Despite my qualms, at least the author is honest with herself, and there are still a ton of nuggets of gold to be found within this book – one being the three types of personalities / paths to wealth: Then, through experience, I’ve learned that writing is all about re-writing. No one writes perfect first drafts. Having read 9 books on finances and investing this year, I can honestly say I really, really enjoyed this book. Though some things won't apply to everyone, a lot of the information provided is of good, sound advice. And it also reafirmed what I have already been doing has been good. If you want to look out for the people you love, you’ll need money – the more, the better. Want to spend more time with your kids? Ditto. How about creating time for leisure, reading, going to the theatre and discovering new cultures and countries through travel? You’ll have guessed the answer by now: money. Now, I know I don’t get emotional often on this blog (because EW feelings), but I have to admit, giving birth to this book baby has teared me up more than once. Why? Because this book isn’t just a finance book—it’s a labour of love for some of our favourite people in the world…*drum roll*…you guys!

Book Genre: Biography, Business, Currency, Economics, Finance, Money, Nonfiction, Personal Development, Personal Finance, Self Help A lot of my author friends raved about it in the past, but I wasn’t sold on Scrivener at first. Why should I spend 40 USD on software when I already have Word installed on my computer? You’ve taught us that financial independence is a powerful tool that frees you from stress and lets you choose the life you want, and as a result, it can change the world. Writers write. Rejection, heartbreak, and humiliation be damned. Writers are a rare breed. I like to joke with best-selling author and Godfather of FI, JLCollins, that writers are the worst kind of masochists because we’re addicted to pain. Money can’t buy happiness. You’ve heard this hundreds of times. But I’ll bet you didn’t think about how miserable you’d be in poverty. Loving money and possessions isn’t going to bring you happiness. But it will help you get more time and freedom for the things that will.Kristy Shen and Bryce Leung are world travelling early retirees. Their story has been featured in media outlets all over the world, including the New York Times, CBC, CNBC, Women’s Health Magazine Australia, Germany’s Handelsblatt, GQ Russia, and the UK’s Independent. They spend their time helping people with their finances and realizing their travel dreams on www.millennial-revolution.com. Genres When your money and priorities are in sync, you find financial peace; I’ve taught that principle for years. Kristy’s personal story showed me how one does the scary work required to discover those real priorities. This book is a testament to the power of knowing what you want your money to do for you with absolute clarity, and then going after it unapologetically.” So, there you have it. Writing a book is the one of the hardest, most painful slogs you’ll ever go through. You’ll have to push through a ton of self-doubt, fear, and loathing to put that book baby out into the world. But it doesn’t matter, because if you’re a writer you can’t not do it. Writers gotta write. Another bizarre thing I noticed about the book is that there just aren't that many examples of other women on FIRE, even in the chapter on parenting. I follow a lot of FIRE blogs and even some podcasts, so I know that if she really wanted to, Shen absolutely could have included more women in her book. She never says this directly, but the way she reveres so many White men and ignores all of these other issues says a lot in itself. Also, if you are under the impression that women are not very involved in FIRE, you are absolutely wrong, though I can see how people may be led to believe this idea after reading Shen's book. Here's just one counter argument, but there are many: I do recommend both book and blog and supplemental research - there's also a lot of useful content, especially examples and dozens of case studies, that aren't in the book alone. Plus it's important to get multiple perspectives on a subject this potentially complex and consequential).

If you’re Chinese like Kristy, that history means you’re basically programmed to avoid debt like the plague. But here’s the thing: when you crunch the numbers, it turns out that’s a pretty good attitude to adopt wherever you live. Okay, I know how this one sounds. Kind of depressing? Many wealthy people including Steve Jobs have given career advice that’s something along the lines of “Follow your heart.” Doing something you love can really pay off, right? Shen teaches that this is often the wrong choice. But hold up. You can’t put a price on happiness – surely dreams are worth pursuing whatever the bottom line says, right? Well, not necessarily. After all, if you don’t know where your next meal is coming from, you’re unlikely to wake up excited about your work, especially if it calls for creativity. Passions also change over time; a 2013 study published in Science found that the dreams of nearly all of the 19,000 participants had changed significantly over the previous decade. Before we started writing 10 years ago, I thought authors were magical beings who came up with original ideas that flowed directly onto the paper, each word more perfect than the last. And without any editing, their masterpiece would be sent off into the world to earn millions in royalties. That gave me a 3-act structure (a crucial element used in storytelling): UfofVincent [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], from Wikimedia CommonsIn the following book summary, we’ll see how she did it. Kristy’s Chinese heritage taught her that debt is a trap to be avoided at all costs. And that’s why it pays to follow the math. Just ask Kristy. Today, she’s a professional writer. The reason she got there is simple: her well-paying engineering job meant she wasn’t reliant on writing to make the rent. Money, in other words, provided her with the foundation which eventually allowed her to pursue her true dream. I transferred the ideas onto cue cards and categorized them by color (eg “investing” = yellow, “travel” = blue, “housing” = red, etc).

Quit Like A Millionaireis about so much more than making money, traveling the world, and retiring early (although it teaches you how to do all three insanely well!).It’s a new roadmap to living an awesome life! You don’t need to settle for status quo. Life’s too short for that. So don’t. This book will both inspire and entertain you, while actually giving you the steps and mindset to become a millionaire. Retiring early isn’t easy, but it’s never been easier in history to make it happen. There’s no fluff here. This is the real deal .” Shen takes readers on a journey through her incredible life from impoverished childhood in China to world traveling early retired millionaire. With precision and humor, Shen outlines the choices she made along the way and the math behind her successes. Her uplifting personal story is undergirded by resonant, easy-to-understand explanations of financial mechanics that enable unusual life choices and unconventional alternatives. Shen inspires, explains, and guides with aplomb.” If you want to look out for the people you love, you’ll need money – the more, the better. Want to spend more time with your kids? Ditto. How about creating time for leisure, reading, going to the theatre and discovering new cultures and countries through travel? You’ll have guessed the answer by now: money. And no matter what happens, even though we’ve submitted the first draft, I know we still have a hundred more steps before this book baby is out in the world. From two leaders of the FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) movement, a bold, contrarian guide to retiring at any age, with a reproducible formula to financial independence.

Success!

Here’s where it gets interesting. As a 2006 article in the journal NeuroImage demonstrated, the nucleus accumbens doesn’t just react to positive stimuli – it also reacts to the expectation of those stimuli. In other words, pleasure isn’t just about absolute dopamine levels but how much dopamine our brains expect is on the way. That’s a lot of cash, right? Sure, but don’t let that put you off – there are also alternative strategies. Take partial financial independence. This gives you the benefits of financial independence, such as flexibility and having more free time, and it’s achievable with a smaller portfolio.