When I was offered the opportunity to receive an early copy of Work Optional: Retire Early the Non-Penny Pinching Way, I was thrilled. Our Next Life was one of the earlier financial independence, retire early blogs I started reading regularly, well before I even considered writing my own. Beyond that, I’ve gotten the meet Tanja Hester in real life at the inaugural Cents Positive retreat that she put together, and she is a wonderfully knowledgeable person in real life as well as just being a good human.
I knew that Work Optional would be different from her blog, but I also knew that I’d likely enjoy anything she’d written because she has a fabulous way with words and tends to focus on getting to the heart of an issue rather than simply sticking to the “black and white” of the financial piece (which is never really black an white anyway). I was not disappointed reading this book.
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Part One: Define Your Work Optional Life
The first part of Work Optional doesn’t talk numbers at all but instead begins with a roadmap to outline what you would consider your best “Work Optional” life. Unlike the more “article style” posts on her blog, this book is set up to be an interactive guide to help you work toward your own version of financial freedom, whatever that might be.
When someone finds the concept of financial independence for the first time, it is much too easy to dive headfirst into the numbers and the idea of simply escaping from your current work situation without taking into consideration what you might actually want to do during the hours you’d normally be at work. Instead, Tanja leads us through a comprehensive process to first determine what we really want out of life outside of money constraints, and only then does she get down to the nitty gritty of how to pay for it all.
Part of this process includes walking through a list of questions to determine what you value most in life and mapping them out visually (you can see mine on page 24!). While I thought I had a pretty good sense of what I did want out of life and the long goal of financial independence, mapping it out helped show a clear vision of what that life looks like (and was confirmation for why I’ve made the changes I have well before hitting financial independence).
Amazingly enough, I asked my husband if he would be willing to go through the exercise as well, and he agreed (shocking as he has VERY little interest in all this personal finance / financial independence stuff other than just generally being on board with the concept). I’m not sure how this layout worked for him, but anyone who can get my husband to write out some long term goals and life themes has done something amazing in my book.
Even better, this exercise showed that our hopes and dreams for both now and in the future are well aligned with each other (spoiler alert: lots of time spent with family and out in nature together). While obviously each of us has particulars that we don’t share, overlap feels pretty important when planning for a shared life.
Part Two: The Financials of Your Work Optional/Early Retirement
Only once you’ve determined what you actually want out of life does the book walk through the logistics of actually creating the wealth required to retire early (or downshift a career, make a leap to entrepreneurship, etc – basically whatever life you described in part one). You need to figure out your “why” beyond simply wanting to walk away from work, not only to determine what you’ll be doing once you have all that free time, but also what’s most important to you while you’re working on getting there.
Something that Tanja is particularly good at is discussing contingency plans, and this part of the book is filled with that discussion. While of course there is information about the basic black and white numbers of what is typically considered to be financial independence (somewhere between 25x and 33x+ your annual spending), she spends quite a bit of time walking through each piece of what might make up your expenses over the long term, especially as you age and may need more / different health care.
A somewhat different approach to her take on what is “enough,” Tanja and her husband calculated their number based on a two tiered retirement – the money that would take them through their “early retirement” years (pre-59.5 years old) and then separate buckets of money to see them through their “traditional retirement” years.
I love this breakdown because it is an extra contingency plan in and of itself; if for any reason you were wrong about how much money you needed to see you through your earlier years, you’re (more likely) young enough to make some more money / adjust as necessary. She reminds us that the advice “just go back to work” isn’t as easy as it seems. The point where you find yourself needing more money after all may be at a point where you are no longer in a position to make it due to age, personal circumstance, economic downturn, etc.
As she puts it, she doesn’t want any chance of running out of money when she’s seventy-five and out of options to make more (and doesn’t want any of us to be in that position, either). Of course, she lays this out as an alternative option, not a requirement, laying out a more “typical” early retirement plan that blends the total money saved into a single bucket; something she never does is tells you that her way is the only way forward.
Even if you decide not to be so conservative, she lays out all the alternatives so you can pick the path that is best for you, with eyes wide open. Personal finance is personal, and this book does a good job of reflecting that reality.
“Optimal is only optimal if it truly works for you, and there’s no shame in creating your own systems that suit who you are.”
After laying out the hard numbers and all the possible roadblocks in place to living your financial independence dream, Tanja still does have a positive outlook on how we can get there: “After you have your big life vision and roadmap on place, you find that many of your priorities change in ways that help you get to your goals faster.” She does a good job running down the ways in which this is possible, and this is something I have definitely seen in my own life.
Once I had a clear picture in mind for our finances, our big goals seemed so much more attainable and within our control. The biggest question is what are you willing to do and what are you willing to forgo in order to get there (and the answer doesn’t always have to be optimizing to the last penny).
Part Three: Making the Big Leap
Interestingly enough, the last part of the book was less interesting to me, though for most people just starting out on the path of financial independence and early retirement, this is the most exciting part. As we aren’t running toward a path that soon removes work from our lives, the discussion of the post retirement years felt like something I might return to when we get closer to the idea of walking away from our careers.
Even so, there was a lot to take away from the last chapters, regardless of your short and long term future. “Focus on the best parts of work” is excellent advice to someone who has one year left, five years left, or has no plans to retire even in another twenty. There is so much focus in the financial independence community on the finish line that ends in early retirement that our working years get pushed off as something to endure instead of enjoy to the fullest.
Regardless of what your ideal life looks life based on the exercises in part one, making sure to stay present and enjoying the years that pass is vitally important. Even for those who plan to retire extra early at thirty five or even younger, I hope they don’t look up and find a decade has passed without actually being lived.
And then of course, the transition to (early) retirement isn’t just about the numbers. With any big life transition, there are a lot of emotions that go along with that change, and the book lays out how to tackle each of these pieces, to include paying attention to your social circle and making sure you have a community for when your life is not overwhelmingly connected to your work.
In a small way, I found this to be true in the early months when I was home with my new baby, when all of my friends were working during the week and I was oftentimes alone for more hours that I would have liked.
“Creat[ing] social circles with aligned spending habits” and in similar life stages is great advice for all of us, not just those looking to take the leap away from work. I’ve found this in my own life with our fabulous neighborhood as well as the wonderful online personal finance community. While it may not feel quite as important when work is a large part of our lives, this advice is especially sound for anyone deciding to head down the path of retirement, regardless of age.
But really, why should we wait until retirement to have our lives be optimal in terms of experiences and outlook? So much of what an early retired life looks like can look that way right now.
Final Thoughts
At the end of each chapter, the book includes a checklist with the details that have just been reviewed. As we get closer to a more defined plan, these will be something that I will review over and over again. I’m a lover of checklists, and they are a clear roadmap of each piece that needs to be considered before making the leap into early retirement.
Fully following each of the steps in this book would make me extremely confident that the plan we put in place would be one that would succeed long term. Tanja has thought long and hard about each interconnected piece of what it takes to find yourself fully financially independent, and she’s laid it out in such a way that we can all follow (in our own “choose your own adventure” kind of way).
The beauty of the many real life examples that are sprinkled throughout the book makes it obvious that there are many different paths to financial independence; just because one path has gotten more air time does not mean there aren’t thirty different paths open to us depending on what we want most in life.
Giveaway!
As promised, my review of Work Optional also comes with my very first giveaway on this blog. I loved this book and found it to be such an awesome manual for someone looking to pursue a “Work Optional” life that I decided I wanted to host a giveaway so I could pass a copy along to a reader.
Up to two entries per person: 1) comment on this post or 2) subscribe to the blog (box below) – if you’re already a subscriber, send me an email, and that will count as an entry. If you’re looking to order a copy now, you can buy Work Optional: Retire Early the Non-Penny-Pinching Way on Amazon – the official release date is tomorrow, February 12th, so it will ship the following day.
The contest closes the evening of the 14th and I will announce the winner in this week’s Friday’s Frugal Five post on the 15th.
With that, I’ll leave you with one of my favorite quotes from the book that really capture what this whole “financial independence” thing is really all about:
“…retirement itself isn’t about never contributing to society again. It isn’t even about whether you work or not. It’s about having the freedom to control your own time and to decide for yourself how to spend your focus and attention.”
What do you want your life to look like?
This book sounds great! I like books that help you create actionable steps, andbit sounds like this one does that. I like the idea of creating a roadmap and am intrigued with the concept of a two-tier retirement savings plan. Very interesting!
P. S. I am a lover of checklists as well.
It’s totally great! She does a wonderful job breaking down the steps into something that sounds doable (but not overly optimistic to the point where you can get in trouble later in life).
I’m not really in a position to attain FI before probably regular retirement age, but I still run the risk of not enjoying the present enough in my efforts to save. Luckily, I have a great group of friends that I hang out with. They keep me rooted in the present a bit more than if I were on my own.
I guess I just want my life to look like one filled with friends (check) and saving for the future (check). Ideally, I’d be saving the maximum toward retirement, but that just isn’t possible right now. So I’ll have to content myself with saving a reasonable amount and hoping it’s enough for future me.
In some ways, I’d argue making sure to enjoy the present is even more important if you don’t expect to be able to retire early, because that means you’re looking at a long working career, so you may as well enjoy the ride as best you can (without forgetting about retirement, of course).
Exited to get my copy in the mail tomorrow!
And if I win the giveaway I’ll either give the copy away on my blog or find a friend who I can share it with!
Woo!! And yes, there’s always use for an extra copy to pass along to someone else 🙂
Can people from Europe join too? In that case, I love to win the book as I have yet so much to learn on personal finance! 🙂
I don’t see why not! 🙂
I’d love to win The Squirrel Manifesto for my two boys (3,5 and almost 5). With this book they can learn about money and learn more English as well. I don’t know if people from Europe can join too, but we’ll see 🙂
Wrong post – you’ll want to hop on over to Chief Mom Officer’s blog to enter for that one!
I didn’t realize that it was an interactive book as you have described. That is a really cool way of putting this book together as I think when you work out the pieces of the puzzle you learn more and retain more.
Also, I really like Tanja and Mark in Nevada when I reached out to them to meet up for a coffee. I was headed to California to do some mountain climbing in their neck of the woods. So nice, they are great people.
Yeah, I agree! Didn’t know what to expect with the format but I loved the layout 🙂
This books sounds great and I would love to read it! Love the checklist idea.
I can see the checklists being SUPER helpful. Makes the plan feel so much more complete and concrete 🙂
I’m excited to go through the exercises as well! I can’t wait to share this book with all of my friends… stocking stuffers, birthday presents… you name it!
Ha yes!! You get a book, and you get a book, and you…. 😉
After reading the twitter buzz, I requested the book at my local library. I’m excited to read it when I can.
Excellent! I’ll be requesting it at my library too – want everyone to have access to it 🙂
So excited for Tanja, I love her blog so much!
I want a life with more music in it, without the worry of art having to somehow cover all my living expenses🎼
As an I!! And yes, art is one of those things that is especially difficult to make work financially (and without having to change up one you’d like to be doing).
I already have the book requested at my library! FIRE is more than just numbers, so I’ve very curious to see how all the ‘other stuff’ was tackled.
SOOOO much more than the numbers! The numbers are just one piece of it.
(Don’t enter me in the contest. The international postage for books is a killer!)
Love that quote at the end.
This was a good review. Looks like I’m going to have to buy it! 🙂
Well, I’m sure I could always have it shipped directly from amazon! 😄
An actionable plan sounds right up my ally. I think my wife would really like this book based on your description. She is not particulary intrigued by FI but this book might pique her interest.
Btw. I’m already subscribed. Which email would you like us to use if we are already subscribed?
treadlightly.retireearly@gmail.com 🙂
Part one especially!!
Would love to get this book!
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This is good. I like having contingency plans. I like having cash reserves just in case. I figured if I saved 50% of my income, I should invest 30% and save 20% in savings. You have to have cash and investments to retire.
Thanks,
Miriam
Yeah, a cash buffer (as long as it isn’t your full investment strategy) is never a bad idea.
I pre ordered and am so excited to read Tanja’s book when it arrives!!!
Just about that time!!
You know part of my story, but I’m still at the edge where I’m pushing Penny away from FI rather than towards.
I’ve heard so much praise that it’s both a numbers book and more than retirement book.
I’m always looking for that next step to get her on board, and feel like this may be the missing puzzle piece.
I’m still unsure if I will retire early, often, or traditionally. My why of FI doesn’t change, but I need that extra push of actually outlining my FI plan beyond the numbers.
So much more than a retirement book. I definitely think this one might be the one to share with Penny, ESPECIALLY part 1 🙂
As I’ve mentioned in a few posts, I’ve never really thought about the option of retiring early, but the more I read from you guys (and a lot of the articles Tanja has been writing in conjunction with the release of her book) I’m starting to get a better idea of what FI/RE might look like.
For now what I envision with reaching FI/RE is being able to relax. Less rushing around! Less “HAVING” to be somewhere. More…freedom! I’m not big on travel right now but I think I’d be more keen if I knew I didn’t have to schedule it around work and everything, I’d be more interested!
I think it helps as the kiddos get slightly older and you have the bandwidth to think about more than just getting through the next week. It seems like your work is reasonably flexible – perhaps you can keep to slightly fewer hours even once the kiddos get a bit older? I find having just a bit more time every day has been magical.
Thanks for your comprehensive and interesting review. I’m sure Tanja will be over the moon. Please don’t pick me as a winner as posting to the UK would be too much.
Ha, okay, if you say so 😉
I’ve been taking notes while reading through your post, answering the questions it raised (eg. what are my goals?) Thank you for prompting me to actually write it down, not just ponder in my mind (and forget!)
Writing it down is SO important! You think that you’d remember things like goals, but the clarity isn’t there until you’re fully intentional about it, I think.
Looking forward to reading Tanja’s book for a while now and have already placed a hold in the library for it when it comes out. Very excited for her and sounds like a great read based on your review. Thanks for the opportunity to win a copy of her book Angela. If I win a copy, I may have to cancel my hold of the book. =)
Excellent that your library already has a wait list for it! Hopefully that means they’ll buy some extra copies 🙂
Great review, made me even more excited to read the book! I’ll be getting it from the library asap 🙂
Excellent!!
I’ve been hearing such great things about this book from so many people! Reading your thorough and personal review makes me want to read it even more! Thanks for sharing your thoughts!!
Glad to share them! Definitely worth the read.
Sounds like an awesome read.
It totally is 🙂
Great review of the book. Checklists at the end of chapters are great. It is one of the things we liked about Your Money or Your Life. Please enter us in the giveaway!
Loooove the checklists! Will make it easy to go back and refer to it a bunch 🙂
I’m excited to read this one!
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Really looking forward to reading this book! Based on your review I feel like it will be a great help, especially since recently I’ve been having more and more thoughts about altering my path to FI to help give me more free time/do things I enjoy now, instead of trudging along working long hours in order to get that next big promotion and speed up my FI date. We’ll see what comes of it!
YES! And you know that’s where I fall on the race for FI spectrum 🙂
Can’t wait to read this book. It was pretty easy for me to figure out the numbers part of my journey to FIRE. However, the emotional and psychological reasons are more vague, other than I know I want to change and live a more meaningful life now. Sounds like the beginning of this book will help outline this aspect for me, looking forward to it.
Yeah, the numbers really are the “easiest” part of the whole process once you set things in motion.
Just got my copy of Work optional and can’t wait to dive in. I entered early retirement earlier than planned and continue to get great insight by FIRE blogs and books like this as I navigate through my new reality!
That’s awesome to hear! We think about retiring early as the end game but it’s really just the start of something new 🙂
Listening to the audiobook now! I have to figure out how to access the checklists now, I’m all about lists. And, I’ll have to track down the physical book so I can see your values map. So cool that you’re in the book!
Apparently the audiobook comes with pdf downloads! Or so says Tanja haha. I’ll text you a picture of my map tonight – don’t let me forget 🙂
I absolutely love this post about the book Work Optional. I am really excited to read the book and it gives me a lot of reasons to do so after reading your thoughts. I like how you say that she does not talk about the numbers first but a roadmap instead! This is awesome. And I like how you mentor the wuite that it is optimal if it is optimal for me and it is okay to create something that works. I love that there are check lists after each chapter. This seems mike a must read! Thank you for writing about it.
Definitely a must read!! 🙂
Great synopsis. I’m waiting until the library gets it but gifted a couple copies to seeker FI friends. 🙂 Stay warm! We are experiencing quite a deluge here in SoCal. More rain than I’ve seen in a winter for 11 years.
Definitely an excellent gift!! This weather is wonky everywhere this winter.