answer your questions. If you'd like me to answer your questions, please email them to me or call them in on the website. Question #1: Joshua, My father, who is 60 years of age, has become a victim of numerous scams over the last year or two. Generally, they involve him receiving calls that he won some prize and needs to wire some money (usually in $500 increments) to the West Indies, Jamaica, etc. His decision making with his finances is not good, to say the least. He continues to fall for these scams despite being told by numerous family and friends, law enforcement, and bank reps that it is a scam and he is never going to receive any "prize." His financial situation is as follows... he receives Social Security (Disability) for around $1,400 per month. His expenses are only about $700 per month. He owns a very modest house that is paid off. Also, he has a bank IRA worth about $50,000 (earning a whopping 1.3% fixed) which is a rollover from a 401k he had when he was employed. In my efforts to help him with his finances I got him to give me Power of Attorney and I was added as a signer on his checking account. I am able to monitor his checking account through online banking. However, I live too far away to proactively keep dad from wiring in money for these scams. All I can do is call Dad after I see he has made a large cash withdrawal from his checking account and ask what it was for. I can tell by his evasive answers that it is usually for another scam. My question is, how can I prevent Dad from wiping out his IRA and spending all his future social security earnings on the dream of the big foreign lottery prize? Does the Power of Attorney allow me to move the IRA to another financial institution (perhaps an online broker, or something out of state). As it stands, Dad can go down to the local bank an withdraw from the IRA with ease. The account could be wiped out before I had the chance to try to talk some sense into him. Also, is there some way for me to become a custodian of the Social Security payment where I could ensure Dad's needs were met, and had the rest of the funds could go into a savings account in his name? I would welcome any other suggestions you have on this matter. Your response would be appreciated very much! Take care, Jason -- Question #2: @21:11 Joshua, How much can one roll into a roth IRA from a traditional IRA? Is it true that interest earned in the traditional IRA is treated as principles once rolled into the roth and can be withdrawn without the penalty after 5 years? I really like the variety of your show. keep it up. Best wishes, Brad from Utah -- Question #3: @27:11 Joshua, A friend (22 y.o. male new grad. just starting his first engineering job) asked me if I had any good resources on investing. Prior to his question...I sent him your "Become a millionaire working at Walmart" episode as I felt that portrayed a lot of key concepts very well. I want to recommend another episode that really embodies your take on investing which I think is very helpful....as my friend seems to think investing just means putting money in the stock market. What would you share with him? Dustin -- Question #4: @38:17 Joshua, I think I have a unique and "radical" financial situation. I figured with your unique outlook on things and the interesting nature of your show this might an interesting question for you to consider. I want to be frozen after my legal death and reanimated later. I also want to preserve my wealth so that if/when I am brought back I will gain the benefit of at least many decades of compound interest. My question is: How should I fund my being frozen and how should I preserve my wealth in perpetuity after my death till my reanimation? Details: I currently have a 20 year term $150,000 life insurance policy. The cryonics organization is set the be the beneficiary. Upon my death they will take my body and fly it to their facility where it will be retained. The cryonics plan that I have signed up for costs $80,000. I have added the additional $70,000 for any chartered flights that might be needed to be flown or any legal battles that might need to be fought in order to get my body. I know that the 20 year term will expire and as I am presently 23, I (hopefully) will still be around. I was wondering what I should do long term? I was considering just using the company's standard trust model and just pumping money into it over the 20 year period. My insurance rep thinks I should move to a whole life policy. What are your thoughts? My second question is in regards to preserving my personal wealth upon death. As I will no longer be a legal person upon death, what is the best way preserve and grow my wealth over the years in such a way that I can claim it upon being reanimated? Ideally I would like to have a revival incentive in order to encourage people to revive me, something along the lines of 20% of the wealth accumulated. What do you think the best financial instrument would be? A trust? It's a bit tricky as I will not be a legal person after death. It's an odd question and I appreciate your help, Thanks, Caitlin -- Enjoy the show! Joshua Links:
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Thu, 5 March 2015
![]() Years ago I heard of the concept of a hackerspace/makerspace. In essence, a hackerspace is a community-operated physical place where people can meet and work on their projects. But, the work that can come out of those spaces is far more impressive than that description makes it sound like. I've wanted to bring you the concept but since I'm not an expert, I needed to do it in the context of an interview. I was thrilled when a listener of the show recommended that I interview Jessica Fong, president of the South Side Hackerspace in Chicago. In the show, Jessica shares details on:
Enjoy the interview! Joshua Links: |
Wed, 4 March 2015
![]() I spent years consuming personal finance literature and the idea of saving 10 to 20% of my income was hammered into my head. That is the standard percentage that is recommended to be saved by prudent, diligent people. I took that number with me into my foray into the financial planning world without ever questioning it. But, somewhere around 2011 I had my world rocked by reading Early Retirement Extreme by Jacob Lund Fisker. The most useful concept I took from that book was the huge connection between savings rates and years to financial independence. For some reason, I never really connected the percentage of my income I was saving to the actual amount of money I had and what I could do with it. Maybe for you it's intuitive, but it wasn't for me. Consider this. Have you thought about the fact that:
I never did until I read the Early Retirement Extreme (ERE) book. And it hit me like a lightning bolt. In the ERE book, Jacob lays out a chart demonstrating the impact of savings rates on the years to retirement and it completely changed my perspective. A year or so later the popular finance blogger Mr. Money Mustached published a post called "The Shockingly Simple Math Behind Early Retirement" in which he laid out in chart form the connection between the percentage of income saved and the years to work until retirement. That chart is powerful. Since reading that chart I have shared it with dozens of people to empasize the value of controling the major thing they can control, which is their level of expenses. In today's show I share with you the details of this approach. Enjoy! Joshua Links:
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Tue, 3 March 2015
![]() Traditionally, the knowledge and skills of financial planning were learned by financial advisors on the job. Most financial advisors started as either stockbrokers or insurance salespeople and then moved into financial planning simply as an extension of their career. A common educational path was to simply take the state-required insurance licensing courses and the state-required securities licensing courses and then to take further courses (such as CLU, ChFC, CFP, etc.) only after getting started in the career. That approach is changing. Today, there are dozens of colleges and universities around the country offering formal financial planning educational programs. Of course, there are pros and cons to either approach. Today, we dig into some of those factors with an in-depth discussion of the academic side to financial planning with Dr. Nathan Harness. Dr. Harness is an assistant professor of finance at Texas A&M University - Commerce. He received his Bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Central Arkansas, Master’s degree in finance from Texas Tech University, and Ph.D. in personal financial planning from Texas Tech University. His research interests include personal financial ratio analysis, household heuristics and wealth accumulation, and individual stock selection. He has published in Applied Economic Letters, Financial Services Review, International Journal of Business and Finance Research, Journal of Financial Services Professionals, Financial Counseling and Planning, and the Journal of Personal Finance. Dr. Harness has taught at the University of Georgia – Athens prior to joining TAMU-Commerce and currently teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in the areas of investments and financial management. Enjoy the show! Joshua Links:
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Mon, 2 March 2015
![]() I was very saddened to hear on Sunday night that Dr. Tom Stanley, author of the famous book "The Millionaire Next Door" and many others, died in a car accident near his home in Atlanta on Sunday afternoon. As I reflected on the impact that he and his work had on my life, I came to realize that he probably had a greater impact on my way of thinking than any other personal finance author I can think of. Not only did he impact my way of thinking, he impacted me personally. I reached out to him in July of 2009 when I was trying to find resources for how to market my services as a financial advisor to the affluent. His response was gracious and professional: -- 07/19/09 Joshua, Can't thank you enough for your kind comments on my blog. Words like yours sustain me. Two of the best rated speeches that I have ever given were to The Top of the Table and later at the Court of the Table (as you know part of the Million Dollar Roundtable Association). Both of those speeches were recorded (audio) and, as I understand it, were distributed by The Million Dollar Roundtable. I would also suggest that you read the chapter on Beverly Bishop in my book, Millionaire Women Next Door. And also Selling to the Affluent should be very valuable to you in your work. I'll know better about my speaking programs in September. Please continue to check my website for updates. Regards and much continued success. Tom Stanley -- More importantly, he saved me from a very expensive mistake by suggesting a specific car for me to purchase. (Details are in the show.) -- 08/19/10 Mr. Stanley, One very brief question: What do you think would be the best kind of car for a financial advisor to drive? I don't believe in "status" cars. But I live and work as a financial advisor in West Palm Beach/Palm Beach/surrounding area! And here, everyone--even/especially the broke people--have status cars. What should I do? :) Joshua -- 08/26/10 Dear Mr. Sheats: If I were in your position, I would buy a previously owned Chevrolet Tahoe or the GMC version in white, leather interior with tinted windows! These cars fit in each and every category of the wealthy. They are among the most popular cars within the "glittering" rich (very affluent) segments. Regards, Tom Stanley -- His communication was professional, courteous, and emminently helpful. Now that I find myself in the position of a somewhat public figure, I'm striving to emulate him. I was disappointed not to be able to get him on the show. I had reached out to him for an interview but his schedule didn't allow it at the time. I had hoped to bring him on in the future but alas, 'tis not to be. In my tribute to him, I have prepared this episode with ten important lessons I learned from him.
Enjoy! Joshua |