Welcome to Radical Personal Finance, a show dedicated to providing you with the knowledge, skills, insight, and encouragement you need to live a rich and meaningful life now, while building a plan for financial freedom in 10 years or less. My name is Joshua. I am your host, and today we continue our credit card series.

I introduced the series last week with a discussion on credit cards, credit card debt. On Friday, we did a live Q&A entirely devoted to credit cards. I hope you really enjoyed that. I enjoyed the diversity of questions that we received. And today we continue that series because this is launch week for my newest course called How to Borrow Money and Never Pay Interest Using Credit Cards.

Sorry, I can't even get my own title right. How to Borrow Money Safely and Never Pay Interest Using Credit Cards. You know, I struggled and struggled with wordsmithing on that course title. I don't know if that's the best. Maybe I'll be able to come up with another better title in the future.

But it just encompasses the three things that I want you to be aware of, which is that credit cards can be a very safe way for you to borrow money, depending on how we define the term safe. They can also be a very inexpensive way of borrowing money with no interest payments, very low interest payments, if you know what you're doing.

And of course, we're using credit cards. Now, those are some big ifs, but I'm very confident and I stand behind the validity of these strategies. They are carefully researched. They're things that I have done that I used to think everybody did. When I was in credit card debt, I played the zero percent credit card game and I thought everybody knew how to play it.

And I learned over time, frankly, that nobody knows how to play it very well. Excuse me. I've only a very few people know how to play it. And so this course kind of synthesizes some things that I've never seen brought together before. An understanding of credit scores, how credit scores work, how credit cards are issued, and then an understanding of the legality of how to position yourself for maximum safety using credit cards.

So this week we're going to be continuing this series and the bulk of this week will be dedicated to sharing with you excerpts and specific audio excerpts from the course. I'm going to have today in today's show is going to continue that. I have about a 10 or 15 minute sales pitch here for you at the beginning, which you'll find interesting.

Stay with me because I really want you to buy the course, but I want you to have a good, solid understanding of it so that you can understand if it's right for you. And then towards the back end of today's audio, I'm going to share with you the first audio excerpt from the course, which is called credit card debt is a very safe form of debt.

Sharing with you part of my arguments for credit cards. Tomorrow I'm going to be sharing with you an audio excerpt called credit card loans can provide a way to privately purchase goods and services. One of the benefits of credit cards. I alluded to this in the Friday Q and a show, but I'm going to give you the entire audio from the course, specifically from the course.

Wednesday we'll, I'll share with you a segment called how to manage cash while you pay off your credit cards. I think you'll find that very helpful because unfortunately, if you don't know this in advance, what you wind up really getting hurt. Many people who wind up deeply in credit card debt, wind up there with no cash to their name.

And that's a bad place to be. As you'll see in that, in that segment on Thursday, I'm going to be sharing with you a show called who shouldn't have credit cards or frankly, who shouldn't take my course because there are people I believe who shouldn't have credit cards. And I didn't, this is not part of the actual course.

This is just going to be a standalone podcast. And then on Friday, I'll be bringing to you one more live Q and a call, which will be all about credit cards with specific questions and answers and specific strategies for anyone who has purchased the course that that particular live Q and a call will be available to anybody who is a student of the course.

If you'd like to get on that, we'll have as much time as you want to talk about your situation, brainstorm ideas and strategies that will help you. Now, I'm going to give you here about, like I said, about 10 minutes of discussion on the course. And here's why I have a challenge with being a podcast host.

And the challenge is you're listening to me at a time where it's not easy for you to go and send me money. You're listening to me while you drive down the road and you can't pull over, well you could, but you're unlikely to pull over and take out your credit card and sign up for my course on your phone.

You're listening to me while you're running through the local park, getting your morning exercise or pumping iron in the gym. And so I need to give you enough information here so that you'll be incentivized this week to go and to buy my course. And I really want you to do that because I believe this will serve you and it will help you save money.

Really, really feel good about the value that I have created for you. So who should buy this particular course? Well, very simply, if you currently have a credit card of any kind, or if in the future you think you might ever have a credit card of any kind, I recommend to you my course.

Now, this is not hyperbole. I'm not engaging in puffery here. I'm sincere about this. I want to deliver huge amounts of value in everything that I do. If you've listened to the show, you know that one of my things that I try, do my very best is to deliver far more than I ever charge.

And I have put that same theory, that same impetus into this course. Most of us bumble into credit card debt. Most of us don't approach the prospect with any forethought. The way that most of us wind up signing up for a credit card is out of a place of convenience, as in, "Hey, I'm 18 and they started sending me credit card notices.

That was my first credit card." Or out of a place of need, as in, "Hey, I just lost my job." Or, "Hey, I want to buy something and I don't have the money, so I'll just sign up for a 0% introductory rate credit card." Or worse, we're just deeply in debt and trying to figure out how to get out.

And we usually bumble in. I've hardly met the person who could accurately explain to me the benefits and drawbacks of a credit card. What happens is, depending on our own experience, we tend to highlight one thing versus another. For example, some people say, "Well, I love using my credit card because I get all kinds of airline miles and airline points.

I've talked to so many people and studied their spending, and I'm convinced they spend so much more money on their credit card than they ever get benefit from their airline miles and their cashback points. There are good studies to demonstrate that, to show that the actual value that most people receive from those types of programs is very, very low." Now, it doesn't have to be that way.

You could compare people like I've sat with who have one credit card and it goes for their favorite airline and they just use it for everything and that's their goal. If you compare that with somebody who's very strategic about the credit card churning game and applying for 10, 15, 20, 25 credit cards per year in order to get the airline points and the hotel points, there's no difference.

Sorry, there's no comparison between the benefit that these people get. But what makes the difference is the plan and the strategy. So there are people who are in that situation. But then there are also people who wind up deeply in credit card debt with very high interest rates and they're so burned by the industry that they swear, "I'm never again going to borrow money on credit cards." Well, I'm sympathetic to that position, but don't think that it was necessarily either/or.

Part of the reason why you have very high interest rates is because you're simply ignorant of how the industry works. You don't know how to make the industry work for you. So instead of you being able to exploit the credit card industry for your own benefit, you are being exploited.

You don't know the rules of the game. You don't know what goes in your credit score. You don't know how to improve your credit score. You don't know how to apply for credit cards in a way that will actually serve you. And because of that, you wind up being abused by the industry.

And I want to help avoid that. So I want to give you the education that you need to avoid being abused by the industry and also possibly to help other people. Now, a lot of times by the time people admit to you that they need help, frankly, it's too late.

Now they can improve situations. And I should note this, even if you've done everything poorly up till now, you can always improve. The credit card industry is a very responsive industry. You can make major changes in your credit score in a relatively short period of time. Over a period of a few years, you can make dramatic improvements in your credit score.

And the more you improve your credit score, the more offers are available, the more the industry exists for you. It's a multi-billion dollar industry that just wants to lend you money at cheap rates, but you need to know how to use it. Now, this particular course, again, it's called How to Borrow Money Safely and Never Pay Interest Using Credit Cards.

This course currently has about 45 lessons in it. These lessons are anywhere from 6 to 12 to 15 minutes long. I would guess I didn't go back and measure every minute, but I think it's about four hours total of audio instruction. This course is very carefully edited. There's no time wasting, there's no rambling, there's no repetition.

It's very carefully edited with what I thought is the most important things for you to know and to implement in your life. The course is a series of video and audio lectures. The video and audio are together, and there are detailed written outlines that you can have to refer back to as well to make a very efficient use of your time.

This course will equip you with the knowledge you need to be competent in the credit card business. I'm selling the course for $39. $39 is the standard retail price. I am hosting a one-week promo introductory period. For the next week, I'll give you a $10 discount on it. So for the next week until Monday, October 15, 2018, this course, you can buy it for $29.

There's no question in my mind that you'll get multiple, more than 10 times value out of your expenditure of the $29. Consider this, many people will pay on their credit cards about 18% interest. That's not uncommon. Now, of course, you can get credit cards that are lower, but most people will wind up, if you actually look and read the terms on your card, most people will wind up with a credit card that pays about 18% interest.

$29 is equivalent to one month's interest payment on a $1,933 credit card debt. So let's just round up for easy verbal math, $2,000. $29 is equivalent to one month's interest at 18% on a $2,000 credit card debt. Now, if you study the numbers on the amount of debt, a credit card debt that the average American household holds, the median debt per household of all households is $2,300.

Now again, remember, median means 50% of households have more than this number. 50% of households have less than this number. This is not a number that's skewed by the big balances. It's the median number, which is usually the most realistic, accurate number to work from. So the median debt per American household is about $2,300 on credit cards.

Now, the mean debt, the average debt per American household is $5,700. But if we take out all the households that don't carry credit card debt, the average for credit card balance carrying households is about $9,300 in the United States. $9,300. So if you run the math, I'm trying to give you a killer of a deal because I really want you to buy this course.

If you run the math, $29 will save you potentially a lot of money. If you can cut that interest rate from 18% to 0%, to 3%, to 5% by understanding what you're doing and how to play the credit card game, I can save you huge amounts of money. I really want to encourage you.

So here's how you buy. All this information is in the show notes. Very simple. Just one link. But I want to give it to you here verbally so that when you're done driving or when you're done working out, you actually go sit down at the computer or pull up your phone and buy the course.

Go to radicalpersonalfinance.com/creditcardgaming. Again, radicalpersonalfinance.com/creditcardcourse. That'll take you directly to the registration page. Registration is fast, simple. Use an email address. Of course, as with anything, you should use, anytime you register, we go over this in the course, you should always use a standalone email address. You should always use, I don't care what name you use, but go right to radicalpersonalfinance.com/creditcardcourse.

Register for the course. Use the coupon code creditcard10, all spelled out in letters. Creditcard10, C-R-E-D-I-T-C-A-R-D-T-E-N. And in the next week until October 15, that promo code will save you 10 bucks, bringing your total cost down to $29. If you're a patron of the show, make sure that you go and check the Patreon page because there is a higher discount available there for you as a patron of the show.

Go and do that. And as with anything, I stand 100% behind everything that I do and I guarantee that you'll be satisfied. On this course, I give you a full unconditional 30-day money back guarantee. So check the course out, try it, buy it, watch every segment. It's about four hours, like I said, to go through the entire thing.

If you watch all four hours and say, "Eh, Joshua, it wasn't worth 29 bucks," I can't imagine how you would do it. But if you do, just send me an email. I'll give you an unconditional money back guarantee for 30 days from the date of your purchase. So again, go to radicalpersonalfinance.com/creditcardcourse.

Use coupon code creditcard10 during the next week until October 15 to save 10 bucks. Your total cost is $29. Please buy the course. It will help you. It will serve you. I will answer your questions. If there's anything that you have questions on, there are many more modules that I could create.

The challenge with creating a course is my mind always goes to the extreme of everything that I could teach and I have to try so hard to whittle things down. But if you have questions, anything that's unclear, we'll interact with that. You'll post your questions there in the course software.

I'll answer those questions carefully. I'll create new modules, whatever needs to be done to make it awesome. It's already really good, but to make it awesome, I will do that and serve you. Please go to radicalpersonalfinance.com/creditcardcourse and buy the course. Now, do that now because I want you to save the money, 29 bucks.

But if you'd like more information, continue listening. I'm now going to play for you one module from the course. The audio, which is called Credit Card Debt is a Very Safe Form of Debt. This audio comes with both audio and video in the course with a detailed outline, but you'll just hear the audio here.

It's called Credit Card Debt is a Very Safe Form of Debt. Enjoy this particular module, which is an excerpt from my case for credit cards in the very beginning of the course. What about credit card debt? Because of course, many people use credit cards and never accumulate credit card debt.

They just simply pay the balance in full when it is due. Well, credit card debt is a very safe form of debt if you consider the actual fundamental attributes of the type of debt represented by credit card debt. First, most importantly, credit card debt is unsecured debt. This means that there is no specific collateral tied to the debt.

It's unsecured debt. Other types of debt are indeed issued with direct collateral. For example, if you purchase a car using a car loan, the terms of the car loan that you agree to with the lender will indicate that the car is to serve as collateral for the financial loan.

And in that debt agreement with the lender, they have the right, if you don't make your payments as agreed, they have the right to send the repo man to hook up the car in your driveway or in the parking lot at work and drag it back to them. And they don't have to go to a court or get a judge's approval or have any interaction with law enforcement.

They don't have to notify you in any way. They just send the repo man and the car disappears. That's because the car is serving as collateral for the debt. Another example, of course, would be a mortgage. If you don't pay a home mortgage as agreed, the lender has the right to foreclose on you fairly quickly.

And if they foreclose on your house, they can evict you forcibly from the house, repossess the house and sell it because the house serves as collateral for the debt. That's very different than credit card debt because credit card debt is issued with no direct collateral. It's a naked promise to pay.

If you default on the debt, well, the items that you purchased with your credit card are not directly attachable by your creditor. They can't show up and because you swiped the card and used it to buy a backyard fire pit, they can't send the repo man in the middle of the night and take the backyard fire pit right out of your backyard.

There is the opportunity at the end of a long line of legal dispute where they can come after you if they have a legal judgment and seek to take your property as settlement and payment for the money that you owe them. But that is not a direct relationship. If you are late on your credit card debt or if you don't pay your credit card debt, they can't automatically come and take the items that you purchased.

This is a significant measure of safety that many people just simply ignore. If I were choosing to buy a car and I didn't have the cash to pay for it and I were offered the ability to either take out a five or $10,000 car loan or to take a five or $10,000 cash advance on a credit card, either way I could buy the car.

But I personally would choose to take the five or $10,000 cash advance on a credit card because if I run into financial trouble and am unable to pay that debt in a timely manner, I have a much greater safety with the credit card debt because they can't send the repo man to take the car.

So at least I will still be able to use the car to get to work to earn the money that I need to earn in order for me to be able to ultimately pay back the debt instead of all of a sudden finding myself in a difficult financial situation and now the repo man took my car so I can't get to work.

Now the major caveat here as we will discuss is the potential risk and the potential higher interest cost of credit card debt versus car loans. But that's what this entire course is about because if you have good credit, you can purchase that car using a cash advance and pay a very, very low, almost 0% effective interest rate.

Credit card debt, because it's unsecured debt, is very, very safe. Additionally, credit card debt is a type of debt that can generally be fully discharged in bankruptcy. Now the specific details of a bankruptcy court will depend on the specific situation of the debtor and the complex mix of assets and the type of bankruptcy protection being sought by the debtor.

But of all the types of debt that you could have, mortgage debt, car debt, private loans, credit cards, credit card debt is some of the safest debt because it can generally be fully discharged in bankruptcy. One of the most infamous types of debt that cannot be discharged in federal bankruptcy court is student loan debt.

If I owe $10,000 in student loans and I go through bankruptcy court, on the other side of bankruptcy court, I will continue to owe that $10,000 in student loans. So if I were personally choosing to go to school and I were choosing to borrow money to pay for my school expenses, I would rather put those school expenses on a credit card versus a student loan because the credit card debt, if I were in a worst case scenario and forced to declare bankruptcy, that credit card debt would be fully discharged in bankruptcy whereas the student loan debt would not be discharged.

These are examples of why credit card debt is a very safe form of debt. The credit card default process is a very reasonable process when you actually look at the details and you are able to enjoy a significant amount of protection as a debtor in this process. First, if you default on your credit card debt, you won't immediately face legal problems.

You will merely face significantly higher borrowing costs and a civil dispute with your credit card company, but you won't immediately face legal problems. You haven't broken any laws by being late on a credit card payment. You've simply broken the contract and now the credit card issuing company will respond by assessing penalties and fees.

But it's important to be able to stay out of court and as we'll discuss in a moment, because the credit card process of settling that dispute is very long, you'll have ample time to be able to settle your problems with your lender while still being able to stay out of court.

Credit card issuers are frequently reasonable and willing to reduce the penalties and fees they've levied upon you for being late on your debt and often they're even willing to settle that debt with you when you're able to make significant payments to them. So in a worst case scenario where you have defaulted on your debt, you can reasonably expect to work with those credit card issuers and settle the affair out of court.

As you're able to put together the money and pay them what you owe, you can settle that out of court, which is helpful. And very importantly, given the nature of credit card debt collections, the pathway through a lawsuit and potential legal judgment is a very long pathway, which gives you ample time to generate the money that you need to repay your loans and settle with your creditors out of court, thus avoiding legal trouble.

So the actual process of default, in addition to your having significant legal protections because it's unsecured debt, the actual normal process is very reasonable and it gives you the time that you need in a worst case scenario to put together the money and pay your creditors, thus being able to avoid legal problems.

And along the way, you can continue to use the assets that you've purchased or the services that you've purchased with the credit card in order to help you stay out of court and to help you put the money together in order for you to be able to pay your debts.

So the credit card debt itself is a very safe form of debt. That was the excerpt directly from the course. Now, please go to RadicalPersonalFinance.com/creditcardcourse. Sign up, buy the course. It's usually 39 bucks. Do it in the next week until October 15, 2018. Use the coupon code creditcard10. 10 is spelled out.

T-E-N, creditcard10. Save 10 bucks, brings your total cost down to $29. Thank you. Don't just dream about paradise. Live it with Fiji Airways. Escape the ordinary with Fiji Airways Global Beat the Rush Sale. Immerse yourself in white sandy beaches or dive deep into coral reefs. Fiji Airways has flights to Nadi starting at just $748 for light and just $798 for value.

Discover your tropical dreams at FijiAirways.com. That's FijiAirways.com. From here to happy. Flying direct with Fiji Airways. (upbeat music)