Retiring early is not a new concept. But in the 2010s, a wave of financial bloggers popularized the notion of financial independence: being able to cover your living expenses with passive income, at a young age.
This is how the fire movement (financial independence, early retirement) was born.
You are reading: Financial independence retire early books
If escaping the rat race appeals to you, choose any of the books below to get started on the path to true financial freedom.
best books on fire
I teach on achieving financial independence with real estate and meet some of the authors below. what amazes me over and over again is that few people who reach for the fire actually quit working, they just do more meaningful and satisfying work. and they do it on their own terms and schedules.
In fact, the very journey to financial independence changes the way you think not only about personal finances, but also about your career and designing your ideal lifestyle. I took my own trip to the fire seriously three years ago, and something funny happened along the way. By working towards my ideal lifestyle, I have largely created it, even as I continue to work.
When you control your work and your hours and can work from anywhere, it stops being a burden. I hope to achieve financial independence in the next three years, and while my job will continue to evolve to suit me, I do not plan to retire.
But when I started, I wanted nothing more than to never have to work another day in my life.
Ambitious journeys change you. they change the way you see the world around you, your role in it, and what you want from it. and the journey to the fire is the most ambitious journey, at least from a financial and lifestyle perspective.
1. “the simple path to riches” by jl collins
jl collins’s easy and accessible book “the simple path to riches” was born from his blog. The blog, in turn, began as a series of letters to Collins’ daughter, who was too young at the time to understand the financial and investment advice she was giving.
Throughout this, collins maintains a deep commitment to simplicity. his writing style is simple and direct. his investment advice is as simple as it sounds. He recommends starting with just one exchange-traded fund (ETF): Vanguard’s Total Equity Market Index Fund (VTI).
then covers a wide range of fundamentals, such as how to make the most of tax-advantaged accounts, how secure withdrawal rates work, and why most people underperform the average stock market return.
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But it doesn’t stop there, moving on to more middle ground, like why you don’t like dollar cost averaging, how to invest during different market phases, and how to preserve your wealth once you’ve built it.
in particular, i love what filmmaker and author malachi rempen has to say about collins: “in the dark, bewildering, trap-infested jungle of misinformation and opaque conundrums that is the investment world, jl collins is the fatherly wizard on the side of the road, offering a simple map, warm words of encouragement, and the tools to confidently navigate your way, you will never find a wiser advisor with a bigger heart.”
if you’re looking for a place to start, start here.
2. “your money or your life” by vicki robin and joe dominguez
in their classic “your money or your life”, robin and dominguez aim to completely change the way you think about money. and they succeed.
There are a few books on this list that could claim the honor of “starting the fire movement.” this is one of those books. Although it was first published in 1992, the authors published an updated edition in 2018 to cover more recent trends such as the explosion of the shadow economy, tracking finances online through tools like mint, and passive investment in index funds.
Still, it’s the economic-minded issues that hit the hardest. the book helps you think differently about budgeting, getting your life in order, instilling good financial habits, and much more.
Regain control over your life, both financially and otherwise.
3. “choose fi: your blueprint for financial independence” by chris mamula, brad barrett, and jonathan mendonsa
Having collaborated with chris mamula on his blog, can i back now?, i can tell you firsthand how lucidly he can cover complex topics. And while I’ve never had the pleasure of working with Brad and Jonathan, I feel like I know them well through their “Choose Fi” podcast (which ranks among the best financial podcasts, IMHO).
These three financial experts bring (pardon the pun) a wealth of knowledge on everything from frugality to investing to lifestyle design to free travel hacks. And like most books about fire, all the advice is based on a different mindset around money.
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Which is not to say that they skimp on tactics and details. in each lesson, they delve into the granular details of exactly how to proceed.
If you want a simple yet diverse book that will get you to financial freedom as quickly as possible, look no further than “Choose Fi: Your Blueprint for Financial Independence.”
4. “quit like a millionaire next door” by kristy shen and bryce leung
You may know Kristy Shen and Bryce Leung from their millennial revolution blog. they retired at 31 and now travel the world, blog, and write amazing books (including children’s books).
his financial book “quit like a millionaire: no tricks, luck or trust funds required” is definitely not a children’s book, but the language and narration are simple enough for all ages to understand. wields a perfect blend of motivation, personal stories, and basic tactics. and, surprisingly, it’s fun to boot.
shen and leung didn’t grow up rich. they worked hard, lived frugally, invested their money, and retired young. in other words, they perfectly embody the principles of the fire movement.
for a more personal and quirky take on fire, grab a copy of “quit like a millionaire”.
5. “the 4 hour workweek” by tim ferriss
Another book that some say launched the fire movement, Tim Ferriss’s “The 4-Hour Workweek” remains a classic for good reason. and it’s not even explicitly about financial independence or early retirement.
The premise of Ferriss starts simple: In today’s world, it’s easier than ever to start a profitable online business, even if it’s just a side effort. and you can run it from anywhere, putting you back in control of your time, work, and money.
but the implications go far beyond that simple foundation. Ferriss and his internationally best-selling book are credited with creating concepts such as geo-arbitrage, lifestyle design, mini-retirement, and more. Perhaps surprisingly, Ferriss is considered by the mainstream media to be a productivity expert, rather than a pioneer in lifestyle design.
is yet another book that will change the way you think about money, your career, and the value of your time.
6. “retiring early with real estate” by chad carson
chad carson wrote the book i wish i had written myself, all about achieving financial independence with real estate investments, especially rental properties.
He is a man after my own heart, who spent a year and a half living in Ecuador with his family because, well, they could. that’s the power of financial independence.
While Carson and his family may live off their rental income, his knowledge of real estate investing extends far beyond ownership. You can learn about vacation rentals, home remodeling, land investing and more in his Coach Carson podcast and of course in his book.
If you love real estate and want to make it your primary means of firefighting, pick up a copy of Carson’s “Retiring Early With Real Estate.”
7. “financial freedom” by grant sabatier
grant sabatier founded the popular millennial money blog and wrote one of the best books on financial independence. In fact, the foreword to “Financial Freedom: A Proven Path to All the Money You’ll Ever Need” was written by none other than Vicki Robin, a household name in the industry.
sabatier covers basics like investing in stocks and real estate, of course, but also tackles more mindset-oriented topics like changing your relationship with money and maximizing your happiness per dollar. doesn’t overcomplicate things and delivers a simple and straightforward book without financial jargon.
8. “i will teach you to be rich” by ramit sethi
ramit sethi recently released an updated version of his modern classic “i’ll teach you to be rich” which deserves all the praise it has received.
Like all the books on this list, sethi strives for simplicity and accessibility for everyday people. Unlike many of the others, he devotes more attention to increasing his income, especially through entrepreneurship.
Some critics of the firefighting industry complain that the movement focuses too much on frugality and cutting corners, rather than making more money. true, up to a point: the fire movement is more focused on changing your mindset to spend less and invest more, as there are plenty of other resources in the world to help you make more money.
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but if you want to learn how to build a successful business without falling into the common trap of overspending and inflating your lifestyle, sethi’s book is the perfect read.
9. “playing with fire” by scott rieckens
scott rieckens had what the average american considers the perfect life: a successful business, a happy family, a fancy car, even a yacht club membership. but he was not happy or fulfilled, and he worked under constant stress to maintain his expensive lifestyle.
then he discovered fire movement and in five months he abandoned his career, moved in with his family and cut his expenses in half.
rieckens book “playing with fire: how far would you go for financial freedom?” it serves as a companion to his documentary film of the same name. follows his journey from discovering the concepts behind financial independence to changing his own life, with a series of interviews with Pillars of Fire along the way.
More based on stories and less on tactics, it offers a different vision of the journey towards financial freedom.
10. “extreme early retirement” by jacob lund fisker
A book on early fire movements published in 2007, Jacob Lund Fisker’s “Extreme Early Retirement” introduced the concept to many young adults before blogger Mr. money mustache and jl collins stepped into the spotlight.
Fisker later regretted the title, both for its focus on retirement and for calling the book’s central concepts extreme. but in 2007, the idea of fire was extreme and had not yet seeped into the public consciousness.
Like other fire books, “Extreme Early Retirement” focuses on cutting expenses and building passive income through investments. it also questions American consumerism as a major obstacle to building wealth.
If you’re interested, read our more detailed look at “extreme early retirement” as a roadmap to faster wealth and easy living.
further reading: robert kiyosaki’s “rich dad poor dad”
Like Dave Ramsey, Robert Kiyosaki has achieved such celebrity status that he inevitably generates media controversy and many detractors.
but his classic “rich dad poor dad: what the rich teach their kids about money that the poor and middle class don’t” remains a bestseller to this day, and for a good reason. Like many of the previous books, it focuses less on the gritty details of budgeting and more on how to think differently about money. in particular, he argues that your money should work for you, not the other way around.
Kiyosaki is a big proponent of real estate investing, but he’s also quick to tell you that your home isn’t an asset, it’s an expense (unless you build a home, of course!). That’s not advice the middle class likes to hear, which makes it that much more important.
While “Rich Dad Poor Dad” is not a fire book per se, it introduces a variety of concepts that are helpful in achieving financial independence. relates these concepts through amusing parables about how his biological “rich dad” and his biological “poor dad” taught him such different lessons about money.
And really, what is fire but putting your money to work for you, instead of you working for it?
last word
As a “fired blogger,” I’m the first to admit that the “retire early” part is somewhat of a marketing gimmick to attract the uninitiated. everyone knows what “retire early” means: it conjures up images of lounging in a hammock under palm trees while sipping margaritas.
but most people don’t really understand what “financial independence” means. even when they do, it seems much drier than that mental image of the daisy in the hammock.
In my experience, however, no one “retires” and spends the next 50 years of their life beachcombing after achieving financial independence. that’s not the point.
The goal is to take full control of your time and money, to do work that lights a fire in your stomach. When you achieve financial independence, you can do whatever job brings you the most joy and meaning, instead of running endlessly in the hedonic rut, trying to keep making more and more money to keep up with the proverbial jones.
Come for early retirement images, stay for financial freedom to reinvent your life.
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