Author Topic: Anyone read this book "Early Retirement Extreme"  (Read 6386 times)

jamesbond007

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Anyone read this book "Early Retirement Extreme"
« on: July 14, 2016, 10:24:38 PM »
Anyone read this book: "Early Retirement Extreme: A philosophical and practical guide to financial independence"?

Reading the description on Amazon makes it seem like a similar MMM philosophy. But I was wondering if he has a differing perspective. It's $9.99 so wanted to get an overview.

shuffler

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Re: Anyone read this book "Early Retirement Extreme"
« Reply #1 on: July 14, 2016, 10:44:56 PM »
It's this guy:  http://earlyretirementextreme.com/

You can definitely get a sense of perspective from the site.

EricL

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Re: Anyone read this book "Early Retirement Extreme"
« Reply #2 on: July 14, 2016, 11:28:17 PM »
More "extreme" than MMM but similar philosophies. MMM and Jacob are on friendly terms and ERE at least links to MMM. (Which is how I found MMM).

aFrugalFather

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Re: Anyone read this book "Early Retirement Extreme"
« Reply #3 on: July 14, 2016, 11:34:55 PM »
Also there is a good interview with the Author on the Radical Personal Finance Podcast.  Worth checking out if you are not familiar.

Dee18

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Re: Anyone read this book "Early Retirement Extreme"
« Reply #4 on: July 15, 2016, 06:03:51 AM »
I read the book, but don't recommend buying it because you can read his thoughts on his blog.  Jacob is re-posting his old posts.  I enjoyed learning about his more extreme lifestyle; it's an interesting contrast to MMM.

slappy

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Re: Anyone read this book "Early Retirement Extreme"
« Reply #5 on: July 15, 2016, 06:32:03 AM »
Does your local library have the book?

FIREby35

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Re: Anyone read this book "Early Retirement Extreme"
« Reply #6 on: July 15, 2016, 06:55:30 AM »
Yeah, I was going to suggest getting it at the library. My library did have the book.

jamesbond007

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Re: Anyone read this book "Early Retirement Extreme"
« Reply #7 on: July 15, 2016, 10:51:04 AM »
I totally forgot about library. Geez.... I should get used to going to the library more.

Iron Mike Sharpe

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Re: Anyone read this book "Early Retirement Extreme"
« Reply #8 on: July 15, 2016, 11:13:42 AM »
I think I got it from the library and read about 1/3 of it.  I found the writing style to be very tedious to read.

forummm

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Re: Anyone read this book "Early Retirement Extreme"
« Reply #9 on: July 15, 2016, 01:40:51 PM »
I think the blog (do the 21 day makeover and most popular posts) will tell you what you need to know. Haven't read the book. Spent a lot of time reading the blog.

anotherAlias

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Re: Anyone read this book "Early Retirement Extreme"
« Reply #10 on: July 15, 2016, 04:28:59 PM »
Jacob is how I first got interested in retiring early.  His writing style is a bit of an acquired taste.  I've read his entire blog and most of the book.  Honestly, I'd recommend sticking to the blog.  It covers all his major ideas but in less tedium  than the book

pbkmaine

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Re: Anyone read this book "Early Retirement Extreme"
« Reply #11 on: July 15, 2016, 04:39:01 PM »
I find him really interesting, and I think his wife is a saint.

Bee21

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Re: Anyone read this book "Early Retirement Extreme"
« Reply #12 on: July 15, 2016, 07:27:37 PM »
I love his blog but hate the book. Boring as batshit.

csprof

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Re: Anyone read this book "Early Retirement Extreme"
« Reply #13 on: July 15, 2016, 09:15:45 PM »
I think I got it from the library and read about 1/3 of it.  I found the writing style to be very tedious to read.

Concur.  Still haven't finished it - I'm maybe 1/3rd to 1/2 of the way through it.  I don't recommend.  Needs an editor.

If you're interested in the far edge of extreme early retirement, his blog is certainly worth a look.

a plan comes together

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Re: Anyone read this book "Early Retirement Extreme"
« Reply #14 on: July 16, 2016, 06:39:09 AM »
Parts of the book are a tough read, but other parts are brilliant. In the whole, it's worth the time investment if FIRE is really interesting to you. And in my opinion, a totally different experience than what you get on the blog. Granted, I didn't read the ERE blog from start to finish. The book does a good job of tying everything together, whereas you don't really get that from a blog experience.

Zamboni

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Re: Anyone read this book "Early Retirement Extreme"
« Reply #15 on: July 16, 2016, 06:44:39 AM »
Read it and enjoyed it. Library (author would approve.)

forummm

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Re: Anyone read this book "Early Retirement Extreme"
« Reply #16 on: July 16, 2016, 01:16:05 PM »
I find him really interesting, and I think his wife is a saint.

Oh yeah.

Emg03063

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Re: Anyone read this book "Early Retirement Extreme"
« Reply #17 on: July 16, 2016, 08:09:42 PM »
Read the book (and the blog).  When Jacob quit actively blogging, he refers his readers here, which is how I found this site.  Book is comprehensive, but if you've read the key blog posts here, you won't learn anything new, because Pete has covered the same ground, albeit in his own style.  If you just can't get enough on the topic and want to read someone else's perspective, go for it.  When you're done with that, you can go read "Your Money or Your Life", which is the original book on the subject.

dess1313

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Re: Anyone read this book "Early Retirement Extreme"
« Reply #18 on: July 17, 2016, 08:12:49 AM »
Reading the ebook now of it.  Having a hard time staying focused but it is interesting.  I never knew much about his blog ill have to go check it out!

Jon_Snow

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Re: Anyone read this book "Early Retirement Extreme"
« Reply #19 on: July 17, 2016, 04:20:42 PM »
I found it to be a dull slog. Seemed more like an excercise for the author to showcase his intellect. MMM's various writings are far more effective...IMHO. :)

Stachey

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Re: Anyone read this book "Early Retirement Extreme"
« Reply #20 on: July 18, 2016, 11:20:52 AM »
The book reads more like a thesis for a PhD in Economics. 
The blog is much more reader friendly.

Thumbs up pbkmaine!

Kriegsspiel

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Re: Anyone read this book "Early Retirement Extreme"
« Reply #21 on: July 18, 2016, 06:17:32 PM »
I think it was much more flamboyant in the original Danish.

pbkmaine

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Re: Anyone read this book "Early Retirement Extreme"
« Reply #22 on: July 18, 2016, 06:26:11 PM »
I think it was much more flamboyant in the original Danish.

And here I thought you were German.

Kriegsspiel

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Re: Anyone read this book "Early Retirement Extreme"
« Reply #23 on: July 19, 2016, 07:21:56 AM »
I would say I'm as American as anyone. In fact, when my grandparents arrived in New York, they were shoeless and disheveled, wandering the streets without a penny in their pockets. That'll be the last time we let them vacation alone.

dios.del.sol

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Re: Anyone read this book "Early Retirement Extreme"
« Reply #24 on: July 19, 2016, 09:00:57 AM »
I need to add an unqualified positive vote for the book. It's brilliant and not at all boring. Yes, it's dense. No, it doesn't have a lot of fluffy personal vignettes. Just a lot of rock solid practical philosophy. I read it from the library and it made my cut for actually buying a paper copy.

The ERE forum, by the way, has a much more manageable volume than this forum and the discussions are way more substantive... although sometimes off topic.