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Any recommendations on books that really help one to become...?
The basics are not anything new.
Start with Dickens and savings discipline.
Next up is the vocabulary and basic math related... take ACC 101 & 102. Pay attention.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MrMicawber
Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen pounds nineteen and six, result happiness.
Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds nought and six, result misery.
Last edited by MrRational; 04-16-2017 at 05:58 AM..
Most books I read, though inspiring, are not exactly ground breaking in terms of how to make it happen. It could be that I've read so much online about financial freedom that it all just seems to be more of the same, but there really seem to be just 2-3 ways of doing it.
1) Pay off debt and live a minimalist lifestyle. If you live in a small house, drive a cheap yet dependable car, and don't need a bunch of designer labels you can make a dollar go extremely far. You'll still need an income, but you wont need $100,000 a year, maybe $30,000 which takes away a ton of stress about paying bills or losing your job as you can easily find another in that price range.
2) Realestate.. Of all the reading I've done this seems to be the most tried and true way to "financial freedom" and retiring early. Lets say you're smart about finding deals well below market, you're really good at DIY projects, you decide you want to retire in 10 years and in order to do that you want to buy property, refinance and cashout to buy more property after you've done your DIY work to drastically increase the value with little out of pocket cash. In 10 years you've purchased a total of 20 long term rental properties. Each property after all expenses cashflows an average of $250 a month. You have a total income of $5,000 coming in every month that is darn near tax free. You retire early....
3) You get lucky starting a business that doesn't completely own you.. Forget a brick and mortar retail shop on main street, you'll be there 7 days a week 15 hours a day. Forget a self storage place you'll need too much up front capital. Forget a franchise, both negatives from above apply. No, you'd need to get lucky with some online dropship business, a super trendy blog that goes semi-viral with some amazing pay-per-click and affiliates, an eCommerce business filling a niche that can be fulfilled from a small cheap location shipping all over the world. Hard work only goes so far with something like this, a little luck will be needed, but this can certainly be the most financially rewarding the fastest, but probably also the most stressful.
If you can do a combination of all 3 you should be able to retire early on your own terms with the financial freedom of knowing you have low monthly obligations, investments that can cover the bills, and a business you get to operate on your own terms that doesn't rip you away from day to day life.
"The four hour work week" talks a lot about stretching a dollar and thinking outside the box. It also provides a lot of helpful websites to make things happen. Again, pretty inspiring but not exactly ground breaking.
I think Mr. Money Mustache is the best and most succinct.
But I also like how Todd at www.financialmentor.com talks about how you have to get deeply motivated. Financial independence is more about your mind and emotions than anything else. Money alone or material possessions alone will not be sufficient motivators. And just becoming financially independent isn't enough either. You need to have a sense of what you're going to do with your life after you achieve financial independence. If you expect a life of leisure to make you happy, it won't. You'll be bored within 6 months to 2 years, depending on your personality.
"The Richest Man in Babylon." An easy read that does a good job explaining basic financial concepts. Most of it should be common sense. Unfortunately, that kind of sense isn't so common.
Any recommendations on books that really help one to become financially independent?
Probably should be a little more specific. There are really three elements at work here... income, spending, and investment return. On this forum we tend to see most of the emphasis on the first two. The idea of becoming a better investor seems to be dismissed outright by most.
The best investing book for me was The Four Pillars of Investing - Bernstein
The best book on financial independence for me was The Millionaire Next Door - Stanley
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