An updated FIRE recommended reading list (with a military twist)

[Nords]

I've gone through this board's 80+ posts using the phrase "recommended reading" as well as the FAQs. The last time we really dug into the question seems to have been over three years ago: http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f28/fire-recommended-reading-list-22300.html . But let me know if there's another list kicking around amidst the archives.

This draft pulls together most of the board's contributions plus BogleHeads and other items of interest to military veterans. Some of the citations are incomplete; I'm still tracking down website sources. There's no particular order or ranking. Feel free to add to it!

Military books
"Armed Forces Guide to Personal Financial Planning" by Margaret Belknap and Michael Marty. One of the best decision-making guides for military issues.
"The Military Advantage" by Chris Michel. Best benefits book.
"The $avvy $ailor" and "The $avvy Officer" by Ralph Nelson. Step-by-step explanations of avoiding debt, saving, and planning for a career of earnings & investments.

Books
Retirement:
"Work Less, Live More" by Bob Clyatt
"The Adventurer's Guide to Early Retirement" by Billy & Akaisha Kaderli
"Cashing in on the American Dream: How to Retire at 35" by Paul Terhorst
"Get A Life, You Don't Need A Million to Retire Well" by Ralph Warner
"How To Retire Early and Live Well" by Gillette Edmunds
"Rags to Retirement" by Alan Lavine
"What Color Is Your Parachute? for Retirement" by Richard. Bolles & John Nelson
"The Joy of Not Working" and "How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free" by Ernie Zelinski
"Prime Time" and "Encore" by Marc Freedman
"Retiring as a Career: Making the Most of Your Retirement" by Betsy Kyte Newman

Frugality and saving:
"Your Money or Your Life" by Joe Dominguez
"The Complete Tightwad Gazette" by Amy Dacyczyn
"The Millionaire Next Door" by Thomas Stanley and William Danko
"The Ultimate Cheapskate" by Jeff Yeager

Investing:
"The Intelligent Investor" by Benjamin Graham
"The Four Pillars of Investing" and "The Intelligent Asset Allocator" by William Bernstein
"Triumph of the Optimists" by Elroy Dimson, Paul Marsh, and Mike Staunton
"Why Smart People Make Big Money Mistakes" by Gary Belsky and Thomas Gilovich
"The Retirement Savings Time Bomb" and "Parlay Your IRA into a Family Fortune" by Ed Slott
"Are You a Stock or a Bond?" by Moshe Milevsky
"A Random Walk Down Wall Street" by Burton Malkiel
"All About Asset Allocation" by Rick Ferri
"The Only Guide to a Winning Investment Strategy You'll Ever Need" by Larry Swedroe
"Stocks for the Long Run" by Jeremy J. Siegel
"The Coffeehouse Investor" by Bill Schultheis
"The Boglehead's Guide to Investing" by Taylor Larimore, Mel Lindauer, and Michael LeBoeuf
"Common Sense on Mutual Funds" and "The Little Book of Common Sense" by John Bogle
"J.K. Lasser's Your Winning Retirement Plan" by Henry "Bud" Hebeler

Military research papers
- "A Comparative Study of the Life Satisfaction of Early Retirement Military Officers", doctoral dissertation by Russ T. Graves, professor at Texas A&M College, 2005. Available online at A comparative study of the life satisfaction of early retirement military officers and etd-tamu-2005B-EPSY-Graves.pdf.
- "America's Military Population" by David R. and Mady Wechsler Segal, excerpted from the December 2004 issue of the Population Reference Bureau's Population Bulletin, Vol 59, No 4. Available online at http://www.prb.org/Source/ACF1396.pdf.
- DoD Statistical Report on the Military Retirement System:
http://www.defenselink.mil/actuary/statbook08.pdf

Research
- Reprinted study of 4% safe withdrawal rate (http://spwfe.fpanet.org:10005/publi...etermining Withdrawal Rates Using Histo.pdf): "Determining Withdrawal Rates Using Historical Data" by William P. Bengen, originally published in Journal of Financial Planning, vol. 7, no. 4 (October 1994), pp. 171-80. Reprinted with "Best Of" collection in 2004.
- The Trinity Study (http://bobsfiles.home.att.net/trinity.htm):
"Retirement Savings: Choosing a Withdrawal Rate That Is Sustainable" by Philip L. Cooley, Carl M. Hubbard and Daniel T. Walz, professors of finance in the Department of Business Administration, Trinity University, San Antonio, Texas. Included in Scott Burns' column at News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News | Scott Burns: Columns 2006
- Asset allocation effect on portfolio (CFA: Error "Determinants of portfolio performance" Gary Brinson, Randolf Hood, Gilbert Beebower, Financial Analysis Journal, July-August 1986, pp.39-44.
- Strategic asset allocation for individual investors: the impact of the present value of Social Security benefits by Steve P. Fraser, William W. Jennings, David R. King
- Raddr's home page (http://raddr-pages.com/research/index.htm): an ER's research on asset allocation, diversification, and withdrawal rates.

Military articles
- Summary of the military retirement system (two parts):
The Military Retirement System - Military Benefits - Military.com
The Military Retirement System (Part 2) - Military Benefits - Military.com
- USAA's "Military Retirement: One Chance to Get It Right" ebook
(https://content.usaa.com/mcontent/s...tirement_ebook_download.pdf?cacheid=390930281), accessed from http://www.USAA.com/transition
- DoD analysis of REDUX: Comparing Options
- DoD summary of REDUX at specific ranks and years of service:
Typical Solutions
- Center for Naval Analysis REDUX study: http://www.cna.org/documents/D0003713.A4.pdf
- Military.com analysis of REDUX: The Military Retirement System (Part 2) - Military Benefits - Military.com
- Military Times "REDUX Bonus: Bad Deal Gets Worse": Redux Bonus: Bad Deal Gets Worse
- Military Times "REDUX Bonus Repeal Sought": Redux Bonus Repeal Sought
- "As I See It" Military Officer's Association of America article on REDUX: MOAA: Military Officers Association of AmericaAs I See It — REDUX “Career Status Bonus” — A $30,000 Scandal
- MOAA on Roth TSP proposal:
MOAA: Military Officers Association of AmericaAs I See It — Thrift Savings Plan: Don’t Play With Matches
- MSN Money "Does military service still pay?": Does military service still pay? - MSN Money
- Military Times "Retired Pay Differences Rise": Retired Pay Differences Rise
- Military Times "Active Duty Retirees Die Sooner Than Reservists": Reservists Live Longer than Active Duty
- Kiplinger's "Personal Finance for Military Families":
http://www.kiplinger.com/money/military/pdfs/Military_Families_Final.pdf?kipad_id=65
- Money magazine "Retired at 40: The Nielsens": Retired at 40 - February 1, 2008

Articles
William Bernstein's "Retirement Calculator from Hell" five-part series:
DATAQUEST
The Retirement Calculator From Hell - Part II
The Retirement Calculator from Hell, Part III
Retirement Calculator from Hell, Part IV
The Retirement Calculator from Hell, Part V
Newsletters on the retirement transition: Index of /newsletter
Philip Greenspun on ER: Early Retirement
"Six myths" of Social Security": This article and more available at Investopedia.com

Military websites
Military.com
DoD's REDUX website: Comparing Options
StayNavy retirement pay calculator: https://staynavytools.bol.navy.mil/RetCalc/Default.aspx
Computing retired military pay: Computing Retired Military Pay - Military Benefits - Military.com
USAA's "Military Retirement" summary: https://www.usaa.com/inet/ent_utils/McStaticPages?key=ret_understand_your_military_retirement
DFAS pay tables: Military Pay Tables
TSP FAQs: TSP: Uniformed Services Features, Table of Contents; 2008 Sep 18
TSP annuity calculator: TSP: Annuity Calculator; 2008 Feb 26
"Military Handbooks": Military Handbooks
"Together We Served" Navy and its other service websites: United States Navy - Together We Served

Websites
Early-Retirement.org. The biggest and busiest of the bunch with over 8000 members, over seven years, and over 500,000 posts.
Retire Early Home Page (http://www.retireearlyhomepage.com): over a decade of research, articles, and reviews by John Greaney, another ER pioneer.
Bob Clyatt's "Work Less, Live More": Work Less, Live More: The New Way to Retire Early by Bob Clyatt
Billy & Akaisha Kaderli: Retire Early Lifestyle
Paul & Vicki Terhorst: Home ‎(paulvicgroup)‎
The Efficient Frontier (Efficient Frontier). William Bernstein's research on asset allocation and estimating safe withdrawal rates.
The Dollar $tretcher (http://www.stretcher.com): One of the best websites about saving, paying off debt, and living with money. Many more links to Bankrate.com.
Gummy's Stuff (http://www.gummy-stuff.org/): an absolute treasure trove of financial information, explanations, and entertainment. Retired professor Peter Ponzo is no longer updating the site but a cache is available at gummy stuff.
FundAlarm (http://www.fundalarm.com/wwwboard/wwwboard.html): Roy Weitz' revealing, irreverent, and occasionally ruthless critiques of the mutual-fund industry.
SimpleLiving.net (http://www.simpleliving.net/). The triumphs and details of frugal living.
Ed Slott's IRA Help discussion board: Ed Slott and Company IRA Discussion Forum • Index page
Fairmark (http://www.fairmark.com/index.htm): extremely comprehensive tax guide.
Your Money or Your Life updates: Your Money or Your Life
Bud Hebeler's "Analyze Now!" retirement research: http://www.analyzenow.com
Early Retirement Extreme (http://earlyretirementextreme.com/): a very early retiree with unusual ideas on frugality and on achieving ER in just a few years. Not for the faint of heart, but many valuable concepts to choose from.
Bogleheads reference library (Bogleheads :: View topic - Table of Contents and http://www.bogleheads.org/readbooks.htm): many more resources on low-cost investing and index funds.
"My Next Phase" (http://www.mynextphase.com/): retirement surveys and counseling for adjusting your retirement plans to your personality, temperament, and interests. Valuable articles and advice but the "tough love" approach may be mildly annoying at times. For a preview, see the link to their newsletters in the "Articles" section.
Bureau of Labor & Statistics (http://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm): inflation calculator for answering the question "What's a dollar worth today?" Also contains more details on the Consumer Price Index, the Producer Price Index, and the Employment Cost Index.
Investopedia.com: huge dictionary of investment terms and concepts.

Products
FIRECalc (http://www.fireseeker.com/): the latest free version of the original early-retirement calculator, with different planning options for different scenarios.
FinancialEngines (http://www.financialengines.com): Free trial of extremely detailed retirement calculator. Allows changing many more parameters than a typical retirement calculator.
"Analyze Now!" (http://www.analyzenow.com/Free Programs/free_programs.htm): spreadsheets and programs for analyzing different retirement scenarios from "Bud" Hebeler's retirement planner.
ESPlanner (http://www.esplanner.com/): retirement planning software designed to level out spending and consumption over the span of a retirement. Extremely detailed data entry for those who want to investigate all the intricacies of ER financial planning.
Day clocks (http://www.dayclocks.com/): this is not a joke!

 

[LOL!]

Does Optimal Retirement Calculator and Retirement Decision Support System belong in there?

 

[walkinwood]

Do you have a mind-reading machine?

I was browsing around in the Links section & other FAQ forums in here earlier today for a list of books on investing. I wanted to share it with a friend and was feeling too lazy to write it up myself.

Many thanks!

 

[Nords]

Does Optimal Retirement Calculator and Retirement Decision Support System belong in there?

Absolutely, thanks. Forgot about that one.

 

[Cb]

SG's ER book: Engineering your Retirement by Mike Golio

The Micheal Kitces SWR study: http://www.kitces.com/assets/pdfs/Kitces_Report_May_2008.pdf

 

[walkinwood]

I'd like to add the Intelligent Asset Allocator by William Bernstein in the Investment category.

 

[calmloki]

This looks worthwhile, a spending smarter type book that focuses on established tips that have worked for many. Worth a quick read just to review personal spending habits: we're looking at our landline phone expense and whether it is still useful in these days.
Amazon.com: Living Rich by Spending Smart: How to Get More of What You Really Want (9780132350099): Gregory Karp: Books

Make more or spend less - pretty much the same - this is a spend less book.

 

[Nords]

Thanks, everyone-- keep 'em coming.

 

[Martha]

I didn't see Raddr's board: http://www.raddr-pages.com/forums/

Especially good for the perpetual travelers and curmudgeons.

 

[haha]

This looks worthwhile, a spending smarter type book that focuses on established tips that have worked for many. Worth a quick read just to review personal spending habits: we're looking at our landline phone expense and whether it is still useful in these days.
Amazon.com: Living Rich by Spending Smart: How to Get More of What You Really Want (9780132350099): Gregory Karp: Books

Make more or spend less - pretty much the same - this is a spend less book.

I reserved this at the library. Looks interesting!

Ha

 

[freebird5825]

In Post #1 in this thread, the link to this site
Home (paulvicgroup)
under your Websites list, seems to have some strange characters in it.
Also in the Military Articles list, a few odd characters are embedded in a few of the links, at least as they appear here.

It may be an artifact of the copy/paste from your desktop editor to the forum editor.

 

[utrecht]

I clicked on 6 of the links in the "Website" catagory and 5 of them were no longer any good.

 

[RonBoyd]

I clicked on 6 of the links in the "Website" catagory and 5 of them were no longer any good.

And I was told that the Internet was forever.

 

[Nords]

I clicked on 6 of the links in the "Website" catagory and 5 of them were no longer any good.

If you tell me which five of the links are dead then perhaps I'll be able to do something about it. They all tested good a couple months ago and it might be the board's formatting.

One issue was that when I cut/pasted the list, vBulletin automatically converted each URL to its BBCode equivalent. That put the list over some character limit and it looks like it's also mangling the formatting as well.

Mods, Admins, if you raise the character limit and give me editing permissions then I can go in and fix it.

 

[Nords]

Mods, Admins, if you raise the character limit and give me editing permissions then I can go in and fix it.

Rather than repairing the HTML in this list, I've reformatted it and posted it on the "Recommended Reading" tab of the book's blog:
Recommended reading | Military Retirement & Financial Independence

Post here (or on the blog) to let me know what else should be added...

 

[Onward]

The Wealthy Barber deserves to be there IMO, probably under "Investing."

Same for Bernstein's The Investor's Manifesto.

The clearest introduction I know of to the mechanics of the U.S. stock market is in Engel and Hecht's How to Buy Stocks. Personally I'd include that on any recommended reading list.

Shouldn't Boglehead’s Guide to Retirement Planning be under the "Retirement" section?

 

[martyp]

"How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free" by Ernie Zelinski

 

[RonBoyd]

The Only Guide You'll Ever Need for the Right Financial Plan: Managing Your Wealth, Risk, and Investments by Larry E. Swedroe

Designed for savvy investors and professional advisors, this book offers the vital information needed for developing and implementing an overall strategic financial plan. In this essential resource, Swedroe outlines the basics in asset allocation and other investment planning concepts.

• Addresses how you can design an investment policy statement and an individual asset allocation plan
• Examines how to maintain your portfolio's risk profile in the most cost-effective and tax-efficient manner
• Offers insights on integrating risk management and estate planning issues into your plan

 

[RonBoyd]

Retirement Income Redesigned: Master Plans for Distribution: An Adviser's Guide For Funding Boomer's Best Years
By Deena B. Katz (editor) and Harold Evensky (editor)

Clients nearing retirement have some significant challenges to face. And so do their advisers. They can expect to live far longer after they retire. And the problems they expect their advisers to solve are far more complex. The traditional sources of retirement income may be shriveling, but boomers don't intend to downsize their plans. Instead, they're redefining what it means to be retired—as well as what they require of financial advisers. Planners who aren’t prepared will be left behind. Those who are will step up to some lucrative and challenging work.


To help get the work done, Harold Evensky and Deena Katz—both veteran problem solvers—have tapped the talents of a range of experts whose breakthrough thinking offers solutions to even the thorniest issues in retirement-income planning:

• Sustainable withdrawals
• Longevity risk
• Eliminating luck as a factor in planning
• Immediate annuities, reverse mortgages, and viatical and life settlements
• Strategies for increasing retirement cash flow

 

[SunsetSail]

This is a great list; I've added a couple books to my personal queue.

I enjoyed the Richest Man in Babylon by George Samuel Clason. There aren't any groundbreaking revelations but it is interesting to read about savings in a different context.

I also liked Manias, Panics and Crashes: A History of Financial Crises by Charles Kindleberger. It provides some historical context to keeping your focus during extreme conditions.

Beyond Greed and Fear: Finance and the Pyschology of Investing was interesting and is a useful ground against trying to predict securities markets although that wasn't necessarily the message of the book, just my take. This book might not be appropriate for this list, but I thought I would throw it out there.

I will add my vote for the Wealthy Barber which is the first book I plan to read to my kids when they are old enough to potentially take something away from it. This is also the first book I recommend to people when they express an interest in savings, but don't have a clue where to begin.

 

[Zero]

"Buckets of Money" by Raymond Lucia

 

[rockyj]

Good to see an updated list like this - some new things here for me to check at library.

I've always liked some of the articles at FundAdvice.com - Home - the Merriman website - especially "The Ultimate Buy and Hold Strategy" and "Fine Tuning Your Asset Allocation". These two give a pretty good sense, with specific and fairly long term historic data, of the benefits of diversification among equity asset classes, as well as the long term "risk/reward" tradeoff for various equity/bond mixes. Merriman has updated these each year for last few years to reflect most recent data (turmoil).

 

[Nords]

Great additions, thanks, I'll add them to the blog too.

Please keep 'em coming!