How To Retire Early: Your Guide to Getting Rich Slowly and Retiring on Less

I am a financial advisor and I enjoyed this book very much. I am planning on adding the print version of this to the lending library I keep for clients- this is saying something- I read and discard probably 6 or 7 financial books to every one I keep to lend. My husband and I are getting close to retirement too and I think this book will be helpful in convincing my husband that it really is okay to retire now- or soon anyway.The Charlton's philsosphy about money and dedication to saving is inspiring, and I wish this could be taught in schools. Many people do not have the dedication to do this but some simply don't know its possible. I wasn't a fan of all of the investment advice, but I concede that its very difficult to give investment advice in a book- the market is situational and clients are individuals after all! This book isn't really about investment advice though- its about saving to meet a goal and I did appreciate the Charltons telling what they DID, warts and all. I found the discussion on taxes in retirement very interesting. Overall I think this is a blueprint that could work for a lot of people. Our situation is different as we have 2 grade-school age children, but it won't be difficult to adjust the calculations for that.I wish they had covered a little more about how they allocated their spending AFTER retirement- I'm pretty good at the saving part, but accurately calculating how much I will need to travel and live in retirement is a little scary for me. Did they calculate correctly, underestimate? Did they forget to include anything in their calculations? I would be interested to know what percent of their income goes to trips and how much goes to daily living expenses. By the way, I wrote down my retirement date- it felt great!

I am a Certified Financial Planner and am 48 years old. I’m planning on retiring in the next few years. Amazon member for 10 years and avid reader. This is my 3rd written review on Amazon with over 400 purchases.This is a great starting point for someone in their 30s maybe. But, pay attention to the following caveats!This book is interesting for total novices and appropriate for those who: 1- have NO kids and have no plans to (no offense to the authors, they couldn’t have kids), 2- NO animals, 3- BOTH spouses are incredibly cheap and can live on a shoestring budget, 4- can live in a 308 Sq foot apt! 5- have alternative sources of income (book royalties, pensions, etc), and 6- have the training (nurse, computer programmer, pharmacist), the ability and the desire to go back to work quickly and make a lot of money, if the market turns or doesn’t provide the anticipated growth.I think the idea that the authors would suggest a 9% portfolio return when their actual portfolio returned maybe 7% is not only misleading, but irresponsible. After the 9-10 year bull run we have just ended, an anticipated blended 5-6% return going forward pre-tax would be much more prudent and realistic. The last 10 year return for the S+P 500 was an average of 10.75%, which is one of the highest 10 years ever. But if you blend that with other indices like international or small/mid cap or add some value elements (which the authors recommend) to your portfolio, a 100% equity portfolio the last 10 years may have been lucky to return 7-8%, even at Vanguard with very low expenses. And this is with one of the best 10 year large cap numbers in history.Btw- I would travel a lot also if I lived in a 308 Sq foot apt.The authors suggest that having children will add 5 years to your plan. This is obviously coming from adults who do not have children. From experience, having 2 will easily add 10 years if not more. If you don’t have kids yet, just look at how much college tuition is these days. Estimate @$100k per kid at a in state public school this year. In 20 years that may be double.Finally- 2% inflation is not realistic either based upon the author’s own experience. Their $100k apartment has appreciated to what, $227k in a few years! That’s a little higher than 2%. Maybe 10%.Also- you folks need to make it clear to your readers that the reason that you didn’t increase your $40k budget for 12 years is because you used the old trick of doing more on less by adjusting your spending habits to adjust for inflation. Reminds me of the Wendy’s old dollar menu- everything stayed $1, but everything seemed to get smaller every year. A more realistic inflation figure accounting for food, housing and health care should be 3% if not higher. Especially as you get older.Please use these numbers when doing the math or you will be disappointed at a minimum or devastatedworst case when you run out of money in your 60s or 70s.

This is a fantastic book. If you are interested in retiring early and want to figure out how to, and I mean not only theoretically, but in a completely concrete and hands-on way, then this is exactly the book you need. I cannot recommend this book highly enough! It is pragmatic and creative at the same time, helping you to think outside the box a little (if you want to). If you are interested in a simple lifestyle but rich with experiences (not a life of material things and status), then you will like the tone and ideas of this book.I have been thinking about the idea of retiring early (or at least partially retiring) for a little while now (I am 43), but mostly as a pipe dream that I always dismissed. Because how in the world would that be possible? In part because I couldn't see how to pay for health insurance. That's why I really appreciated the chapter on health care in retirement in particular.I read this book basically in one sitting because I got so excited as I was reading along because I realized that this early retirement idea could *actually* work! And it motivated me to go out on a limb and throw out a really crazy idea and see if I could retire in 10 years (by age 53). With the help of the Excel spreadsheet from the author's website, I pulled together all of the required financial information and played with several scenarios. And guess what! I think it may actually work!!!! I also went over it with my financial planner who uses her own retirement calculator, but with my numbers, we basically came to the same conclusion. Knowing that I have the option of early retirement (if I actually do it or not) has given me a completely new outlook on my future!

Lovely book! Very practical stories from the authors. They motivated me to continue on a path I was already on. I got this book because they were very honest and straight forward in their approach. I enjoyed the invest in yourself option, that is something we easily overlook today!

Great book, the end chapters are very U.S focused, but overall a good read. The spikes in income that the authors had (good job!) can be a bit discouraging, because we have to earn so much more to make it where they did!

A good book and a worthwhile read. As a Canadian, I wish some information had been provided for those of us about to FIRE north of the border.