Best retirement books you've read?

[freebird5825]

Ernie J. Zelinski, "How to retire happy wild and free".

it is madcap and inspirational and has nothing to do with money.

I recommend it to all who just retired. it's not a warm fuzzy find yourself book. i re-read it every 6 months just for the jokes and neat stories about other FIRE folks.

any other good books out there?

if you know you can get it on audiotape, please indicate that.

 

[NotSoonEnough]

Have a look over here...

good-early-retirement-book-33298.html

 

[freebird5825]

thanks. good info on that thread.

 

[CuppaJoe]

I still swear by "Cashing in on the American Dream." It’s dated but the philosophy really holds up.

The beautiful quote in your signature line says it all. To my mind, "The Desiderata" is as fine a blueprint for living as anything I have come across. Yes, indeed, go placidly.

 

[freebird5825]

I still swear by "Cashing in on the American Dream." It’s dated but the philosophy really holds up.

The beautiful quote in your signature line says it all. To my mind, "The Desiderata" is as fine a blueprint for living as anything I have come across. Yes, indeed, go placidly.

it was my motto in my high school yearbook. i kept a copy of the entire Desiderata on my office wall for all my working years. and read it and re-read it many times over their shoulder while people were blabbing at me. i don't think they ever caught on.

 

[CuppaJoe]

it was my motto in my high school yearbook. i kept a copy of the entire Desiderata on my office wall for all my working years. and read it and re-read it many times over their shoulder while people were blabbing at me. i don't think they ever caught on.

Oh! Oh! Looks like the cat may be out of bag, but it could be very useful here too. Don't think I've seen many of your posts yet, but anyway, hello and welcome.

 

[freebird5825]

Oh! Oh! Looks like the cat may be out of bag, but it could be very useful here too. Don't think I've seen many of your posts yet, but anyway, hello and welcome.

thanks for the welcome. i've been here...<drum roll> for about 3 days. i love this site.

one of the things i've been denied is a place to express my JOY and TRIUMPH and YEEHAAAAAA for doing the FIRE act at age 48.

all of my same age friends still work, and they aren't exactly jumping for my joy. and all the other people i know know who retired at the usual ages (55+ where i worked for uncle sam) give me the "why aren't you still working? how did you screw up" look.

but here...i have great company of all ages who did the FIRE act at many stages of life. we can all celebrate!

 

[CuppaJoe]

t
one of the things i've been denied is a place to express my JOY and TRIUMPH and YEEHAAAAAA for doing the FIRE act at age 48.
.....
but here...i have great company of all ages who did the FIRE act at many stages of life. we can all celebrate!

Yeah, this is the place. Come to think of it, (I'm 61 and still working but not for long) over the years it seems that most of my friends retired in their late 40s or early 50s but it never occurred to me to congratulate them. I didn't always know why they stopped working and, of course, many of them were downsized or fired and just didn't go job hunting again.

So here it is: Congratulations!!!!

 

[freebird5825]

Yeah, this is the place. Come to think of it, (I'm 61 and still working but not for long) over the years it seems that most of my friends retired in their late 40s or early 50s but it never occurred to me to congratulate them. I didn't always know why they stopped working and, of course, many of them were downsized or fired and just didn't go job hunting again.

So here it is: Congratulations!!!!

thanks, i needed that. LOL

my FIRE was self-inflicted. i worked as an engineer for 25+ years. i got tired of doing that 10 years ago when they started making me push paper around instead the techie stuff I loved. the management where i worked truly felt the women engineers did the paperwork best. it still happens out there.

so i began to plan my escape...nya ha ha

how i did it...i saved all my working career. and started investing seriously at age 37. a little late, i know, but i really cranked it up all thru the bear market if the early 2000's.

thank you Mr. Bogle for writing those wonderful books of yours.

how close are you to the FIRE?

 

[W2R]

Hi, Freebird, and welcome.

To answer the question you posed: Although I have been reading a lot of books on investing, I have yet to read my first retirement book that isn't mostly about money.

I have done internet searches on the topic, but that's it. Maybe my present post belongs on one of the LBYM/frugal threads going on right now!

I really should pick one up, I suppose. I am just SO sure that I will take to ER like a duck to water.

 

[Goonie]

Ernie J. Zelinski, "How to retire happy wild and free".

Yeah, that was another of my faves!

 

[CuppaJoe]

.....
truly felt the women engineers did the paperwork best. it still happens out there.

so i began to plan my escape...nya ha ha

how i did it...i saved all my working career. and started investing seriously at age 37. a little late, i know, but i really cranked it up all thru the bear market if the early 2000's.

thank you Mr. Bogle for writing those wonderful books of yours.

how close are you to the FIRE?

I'm at that stage of duking it out with myself regarding when to give notice, probably sometime between April '08 and 'April '09.

It's so true about women at work--just last week a female atty. was telling us how awful it went in open court: judge and opposing counsel were buddy buddying it when she arrived, it went south from there. She's one of the best in her field, that goes without saying.

But then, if it wasn't like that, you might still be w*rking. I seem to have mis-placed the rose-colored glasses. Keep us informed about your progress in R.

 

[Ronstar]

I liked "Work Less Live More". Now I'm reading "your money or your life" I'm stuck in the chapter that suggests writing down and keeping track of every cent you spend. I really dont feel like keeping track of every cent, so I quit spending foolishly instead.

 

[freebird5825]

Hi, Freebird, and welcome.

To answer the question you posed: Although I have been reading a lot of books on investing, I have yet to read my first retirement book that isn't mostly about money.

I have done internet searches on the topic, but that's it. Maybe my present post belongs on one of the LBYM/frugal threads going on right now!

I really should pick one up, I suppose. I am just SO sure that I will take to ER like a duck to water.

yes, reading up on this is great. knowledge is power, as they say.

i have 8 investing books read over the past 5+ years, and now i've turned to retirement books. having FIRED myself almost a year ago, i now can read all i want. my eyes were so tired (all day in front of computer) when working, I couldn't even enjoy books at night.

zelinski's book was not about money, but a great read. i'm just starting "work less, live more". it is excellent! just what the doctor ordered. i think the author and i are clones. LOL

i wish you the speediest FIRE. i'm almost a year into this and i am a new person. my doctor even said so.

amazon.com has great prices on new and used. and free shippihg if you order $25 worth, so order in batches and save the S+H costs. <disclaimer - i don't work for amazon, i work for Freebird (myself) now>

 

[freebird5825]

I'm at that stage of duking it out with myself regarding when to give notice, probably sometime between April '08 and 'April '09.

It's so true about women at work--just last week a female atty. was telling us how awful it went in open court: judge and opposing counsel were buddy buddying it when she arrived, it went south from there. She's one of the best in her field, that goes without saying.

But then, if it wasn't like that, you might still be w*rking. I seem to have mis-placed the rose-colored glasses. Keep us informed about your progress in R.

i surely will keep posting here, as long as i don't bore you all.

actually, a lot of the guys i worked with were wonderful. but it only takes a few managers to set the culture and the rest fall in lock step. i'm not a wimp - i gave as good as i got. but smarter, faster and never in a loud voice. always kept 'em off balance by not being predictable. it was stressful, but i always kept the upper hand by learning the regulations (i worked for uncle sam) and quoting them if i had to.

a small brag here...when my first patent issued in 2006, i knew i had reached my career peak. i had been planning an exit for years, but it would be on my terms. once i had my mind and goals set, the rest was noise.

happy wild and free to quote mr. zelinski...