Hey parents, join the LA Kings on Saturday, November 25th for an unforgettable kids day presented by Pear Deck. Family fun, giveaways, and exciting Kings hockey awaits. Get your tickets now at lakings.com/promotions and create lasting memories with your little ones. Today on Radical Personal Finance, we talk about building financial independence.

Of course, we're honoring the US American Independence Day holiday here on July 4. Building financial independence in easy stages. 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 life now while building a plan for financial freedom in 10 years or less.

My name is Joshua. I am your host. I am your guide and I am your fellow financial freedom fighter, working and walking with you on the path towards independence, both financial and otherwise. Today on Radical Personal Finance, I'm going to lean heavily on this idea of independence. Of course, that is a core function of who I am and what I talk about.

If I were to place values and priorities, sorry, if I were to share with you a little bit about my own values and priorities, I would say that liberty is very, very high on the list. Independence is very, very high on the list. I'm sure that that will come through if you have listened to more than about one or two episodes of Radical Personal Finance.

I can't imagine that that would be a surprise to you. Those are some of my highest values and I try to practice them and live them out and walk them out. But I've learned that I'm not alone in that. I'm certainly in a minority to the extreme that I take those ideas, that I take those concepts, but I'm not a minority in my desire for those things.

I'm convinced this idea of independence, frankly, is at the foundation of much of finance and much of financial planning. It's expressed in different ways. The country singer sings it in the terms of "Take this job and shove it. I ain't a-workin' here no more." Well, that's one way of expressing financial independence.

The retirement planner talks about it in terms of "What would you like to do when you retire at 65 years old and what would you live?" And people dream about how they would live out their golden years. That's one way to express it. The fire community talks about this in terms of "In 10 years, I'm going to get independent so I can do what I really want to do." That's one way to express it.

The teenager expresses it, "I can't wait to move out of my parents' household until I'm not under their rules." That's another way of expressing it. But the theme that's common to all of these things is independence and liberty. And I believe that the desire for liberty and independence beat deeply in the heart of every human breast.

Now, frequently, there's a whole lot of fat covering up that beating heart, such that many people don't even recognize that it's important to them. But I believe that it is important to many people. Time will tell whether I'm right or not, but I believe that it is important. I believe that it's important to you.

Otherwise, why would you tune into a show that's dedicated to helping you develop financial freedom, independence? Is that not why you're here? If you wanted to learn how to buy a fancier car, you could find that somewhere else. But you're not listening to the fancier car show, you're listening to the radical personal finance show.

If you were looking for how to take millions of dollars by oppressing other people, by staging a government coup, and taking all their money away and taxing them, you'd be listening to other shows. Just turn on the TV and you can see that all the time. But you're not there.

You're here. And so I'm convinced that financial freedom and financial independence are here. They're important to you. Now, in honor of Independence Day, how could we not begin with that quote from the US Declaration of Independence? The framers and writers of the Declaration of Independence wrote these words. They said this, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Again, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Now, you clearly have life because you're listening to me.

So, we don't need to spend too much time on that, except I would strongly beg you and please with you to use your life and your mouth to advocate for life for others. To whatever extent that you can, advocate for life for others because all men have the right to live.

No matter who they are, no matter what they look like, no matter how old they are, how young they are, how ugly they are, how beautiful they are, whether they hold the same political convictions that are currently en vogue or the same religious ideology that's currently en vogue, all men have the right to life.

So, I beg you to please defend others' right to life. But let's talk about number two. If this is true, liberty, is it true that all men are created equal and are endowed by their creator with an unalienable right to liberty? An unalienable right is a right that is incapable of being aliened, meaning sold or transferred.

An unalienable right is a right that is flat out fundamentally incapable of being surrendered, abridged, changed, revoked in any way. Now, if that's true, that means that you today have the right to liberty. So, here's my question. If you have the right to liberty, if you are fundamentally free because that right cannot be aliened, then why have you sold yourself into slavery through your own actions?

Why have you given up that right? Why have you started behaving like a slave instead of taking that right and building on it and exercising it? I've learned over the years that rights, if they're not exercised and practiced vigorously, then frequently they start to be given away. And if you have a right to liberty, and if that right is truly unalienable, then why are you not acting like it?

I believe you should vigorously practice all of your rights, no matter what they are. And today I want to give you just some very short, very clear practical tips to help you develop liberty and independence in your finances. Number one, are you earning an income? If not, why not?

The more quickly you can earn and develop an income, that income stream can support you and you can experience and enjoy the right to liberty. I frequently think of the young person, perhaps the teenager who says, "I can't wait to get out of this house." Well, what's usually holding them back?

It's because they're not earning enough money to support themselves. They could get out of the house. They could leave. They could be no longer subject to mom and dad's rules. But the fact is they're not earning an income and they can't support themselves. So why don't you start supporting yourself?

Here's what's even worse. Are you taking an income from someone else without supporting yourself? If so, that means you're giving up your right to liberty. You say, "Oh, I got free money. The money comes in and supports me. It's great." Well, no, it doesn't. You're giving up something in exchange for that.

You've made a certain bargain and it's frankly a Faustian bargain that you shouldn't have entered into and it'll rot your soul. Recently on our family's travels, I had the chance to pass through some rough parts of town. There is nothing more pathetic than a free human being who has sold themselves into slavery just to get a government check.

It's so pathetic to watch someone who is capable of productivity sit around and behave like a leech. Don't let that be you. Exercise your right to earn an income. You have the right to work. You don't have the right to keep other people from working, but you have the right to work.

So act like it. You have the right to go and to earn an income, to go and to contribute valuable skills to the marketplace and to earn money. It doesn't matter what other people say about your right, your ability to do that or not. You have that right. So go and act like it.

Exercise it. Earn an income. Bring your skills to the marketplace and see who wants to bid on them. Bring your products to the marketplace and see who wants to buy them. Ignore all the rest of the stuff, all the people telling you don't have that right. You do have that right.

Nobody has the right to take away from you your right to work. You have the liberty to work. And once you can work, once you can develop yourself so that you have that income, well, now you have choices. You can experience liberty. I just traveled through the South and then traveling through the South, I was thinking a lot about the heritage of slavery, of chattel slavery.

One of the things that's so disgusting about slavery is fundamentally the slave owners were selling somebody's work. When a slave owner went to a slave auction and bought a human slave, they were buying that person's body, but ultimately they were buying that person's work. When they sold a slave, ultimately what they were selling is they were selling that person's work.

You have the right to work. What good is it to end human chattel slavery in the United States of America only to substitute a looser bondage of slavery that keeps people from working? What good is it to implement other laws and regulations saying who can work and who can't?

Why bother ending slavery in that case? You have the right to work. And fundamentally, you have the right to own the fruit of your labors. You have the right to enjoy the fruit of your labors. You don't have to take it to Massa and give him all the money.

You have the right to own the fruit of your labors, so act like it. Now, you don't have the right to go and take from other people, but you have the right to work. And if you will work, you will develop independence for yourself. If you desire a financial independence, you will have to work.

Now, while you're working, seek to work in a way that allows you to express the fullness of your independence. Seek to work in a place where you can work with integrity. What good does it do you to become financially rich and to sell your soul just so you can work somewhere that pays you a lot of money, but where you have to give up your integrity?

You don't have to do that. You can work and get rich and also still be able to look yourself in the mirror a few decades from now by knowing that you have lived and behaved and acted and worked with integrity. All work is honorable as long as it contributes to a positive human condition.

So, don't engage in work that requires you to sell your soul to the devil, that requires you to sacrifice your integrity, to sacrifice your principles. Engage in work that is meaningful and productive and that you can do in principled integrity. But if you will work and you'll develop income, develop skills that are valuable in the marketplace, you will acquire independence.

Is there anything that you can't do, any life choice that you can't make if you can just develop income? If you can work, it's all open to you. So, take advantage of it. Now, once you're working and once you're developing income, if you're interested in independence, financial independence, get control of your expenses.

Don't let your expenses control you. Sit down, figure out what your expenditures are, and get control of them. There are many tools you can use, but frankly, you don't need someone else's tools. Design your own. But get control of your expenses. What good does it do you to earn income, but then to have it all fly out of your pockets and other people's pockets without any knowledge or understanding or any attention to where it's going or to whom it's going?

Pay attention, focus, get control of your expenses. Because it's one thing to be able to work, but if you don't control your expenses, you'll never be wealthy. And if you don't actually have accumulated capital, i.e. savings, i.e. money, then you'll always be stuck in a day-to-day existence. What good is it to you to go out from a place of slavery, working on one million dollars a month, working on one man's plantation, where that man controls your livelihood, controls your body, controls your work, but gives you some food, a house, when he feels like it, doesn't beat you too often?

What good does it do you to go off of that plantation and to now have the right to go out in the open market and bid your labor, only to find yourself continually in search of another person's plantation to live on? Only to find yourself continually in search of a little bit more that you can buy because you don't have any property of your own?

Now, you may have to start there. You may have to develop that income, but develop the income and then get control of your expenses so you can build savings. If you will control your expenses, you can achieve financial independence and financial liberty. So here are some thoughts on helping you control your expenses.

First, get control of yourself. Get control of your emotions. Get control of your desires. And don't let your inexhaustible desires have full reign of your finances. It is impossible for you to earn enough money to satisfy all of your desires if you don't get control of your desires. To get control of your desires, you're going to have to exercise virtue, self-discipline, self-control.

You're going to have to learn how to place limits on yourself and how to live and abide by those limits. But not living and abiding by those limits is what leads you back into slavery, what leads you back into bondage. If you let your eyes look around and see all the nice things that you can buy, if you'll just sign up for a series of payments, well, guess what?

You'll be making those payments for years. You know, I don't spend much time in the hood and I don't spend much time in cultures that are just really financially destroyed. And it's to my own shame that I don't spend more time there because it often puts me in a situation where I just don't understand.

I don't get it. But I was driving through the deep South and I had to stop and get some mechanical work done on my trailer. And I was driving by this thing I've never seen before. Now, I've seen rent-a-center stores. I've seen places where you can go and rent to own, rent a TV or rent a couch and that kind of thing.

I've never actually been inside one, I'm just aware they exist. I don't get why you would do that when you can just find all that stuff for free on the side of the road, but whatever, I get that those things exist. But I drove past a rent-a-wheel store and a rent-a-tire store.

And I thought, are you kidding me? I had no idea this actually exists. Payday loan stores, I understand why they exist, but rent-a-wheel? And by rent-a-wheel, it wasn't referring to rent, wheel being a metaphor for a vehicle. It wasn't rent a vehicle. It wasn't a rental car place. It was rent a wheel, rent a rim, rent a shiny rim for your car.

Now, that's a level of stupidity that I'm not often exposed to. And I was pretty shocked by it. But how could anybody do this? Well, how stupid is that? That your desire is to have a fancy wheel or a tire for your car. And I'm judging by external appearance.

I didn't go in and talk to them, but everything was all about the fancy flashy wheels that you would rent the wheels for your car. I can make a lot of arguments for some seemingly not so good financial decisions, pretty good at justifying things. I can find arguments and I'm always looking for the other side.

I can always say, "Well, you know, hey, listen, this is the reason why it makes sense to do this certain thing." But I can't come up with any arguments to rent a wheel or rent a set of rims. That's pretty bad. But yet, if you want those rims and you just feel like you have to satisfy that lust for rims, well, it's going to put you in bondage.

So, get control of your expenses and start by getting control of your desires. Take action to change your desires. You can develop a desire for anything. I look at those wheels, the big rims wheels, and the low profile tires and things like that. I look at them and I say, "Oh, man, I would not want those on my car.

They're expensive to replace." A couple of friends of mine recently, both of them purchased new Dodge Durango SUVs. And I was looking at them and one of them has the sport package, which has a low profile tires. And one of them didn't have the low profile tires. I understand there's a time and a place for low profile tires, but for me, just driving the thing around, I don't want low profile tires.

I don't care if the rim is two inches bigger. That means that every single time I have to fix my tires, I have to go to a much smaller selection of stores that has the size of tires. Now, this is a cultivated taste, by the way. I don't think my friend that bought them even noticed.

They just, that was what was available for sale. But this is a cultivated taste. Some people want low profile tires. Some people want big tires. You can buy a pickup truck. You can take that same pickup truck and some people cultivate a desire for a big lifted up pickup truck with big tires.

Some people cultivate a desire for a slammed down pickup truck with big tires. Some people cultivate a desire for a pickup truck that's slammed down with little tires and big wheels that has hydraulics and bounces up and down. Some people cultivate a desire for pickup trucks that haul heavy loads.

They're all the same pickup truck. Those desires are cultivated. They're part of the culture that somebody comes from, but they're not coming internally. If they were coming internally, then there wouldn't be such an obvious stereotype that's clearly visible as to why this person has this culture, this desire. You can cultivate a desire for things that are old or things that are new.

You can cultivate a desire for things that are flashy or things that are not flashy. I've cultivated a desire for things that are not flashy. I don't want to stand out. I don't want somebody to look at my stuff and notice me twice. But some people go the exact opposite.

They want something that's flashy. That's fine. You're a free person. I'm not telling you you can't do that. My point is that you cultivate that desire. You can cultivate that. So get control of your desires. Practically get control of your expenses. Reject contracts. Reject the easy deal and fight for just fair wages, fair service.

Get control of your expenses and buying equipment to provide for yourself instead of renting it. Now, I don't know where the line is, but for some people, maybe if you can provide water from your own property, you may not need to be hooked up to the grid. We might at least have a backup option.

Or if you can own your own housing instead of renting it, maybe that would be wise for you. If you can own your source of electricity instead of renting it and buying it for someone else, maybe that would be a desire for you. At least all those transactions are voluntary transactions.

A company is providing a service, i.e. electricity or water or whatever, and they're offering you the ability to participate in that. That's fine. But whatever possible, do what you can to own your own expenses and save money. You'll save money. You can develop freedom. You can develop independence. And the amount of money that you need to save is really very small.

Two-thirds of the U.S. American population can't put their hands on a thousand dollars when facing an emergency without borrowing it. I repeat, about two-thirds of the U.S. American population can't put their hands on a thousand dollars for an emergency without borrowing it. What that means is, if you can't put your hands on a thousand dollars in an emergency, then you're left as a beggar.

Going to a financing company and saying, "Please, Massa, will you please give me some money?" Going to your employer and saying, "Please, boss, will you please give me an advance on my paycheck?" Going to a friend and saying, "Please, friend, will you please lend me some money?" Don't do it.

Save some money. Work, control your expenses, and save money. It's easy to save money. You know how you do it? You go to the ATM, or you cash a check, and you take money, and you put it in an envelope, and you put it in your desk drawer, and you don't spend it.

That's it. That's all it takes. And if you're saving a thousand bucks, that's exactly what you should do. Just don't spend it. Just save the money and don't spend it. And then go from there, and build up more and more and more. And if you'll keep going, then you can tell your boss, "Hey, take this job and shove it.

I ain't a-workin' here no more." Now, in closing, listen to me carefully. I've used some strong language. I've used some vivid metaphors. I've tried to incite you emotionally just a little bit in today's podcast. And why have I done that? I've done it intentionally because what I have seen and observed is independence.

The desire for financial independence usually seems to begin with emotion. You have to have a reason. What good is it to you to be freed from somebody trying to take your wages, somebody trying to take your liberty, to take your life, if you don't actually start doing something with it?

Most of us have just been lulled to sleep by our circumstances. So, I'm trying to trigger you, to incite you just a little bit, to get a little bit disgusted with your situation. Here's an interesting task. How much money have you earned in the last 10 years? How much money?

Think about it. Let's say that your income is, let's just go with a little bit under the median household income of $50,000 per year by 10 years. It's $500,000. So, let's just assume that you've earned $500,000 in the last 10 years. What do you have to show for it?

You've earned a million dollars in the last 10 years. That's not hard to do, 100,000 a year, 10 years. What do you have to show for it? How about the last 20 years, last 30 years? What do you have to show for it? Now, you do the accounting and the reckoning yourself.

I don't need to know the numbers. I've got to ask myself that same question, and I do, and I am. But ask yourself that question, what do I have to show for it? Here's what's ridiculous. Many of us have chosen the places that we work. Many of us have chosen the places that we live.

Many of us have chosen the type of work we do. Many of us have chosen the expenses that we have, the things we've bought, the things we've done. We've chosen all these things insofar as nobody has put a bullwhip to our back and said, "You have to do this." Nobody has threatened us with the point of a gun and said, "You have to do this." And yet, we're not all that much better off than if somebody had.

Is that not pretty sad and ridiculous? To have liberty, true liberty, and not use it? Do you know how many millions of people, nay, billions of people throughout human history, would slap you silly for your actions, knowing what they have endured? Don't waste and squander the opportunities that you have.

Here's what's funny about that job. I think I'll close, I'll play it. It's a funny old country song. But here's what's funny and what's sad about songs like "Take Your Job" and "Shove It." When you listen to the lyrics, what you'll find is the mess is all of the man's own making.

All the things that he was working for, "Take this job and shove it. I ain't working here no more. My woman done left and took all the reasons I was working for." Those things he's working for, they're all optional. He chose them. What are the other lyrics of the song where it goes and talks about, "I've seen a lot of good folk die who had a lot of bills to pay.

I'd give the shirt right off of my back if I had the guts to say." That's my point. There's a, that's my point. The point is that it's a decision. You've got to get emotionally ticked off about where you are if you're in a bad space or about how much further you can go and then take it and go with it.

My hope to you is that you can build tremendous financial stability and tremendous financial independence. But it starts with the decision to be free. You can say to your boss today, "Take this job and shove it," if you have the right attitude and you can go on. So, start building it.

Build a lifestyle and a livelihood and an income source for yourself that doesn't cause you to be, to have to prostrate yourself at the feet of other people. That doesn't cause you to have to suppress what you think and believe. And build a lifestyle that's independent, that's resilient. I don't think, one point of clarification, you can't do it on your own.

We're all engaged with one another, but you can build a lifestyle that helps you to be more independent. And on this Independence Day, I hope that you'll do that. Get control of your expenses because frankly, you already have the income that you need. And if you're not enjoying the independence of being wealthy and having savings, it's because you're spending too much money.

So, stop. Just stop and save money. And I think if you'll do those things, really, you don't have to wait and wish that you had the guts to say it. Just say it, just like this. Take this job and shove it. I ain't working here no more. A woman done left and took all the reason I was working for.

You better not try to stand in my way as I'm walking out the door. Take this job and shove it. I ain't working here no more. I've been working in this factory for now 15 years. All this time I watched my woman drowning in a pool of tears. And I've seen a lot of good folk die and had a lot of bills to pay.

I'd give the shirt right off of my back if I had the guts to say, "Take this job and shove it. I ain't working here no more." A woman done left and took all the reason I was working for. You better not try to stand in my way as I'm walking out the door.

Take this job and shove it. I ain't working here no more. Well, that foreman, he's a really dog. The line boss, he's a fool. Got a brand new flat-top haircut. Lord, he thinks he's cool. One of these days I'm gonna blow my top and that sucker, he's gonna pay.

Lord, I can't wait to see their faces when I get the nerve to say, "Take this job and shove it. I ain't working here no more." A woman done left and took all the reason I was working for. You better not try to stand in my way as I'm walking out the door.

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