What I'm Listening to: Radical Personal Finance
The Podcast
Radical Personal Finance is a personal finance podcast created by Joshua Sheats. Joshua's goal is to teach you "...how to live a rich life now while building a plan for financial freedom in ten years or less."
If the title wasn't enough, that should tell you that RPF is a little different than the finance shows you're probably used to. Sheats has set out to build RPF into a "masterclass on how to achieve financial freedom." Perhaps the most impressive aspect of RPF is the sheer volume of content.
Radical Personal Finance is a daily podcast, which is impressive on it's own. However, these aren't just quick 5-10 minute episodes, like most daily podcasts. Episodes routinely last 1-2 hours and rarely fall below the 30-minute mark. That's a lot of podcasting.
Joshua is extremely detailed and thorough. He builds on his background as a certified financial planner through tireless research and preparation. RPF doesn't dumb anything down. Instead, this show dives deep into important and sometimes complicated financial issues. In a lot of ways, Radical Personal Finance is more like an audio course than a traditional 'infotainment' podcast.
Joshua doesn't shy away from daunting topics like health insurance. At the same time, there are quite a few "big picture" episodes that are more philosophical in nature. Sheats gives holistic lifestyle advice, then he drills down deep into the specifics.
He breaks things down into understandable and actionable points that you can apply to your life. He strives to empower the listener to take ownership of their financial lives.
Getting the Most Out of RPF
To be honest, I've been putting off this review for a while now. It's not for everyone.
Many episodes of Radical Personal Finance are not aimed at beginners. Even for someone who is interested in personal finance, it can be overwhelming at times. I'll admit that I don't always have the discipline to pay attention through each episode.
I would actually recommend that you do not try to power through every episode in the the RPF backlog. Chose topics that are particularly relevant to your life and focus on those first. If Joshua's message resonates with you, branch out from there.
As he says on his "About" page, Joshua's goal is to educate you to make successful decisions with your money. RPF is informative, accurate, practical and empowering. It's not dumbed-down or focused on entertaining.
If you're serious about improving you financial life, consider subscribing to Radical Personal Finance.
The Cover Art
The Radical Personal Finance cover design is clear and effective. The abstract 'R' holds up at small sizes and the simple orange/white color scheme is unique in the personal finance space. The clean design and impactful colors are used across the website as well, creating a strong brand identity.
While nothing about the cover screams "Personal Finance", it does stand out from the crowd. Sometimes in a popular industry, compromises have to be made. Of course, it helps that the words "Personal Finance" are in the name of the podcast.
Aesthetically, the no-nonsense style and polish of the design reflect what you get from the show itself. The clean lines, geometric typography and white space all work well together. The design says, "this is a podcast you can trust, but it's not quite what you expect." It may not win any awards, but the understated cover art does it's job very well.