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That's FijiAirways.com. From here to happy. Flying direct with Fiji Airways. There are all kinds of little small cheap decisions that you and I can make that on the front end don't cost a lot, but on the back end can have a huge, huge benefit. And today I want to encourage you to think about safety, to invest in safety and to experience the benefits of safety over the long term in your own personal life.

Before we get to that, sponsor of the day today is You Need a Budget. Guess what? You Need a Budget. And the best budgeting software for you to use each and every day is YNAB. YNAB stands for You Need a Budget. It's the budgeting software that I just got done closing down on my computer and finishing myself.

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Here's how it works. It's the best budgeting software that you can use because it allows you to actively allocate the money that's in your checking account and tell it where to go. Not just track it, tell it where to go. This practice, if you put this into practice over the course of the coming days, in the upcoming year, this will make a huge difference in your life.

Sign up for a free 34-day trial at RadicalPersonalFinance.com/YNAB. Sign up for the trial and take all of the free classes that they have. YNAB will teach you how to budget and budgeting will give you the results that you need, the money that you need to invest. Sponsor of the day number two today is the patrons of the show.

In recent days I've been increasing the sponsorship ads. I don't want those of you who support the show though to think that I don't appreciate you. And so I just wanted to simply invite you, if you would like to bypass the sponsorship and just simply say, "Joshua, I get a ton of value out of what you're doing," please consider becoming a patron of my show.

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And in exchange for that, I will do my very best to continue giving you as much benefit every single day, walking with you down your journey to financial independence and financial freedom. RadicalPersonalFinance.com/patron. I got a little messed up there. Then I messed up my music. RadicalPersonalFinance.com/patron. Welcome to Radical Personal Finance, the show dedicated to providing you with the knowledge, skills, insight, and encouragement you need to live a rich and meaningful and long life now while also building a plan for financial freedom in 10 years or less.

My name is Joshua Sheets and I'm your host. And today I am your safety police. But I think I've got justification for that to show you how a few simple decisions will make all the difference in the world. Today's show will be very, very specific, very straight to the point.

And the point, I'll sum it up in a sentence. And if you grasp the full meaning, you can skip the rest of the show. It's simply this. If you take very careful, small decisions to prioritize your personal safety and the safety of your family members, that has the potential to avoid a significant amount of pain.

When we talk about finance, we could talk a lot about the concept of insurance. And we all recognize the value of insurance, even though we don't necessarily always love participating in insurance programs. The idea of insurance is there are certain things that can happen to us that are really, really bad, that have high negative consequences.

Some of these things would be things like dying prematurely and leaving our family bereft of income, or perhaps getting in a car accident and having our car destroyed. There are many types of things that are having our house burned down, many things that are very low probability, but the impact is very, very high.

And that is the appropriate place for insurance. High impact, low probability events can be effectively insured against, and you generally should always choose to insure against those problems. But there are many other things in life that if you just simply look at them and pay attention to them, there's a very low cost, but a potentially high impact.

And I want to give you some rationalization for this financially so that you'll be more motivated to take simple steps toward insuring your health and your safety. Basically it comes down to this. If you're riding a bike, consider getting a helmet and wearing one. If you're driving in your car, consider putting on a seatbelt and/or consider driving a safe car.

If you're going to go out and mow the lawn, put on some hearing protection. We like to, in our modern society, we like to look at people who smoke, the increasingly smaller percentage of the population, the US American population that smoke cigarettes. We like to look at them and say, "Why on earth do people smoke cigarettes?" In light of all of the evidence that is available of how cigarette smoking leads to cancer and leads to early death.

And yet so many of us continue to do simple things that could be easily avoided by paying attention. Again, my favorite examples would be things like eye protection and hearing protection. I have a friend of mine who's a retired firefighter. That poor guy's practically half deaf and he knows it, but it's from long exposure to loud noises.

It's to the very best of my knowledge, I've never heard a conspiracy theory that this data is true. To the very best of my knowledge, it is absolutely a proven medical fact that if you maintain high exposure to loud audio for an extended period of time, that will damage your hearing in a cumulative effect.

So therefore, if you listen to me in your earbuds at too high of a volume, that's not good. If you listen to music in your ears at too high of a volume, that will damage your hearing. Almost as surely as smoking will kill you. If you systematically go out and use loud power equipment on a daily basis or on a regular basis, going out and driving around on your lawnmower or using, again, power tools or being in a very noisy environment and not taking care of your hearing, you will wind up deaf.

Now think about the cost and benefit of this. What does it cost you to avoid that? Those loud noises? Well you can buy a set of foam earplugs to put in your ear that will dampen a lot of the noise for 30 cents. You can trot down to the big box store and grab yourself a pair of over the ear earmuffs for about $3.95.

And that $3.95 investment in your hearing has the possibility to save you thousands of dollars of hearing aid expenses later in life. It doesn't cost all that much to put on a pair of safety glasses when doing something that's safe. It's easy to do. Easy to do. And the potential benefit of something heads for your eyes is huge in terms of your own personal protection.

And yet how many of us are guilty of doing things that we know would probably be better like mowing the lawn or using power equipment, et cetera. And yet we don't take the simple step of putting on safety glasses. How many of you have ever run a chainsaw without chainsaw shaps?

You know the Kevlar shaps that you put on that protect your legs in case the chainsaw goes into it? I think we're all guilty of that one. It'd be so simple to spend the 60 bucks and take a moment and strap those things on. And it would potentially save a leg, potentially save a serious medical visit, potentially save a life.

And yet how many people do you see that take just a moment, grab the proper safety equipment and put it on? Very few of us do it. I grew up riding my bike without a bike helmet. It wasn't mandated for children when I was younger. And I've generally ever since then continued that practice just because I never really went helmet shopping.

But a few years ago I realized how silly that was. There's no reason not to take a moment, find a bike helmet and put it on. Has the potential of saving my life or avoiding brain injury. So simple and cheap and easy and yet how easy not to do.

So don't let your, for most of you, it's probably a male/female thing. My experience is that women are usually more amenable to safety standards and usually, not always, but oftentimes it's we men who in our macho approach don't want to do that. Men don't let your kind of macho aggressive arrogance keep you from doing some simple things that can keep your hearing, that can keep your speech, that can keep your eyesight around for potentially a much longer period of time.

The cost of these very simple and small changes is very, very low. And yet the potential benefit is very, very high. Where else are you going to get investment returns like that? A few dollars of safety gear and a potential savings of thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars.

There's a reason why if I were hired in a large company or something like that, one of the first things I would do would be absolutely to make sure that all of my workers were using proper safety equipment in any circumstance or situation that they needed to, that it was appropriate.

Because on the aggregate, that will save me and my company a tremendous amount of money from liability, from accidents, et cetera. And the only way that you avoid this is the fact that the chances of it happening to you as an individual are very small. We know this happens consistently across a population, but we don't know who it happens to.

So buy the safety gear, buy the safety equipment for you, for your children. A lot of times it costs a little bit more money to get safety gear that is comfortable and is stylish. Don't be scared to spend a little bit more money on safety gear that's comfortable and stylish if it means that you'll actually wear it.

Don't cheap out and get the junky thing that's hard to wear that you don't like to wear because then it won't do its good. If you know, if your children, make sure that you buy them the gear that is going to be effective for them, if it needs, again, if it can be gotten with this little bit of style, make sure you do that.

And then also don't be scared to think about this in a broader sense. I wholeheartedly recognize that this is something that with increasing age, I've become more aware of. When I was younger, I didn't ever think about the safety of a vehicle. I never even just bothered with it.

I had that same sense of invincibility that probably most of us have had. But as I get older, the safety becomes increasingly important to me and I'm willing to spend more money to have a safer vehicle for my family, for my children. I'm willing to make sure that we make different car choices or different travel choices to make sure that that safety is there.

Now, you don't have to automatically assume that that means you have to buy a $50,000 car. Simple examples that I use, I own two minivans. Both of them have full five stars on all of the crash safety ratings. One of them I paid $5,500 for four years ago. The other one I paid $3,000 for six months ago.

And yet both of them, according to the objective safety ratings, are as well rated as any other vehicle available today. So you don't have to spend a lot of money, but you do have to consider it. And then finally with this, I will close. Consider carefully some simple things in your own personal behavior.

Yes, life is good to be lived with zest and with gusto, but stupidity doesn't necessarily have to be equated with fun. There are some things that you can do that are just plain old stupid. There are ways that you can have fun that aren't stupid. Don't ignore the value of safety.

The gear can help, but the most important thing is just the simple voice in your head saying what I'm about to do is stupid. If you find yourself saying, "Here, hold my beer. Watch this," stop. Don't do it. Don't follow through. And if you find yourself in a situation where somebody else is doing things that are unsafe, stand up and stop.

Be the person who takes the keys out of the ignition. Be the person who stands up and stops. This is hard. A couple of months ago, my family and I went to a harvest festival that was nearby in our town. And at this harvest festival, they were doing hayrides for children.

They had just a small little compact tractor and a wagon there hooked up. And so we thought it'd be fun to take the children on the hayride and we got on. Right at the beginning though, we were there and somebody made an announcement that we couldn't quite hear. And they said something about, in hindsight, I think they said something about like, "If you're here for the harvest festival, get off.

Or if you're here for the church group, youth group or something that it was at, then go ahead and stay on." We weren't quite sure and so we stayed on. Well, the driver quickly, the driver started to drive the hayride very aggressively, very much focused on creating a thrilling ride for teenagers rather than a thrilling ride for three-year-olds.

And as the driver turned in circles, bounced over ground, et cetera, I became increasingly concerned, but I sat there and did nothing because I didn't want to... I didn't know what was going on and I didn't want to mess things up. And it got worse and worse and I sat there and did nothing.

And in hindsight, I was absolutely wrong. I didn't want to rock the social boat. So I sat there. After a while, it became worse and worse and finally, I told the guy, I said, "Stop." I got up, got my wife and kids and I jumped out of it and I said, "This is unsafe.

I'm not going to do it." In hindsight, I was shocked at how hard it was for me to do that. I am the adult. I should have been the one in the first place to say, "No, this is not appropriate." I shouldn't have just been looking out for me and my children.

I should have been looking out for all those other children. And the man who was driving, I've spent many years driving boats with children on tubes and driving trailers and things like that. I can have a good ride without it being unsafe and the man was unsafe. In hindsight, I regret that I didn't stop the whole thing, but I didn't have the courage in that moment to do it.

So don't follow my negative example of not having the courage. Follow the positive example to have the courage. If you're a young person and you're listening and you're in the car and somebody is hot riding the car, make them stop, get out, go home. Turn the keys off. Whatever you got to do, stop the situation.

If you're with people and they're drunk, be the person who saves the life. Because the hindsight and the problems with disaster is generally most people know, but they don't stand up and do something. I don't have anything more to say other than just recognize that investing in safety is a perfectly valid and legitimate thing for you to choose to do.

It's a very wise investment. Purchase safety gear when you purchase stuff. Purchase quality safety gear. Purchase if you need sunglasses, dark safety glasses and clear safety glasses. If you need prescription safety glasses, get them. If you need quality earwear that is easy to wear, get it. When I'm out shooting, I use the nice electronic earmuffs that stop the banging noise but yet still allow you to talk.

That means you'll wind up wearing them more. Invest in personal protective equipment, whatever that is. That was one of the things I mentioned when the budget for the accessories show. Buy quality stuff that will protect you. Motorcycling, for example. If you study, in the past I've always enjoyed riding a motorcycle.

Well, is that in contradiction with the safety? I'll tell you what I learned in my observation. Are motorcycles inherently unsafe? I would say that yes, motorcycles are inherently less safe than cars but I think in anything, if you decide, okay, there's a benefit to it, you can mitigate it.

Simple examples of how I researched it at that point in time was number one, 50% of motorcycle accidents involve rider error. The rider outriding their own personal ability. If you want to be safe on a motorcycle, focus on never outriding your ability. That's hard for many people to do, especially the type of person who generally rides motorcycles.

A lot of times it's young and aggressive people who try to push the envelope and you push the envelope on a motorcycle and you wind up going over the edge of the cliff. I made a commitment when I was first riding. I said, number one, I will never outride my ability.

I will make the commitment not to follow that testosterone and just to enjoy it but within my ability. Number two, 50% of motorcycle accidents involve alcohol. Made the commitment that and with motorcycling, unlike driving, with driving you may be able to have one or two drinks and perhaps you're slightly over the blood alcohol level in your state but it's not really that big a deal.

In motorcycling, one or two drinks will disrupt just the tiniest thing and the impact is huge. Number three is safety gear. Many people don't wear safety gear. Would a quality helmet, a quality riding suit make a huge difference? Budget for those things. Then finally, number four is proper training.

With most things, proper training is essential. Whether you're operating a piece of power equipment, renting a backhoe for the weekend, driving a car, riding a motorcycle, et cetera, train and there are small little things that can make a huge difference. On a motorcycle, it's simply by knowing the most dangerous places to be.

The most dangerous place to be is a road with a turn lane in the middle. Simple safety habits where you're defensive driving, covering the brakes whenever you see a car, these little things that you can learn with training. If you're going to engage, my point using the motorcycle example is that if you're going to engage in behavior that has the potential to be more risky because you've looked at it and said, "Okay, this is riskier behavior.

Life is not all about sitting in a padded cocoon so that I'm perfectly safe," at least do your research and do your due diligence on how to control as many safety factors as possible. I believe your family, your friends, your loved ones will thank you for that. Your future self will thank you.

If you can avoid some of the expensive, unnecessary expenses that older people have to account for the indiscretions of their youth, I think that you will be happy with that. That's all I've got for you today. As I go, I'm going to skip the music. I just want to encourage you.

If you could do me a favor, please, quick personal favor, come by and complete my quick 20-second demographic survey found at RadicalPersonalFinance.com/survey. There are six questions. You can do it right on your phone. It's just a simple, anonymous demographic survey. RadicalPersonalFinance.com/survey. There's a place on there you can put an email address.

I don't care if you do that or not. It's not signing you up for a list or anything. I think it's just for the computer to sort it. If you could just do that quick thing at RadicalPersonalFinance.com/survey, I would be deeply indebted to you. With that, stay safe and I'll be back with you tomorrow.