The author of Early Retirement Extreme: A philosophical and practical guide to financial independence
I jumped on it when he offered an opportunity to read his book recently. If you are a regular ERE reader, then you know the extreme is not an exaggeration. Evan at My Journey to Millions wrote about trying to understand Jacob’s philosophy. You see I’ve also been trying to understand it and we both keep reading!
Reading this book lit the bulb in my brain and although I wouldn’t go as extreme, there’s a lot of valuable information in the book. The material is divided amongst seven chapters with subsections for each reminding me very much of academic books I’ve read in the past.
Economic Classifications
I’m going to share my two favorite sections of the book to give you a taste of what’s included. The economic classifications of people was very interesting. The four types include salary man, working man, business man and renaissance man. I would consider myself a salary man person with a specialized job.
For me the goal would be to become a business person, but Jacob proposes the renaissance man is the best of all worlds.
Renaissance Lifestyle
This chapter is fascinating with advice on how to put a simpler lifestyle in place starting with how to deal with stuff. Then he moves on to practical information on all aspects of living including shelter, transportation, health and more. He almost motivated me to bike to work and I don’t even own a bike!
———-$$$$$———-
If you want a simpler lifestyle (and I hope you do) but don’t know where to start, I would recommend reading this book and subscribing to Jacob’s blog. My copy will be visiting other personal finance bloggers to read so keep an eye out for future reviews!
{ 3 comments }
I’d be interested in reading Jacob’s book. I know he has some different views on lifestyles and they sound fascinating. I would also say that you live in a great climate that accommodates riding your bike to work. I ride to work some days (though lately it’s been too chilly – and I’m such a wimp!) and to school all the time (but that’s only one day a week.) Riding my bike makes me feel happier than driving. You should give it a try! But first find a lightly used bike that fit’s your comfort level. 😉
I recently received this book and I’m looking forward to reading it. I would be interested in implementing some of the ideas, though I doubt to the extreme that Jacob practices them.
Thanks for the review. Sounds interesting. I think we all could benefit from living a simpler lifestyle. Might need to pick this up. Will check out his website for more info. Thanks! 🙂
Comments on this entry are closed.
{ 3 trackbacks }