Radical Personal Finance

Discover the power of the Coverdell Educational Savings Account as an underutilized tool for funding education from elementary to vocational schools. Learn about its flexible investment options, including real estate and precious metals. The podcast debunks myths around income limitations and compares the Coverdell with 529 plans, stressing the importance of personalized financial strategies. Gain insights into maximizing tax advantages and creating a long-term educational legacy for your family.

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. They may not actually take distributions from the retirement accounts. They might pay the 10% penalty tax because it's cheaper than the alternative. They might do a Roth Conversion Ladder 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

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? (40:21) How do I rebalance my accounts to get a proper bond allocation? (52:28) Should I pre-pay my mortgage in a lump sum or should I invest the money and then make extra monthly contributions? (1:02:12) I have an unpaid medical bill and CC debt. What do I do? (1:12:04) How do I apply the trivium method to a new job? (1:30:01) Any tricks for how I can pay for a big dental bill in a better way? (1:42:25) How do I figure out whether I should switch custodians for my investment accounts? Enjoy! Joshua Links: IRS Publication 502

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 of a survivalist to our current reality? I'm thrilled to bring you an interview today with James Wesley, Rawles. James literally wrote the book on how to survive the end of the world as we know it, among others. Jim has authored 6 books on the topics of modern survivalism: How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It: Tactics, Techniques, and Technologies for Uncertain Times Tools for Survival: What You Need to Survive When You're on Your Own Liberators: A Novel of the Coming Global Collapse (his brand-new book) Patriots: A Novel of Survival in the Coming Collapse Expatriates: A Novel of the Coming Global Collapse Founders, a Novel of the Coming Collapse Survivors: A Novel of the Coming Collapse Jim's blog, SurvivalBlog.com has had almost 70,000,000 unique visits since July of 2005 and is one of the most comprehensive compendiums of survival information online. The interview covers: Stockpiling as a financial strategy (the "Alpha Strategy") Alternative investments such as precious metals, ammunition, and productive farmland Functioning in a barter economy Buying nickels for a guaranteed investment return Applying ethics and morals in an immoral society Enjoy! Joshua Links: SurvivalBlog.com "Getting Started" on SurvivalBlog "IRA Nationalization" on SurvivalBlog FAQ on Pre-1898 firearms RPF Episode 84: "Protect Your Wealth From Inflation by Implementing the Alpha Strategy (by John Pugsley): Concept, Implementation, and Problems" Jim's article on Investing in Nickels

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 savings plan, EE education bonds, cash value life insurance policy, or any of a couple other dozen exotic ways to plan for this expense. Today, we continue our college series by teaching how to do a calculation of the need. I teach you how to use a simple financial calculator and paper and pen and come up with a precise dollar amount to save for. Enjoy! Joshua Links: The historical rate of inflation of college expenses Current cost of tuition at UF Previous shows in this series: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 Free web version of the HP12C financial calculator for you to use How to manually do the math for the college need on a financial calculator: Step 1: Calculate the cost of the first year of college with a simple future value (FV) calculation. PV = -$20,550 (cost of college today)n = 17 (years between today and first year of college)i = 6% (rate of inflation of college tuition)PMT = 0solve for FVFV = $55,336.48 (cost of college in the first year) Step 2: Calculate how much money you need to have available when your child is in their first year of college. PMT = $-55,336.48 (cost of college each year)n = 4 (four years of school attendance)i = 1.89% (inflation-adjusted return: [(1.08 / 1.06)-1] x 100 = 1.89%FV = 0solve for PV (make sure your calculator is in BEGIN mode)PV = $215,262.97 (amount needed in first year for four years' tuition) Step 3: Calculate how much the parents need to save in either a lump sum (PV) or yearly amount (PMT) or monthly amount (PMT-convert i and n to monthly amounts). LUMP SUM VERSIONFV = $215,262.97 (amount needed in first year for four years' tuition)n = 17 (years between today and first year of college)i = 8% (rate of return of investment portfolio)PMT = 0solve for PV (if you want a lump sum)PV = $-58,178.90 (lump sum amount needed today to fund the cost) YEARLY SAVINGS VERSIONFV = $215,262,97 (amount needed in first year for four years' tuition)n = 17 (years between today and first year of college)i = 8% (rate of return of investment portfolio)PV = 0 (current amount of savings)solve for PMT (if you want yearly payment amounts...look for info in a case scenario on whether to use BEGIN mode or END mode)PMT = $-5,905.67 (yearly amount needed to fund the cost)

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 understand why I've chosen a listener-support approach to earning money from the show instead of accepting advertisers, affiliate programs, etc. It will make a huge difference in the show. Enjoy! Joshua Links: So far, the most listened to show is the interview with Curtis Stone. Second most listened to show is the interview with Jacob Lund Fisker. Third most listened to show is the Millionaire Educator interview!

The podcast discusses the importance of early college planning, exploring the financial implications of education choices and the options of government and private schools. It discusses tax-deferred accounts for educational expenses and emphasizes the need to question the definition of a 'good school' and the value of test scores. The podcast also highlights the importance of teaching practical skills and entrepreneurship to children and advocates for individualized education based on different types of intelligence.

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 […]