Midpack
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
I’d never heard of Jacob Fisker until a few weeks ago (here thanks), but after reading his blog archives I was anxious to read his brand new book (fortunate timing for me). I was predisposed to like the book. Just finished the book this morning and I’m still formulating my review. I’d say it’s a challenging but good niche book that could have so easily appealed to a broader audience. Nevertheless, this will probably be 5-Star read for those who already subscribe to LBYM, FI and/or RE, presumably most at ER.org, ‘preaching to the choir.’ It's a somewhat difficult read, but I would highly recommend the book to this audience. It would never appeal to the mainstream unconscious consumers among us and wasn’t meant to, but why the author knowingly chose not to appeal to and help aspiring disciples much more I don’t understand. I think the book leaves them hungry but unable to achieve the results the book itself inspires. The hunger is evidently supposed to provide the motivation.
The subtitle is “a philosophical and practical guide to financial independence.” IMO it covers the philosophical in great detail, but it’s deliberately pretty thin on practical. The author states repeatedly that this won’t be a rote ‘how to’ book – great, I’d rather learn how to fish than to have the author give me a fish. It bears a resemblance to Your Money or Your Life (and I’d pay dearly for a modern update of that book), but that book provided a better balance of philosophical/concepts, practices and results whereas Early Retirement Extreme largely omits practices. There is no question Mr. Fisker would be capable of writing the more complete and therefore better book IMHO.
To liken it to a cookbook, he describes techniques and ingredients in great detail (which is indeed valuable) and then says you’re now capable of cooking anything you want. I don’t want a book with 500 recipes, but a well chosen recipe or two might help me learn to get those results for myself more effectively. I’m left to make a lot of (costly) mistakes on my way to the perfect stew. He says there are other books for that…yes, but why not tie it all together somewhat?
Chapters 1 & 2 and the Epilogue were great IMO, I loved the Plato's Cave metaphor. Chapters 3 thru 5 mixed at times confusing stream of consciousness writing (better editing might have helped) laced with bondafide a-ha moments. Chapters 6 & 7 were just too thin for my tastes – even for a sympathetic reader.
In the end it was a worthwhile read, mixing a-ha moments with others where I felt unnecessarily underserved. There will be others for other readers, I’ll share one of each:
Not necessarily the best example, but one I could find again easily, where more would have been most helpful.
An a-ha moment for me? It’s probably been stated here before and I should have figured it out myself, but this may finally set me free.
When all is said and done, I suspect the author achieved what he set out to. I just don't understand why he chose not to cast a little wider net...but maybe I will come to understand in time.
The subtitle is “a philosophical and practical guide to financial independence.” IMO it covers the philosophical in great detail, but it’s deliberately pretty thin on practical. The author states repeatedly that this won’t be a rote ‘how to’ book – great, I’d rather learn how to fish than to have the author give me a fish. It bears a resemblance to Your Money or Your Life (and I’d pay dearly for a modern update of that book), but that book provided a better balance of philosophical/concepts, practices and results whereas Early Retirement Extreme largely omits practices. There is no question Mr. Fisker would be capable of writing the more complete and therefore better book IMHO.
To liken it to a cookbook, he describes techniques and ingredients in great detail (which is indeed valuable) and then says you’re now capable of cooking anything you want. I don’t want a book with 500 recipes, but a well chosen recipe or two might help me learn to get those results for myself more effectively. I’m left to make a lot of (costly) mistakes on my way to the perfect stew. He says there are other books for that…yes, but why not tie it all together somewhat?
Chapters 1 & 2 and the Epilogue were great IMO, I loved the Plato's Cave metaphor. Chapters 3 thru 5 mixed at times confusing stream of consciousness writing (better editing might have helped) laced with bondafide a-ha moments. Chapters 6 & 7 were just too thin for my tastes – even for a sympathetic reader.
In the end it was a worthwhile read, mixing a-ha moments with others where I felt unnecessarily underserved. There will be others for other readers, I’ll share one of each:
Not necessarily the best example, but one I could find again easily, where more would have been most helpful.
“I’m set for life and I can do whatever I want, whenever I want, within reason, as long as I don’t fall into any consumer traps. Having about 20 diversified streams of income from different investments, I never worry about being unemployed and not having a job.”
I wouldn’t have expected all 20, and we all know dividends & real estate rental income. But providing some insight into so many options for income streams would have been most helpful for the reader to explore. Not one is even named or explained specifically that I could find.
An a-ha moment for me? It’s probably been stated here before and I should have figured it out myself, but this may finally set me free.
“If more people spent five years saving money and learning how to live efficiently on their investments instead of spending five years to become plumbers or MBAs and zero years on living efficiently, and therefore working the rest of their lives, financial freedom might not seem so scary. For those who are still unsure, consider that the worst thing that can happen to me, compared to someone who works for a living, is that I have to go back to work and do what they have been doing all along.”
Wow (for me at least)! And there were several other a-ha moments - wonderful.
When all is said and done, I suspect the author achieved what he set out to. I just don't understand why he chose not to cast a little wider net...but maybe I will come to understand in time.