Stephen M. Pollan (1929–2018)

It's a U.S. centric book so if you're Canadian you might find a lot of this book is pretty irrelevant. i.e. Canadians can't put any faith in his assertions about gifting money, tax breaks, or even medical insurance because our system is very different from the American one. This doesn't mean the underlying idea is wrong, just the details of how to go about doing stuff really don't apply in Canada.

It's also assuming a non-rural lifestyle. More than half of Canadians don't have the option to show more "job hop" willy nilly unless they are also willing to relocate hundreds of miles... or maybe even leave their home province. If you live in northern New Brunswick, you'll find your job-hopping opportunities are pretty limited.

Also, it was written in the late 90s when the world was a different place than it is now. And a big assumption he made did come true - the housing crunch came and bankrupted a lot of people... so his suggestions that one shouldn't put all their eggs into the housing market is a bit dated.

Overall, it's kinda interesting and has a different perspective on how one should manage their finances but... and it's a BIG BUT... one of his main assertions is that we should not retire because that was something that would work for only one generation (and not this one)... yeah, whatever... I'm counting down the years until retirement with great excitement. Don't take that away from me!! show less

Four simple steps form the basis of this book::

1. Quit Today. This is probably my favorite chapter. Quitting means quitting a mentality. He strongly suggests that we think of our job as an income producing activity. It's not a place that you should expect spiritual fulfillment or to be fully respected/appreciated. We should think ourselves of free agents in the sports world jumping to whatever job increases their short or long-term pay. Thinking of jobs this way make it easier to tolerate.

2. show more Pay Cash. I got this one down and disagree. Using credit cards judiciously can be an asset. I have a 30 day no interest loan and usually get rebates from my credit card. Every year I get paid $100-$150 just for the convenience of using my credit card.

3. Don't Retire. We got in our heads that at 65, we are supposed to stop cold turkey and retire. Who says? We are still productive and could be consultants. Part-time working maybe? Or why stop at all? There are plenty of people who once they stopped working really stopping living.

4. Die Broke. This part wasn't written for me. Not yet.

The second part listed his quick thoughts on many financial questions. I am thankful for perhaps the first unbiased opinion on our confusing insurance options (house, auto, life, term, health, earthquake, floor, disability). He is also a big proponent of lease cars versus buying. show less

Worthy advice from someone who has lived their own reinvention and helped countless others. I wish I'd read it before I went through very similar process steps as he outlines in the first section. The book is still true, though the examples and tools are starting to seem dated.

I agree with the general tenets: make money; don't grow, change; take charge; and become a mercenary or create Yourself.com. However, the rules for doing so come across as being far too New Yorker, far too lawyer, and far too baby boomer. Furthermore, there are blatant contradictions (don't have meetings in restaurants; work out of restaurants if possible), and I couldn't accept the reliance on canned scripting.