I had an Amazon.com gift card left over from Christmas, and I really didn’t know what to do with it. I had planned to purchase some new camera gear, but I decided to just make do with my current camera and lenses. I really didn’t want to buy any new books due to my efforts to cleanse my book collection. Eventually, however, I decided to purchase some of the books on my PaperBackSwap wish list.
The first book to arrive was Jacob Lund Fisker’s Early Retirement Extreme (or ERE), which I plunged into immediately. This isn’t a rigorous review. Just wanted to say that I love Jacob’s way of thinking, which falls mostly in line with my own, one difference being he came to the realization more quickly and took practical steps to remove himself from the “system” whereas I’m still stuck in it.
Jacob isn’t really espousing a ten-step process for getting rich and retiring early or anything like that. He promotes a lifestyle change (I suppose you could say he promotes “simplicity” or “living deliberately”) of which “extreme” early retirement just happens to be one beneficial side effect. Jacob will always have a much wider readership on his website than I will here, so if you just happen to be reading this, make sure to go directly to EarlyRetirementExtreme.com or give his book a look*. He’s already explored much of what I hope to as I continue down my own path.
I won’t be able to make the drastic changes Jacob did due to my being married to someone who isn’t currently willing to take such a big step. I hope she comes around, but even if she doesn’t, I will make what changes I can. I can only imagine how much better the world would be if the ERE philosophy and/or the simplicity movement caught on large-scale. Just imagine the good that could be done! A whole sub-nation of people with the freedom and resources to devote their lives to worthy pursuits! I hope Jacob and others like him start a revolution. I want to be a part of it.
*Not an affiliate link. This website will always be non-commercial. No affiliate links, ads or marketing distractions.
-ND