Since I began my journey to Financial Independence I have been inspired by a number of blogs, podcasts, books and more. Here I’d like to share my favourite Financial Independence resources.
Books
RESET: How to Restart Your Life and Get F.U. Money: The Unconventional Early Retirement Plan for Midlife Careerists Who Want to Be Happy- by David Sawyers
This book was published at the end of 2018 – I devoured it!
Finally a book on Financial Independence that is based on UK culture rather than being US-centred. His writing style is so refreshing and close to home. He also spends several pages describing how Marie Kondo’s strategy to decluttering and organizing helped him focus his mind and create a home where he and his family enjoy living in all spaces.
I highly recommend it!
The Simple Path to Wealth: Your road map to financial independence and a rich, free life – by JL Collins
This is hands down the book I wish I read 20 years ago!
He lays out his investment philosophy in very simple terms, as he explained it to his daughter who had NO interest in finance. He explains why you should invest in index funds and generally how to live financially aware without making money your no. 1 mental priority.
Overcoming Underearning: A Five-Step Plan to a Richer Life – by Barbara Stanny
This book is primarily for women who historically have been raised to be “good” and find a husband to support them through life (like me!). She teaches you how to be financially savvy and do the work you want (or not work, if you chose to do so).
She goes through the 5 pillars of her philosophy to re-frame the way you think about work – for the better.
Lost and Founder: A Painfully Honest Field Guide to the Startup World – by Rand Fishkin
It doesn’t matter if you don’t know who Rand Fishkin is. In his shockingly honest autobiography he writes about:
- The years-long stress and broken relationships caused by debt and bad money management
- Founding a company and transforming it into one of the most influential companies in the digital landscape
- The many differences between a consultancy business (service) and a subscription one (product)
- The importance of deep relationships and mentors
- The damaged caused by not being open and honest to employees when business is bad.
An indispensable read in so many ways.
Mindless Eating – By Brian Wansink PhD
In this book you will learn how your mind influences you to eat more and worse than you need or want. It’s all based on research.
Read and apply the lessons to all your walks of life, including money.
The Richest Man in Babylon – by George S. Clason
It’s kind of difficult to read because it’s written on purpose to feel like ancient English. But let’s face it, it reminds us of basic rules of life and not be stupid! Short but great read.
Blogs & Websites
80,000 hours – How to make a difference with your career
80,000 hours is how much an average person will spend working in their lifetime.
40 hours per week x 50 weeks per year x 40 years = 80,000 hours.
It is a lot of time we spend working. So let’s spend it well. This not-for-profit with close links to Oxford University aims to answer the ultimate question “what is a meaningful job?” and aims to lead people to a fulfilled career path. They also have a book and a podcast. Keep a close eye on them.
He is probably the No. 1 Leader in the international FIRE movement.
He and his wife, both developers in the their day-jobs, retired at 30 when they decided they wanted to start a family. A low-cost living, good savings techniques and profitable side hustles are their secret sauce.
He still blogs (I love his writing style) and also (co-)organises FIRE events in his local Longmont, Colorado, as well as abroad.
Always worth a read.
My favourite UK blog on FIRE. Barney, aka The Escape Artist, retired at 43. He had 3 kids at that time. He is proof that, if you start early and stick to it, we can do it too.
He has a very personal, witty and humorous style of writing. In person he knows how to make you feel at ease and have a deep and insightful conversation.
He is one of the organisers of the ChooseFI London Meetups.
He sends out a great Friday Roundup which normally lands in my Inbox on a Saturday morning. In it he writes about his latest musings on investments and savings, then lists a number of interesting articles that he picked up during the week.
He started blogging in 2000, way ahead of most of us!
There is something fascinating about this guy. He worked in finance for over a decade but never got sucked into lifestyle inflation. He writes technical investment stuff but also loads of easy-to-read life and investment type of posts. Like me, he is a big believer in the power of redundancy pay to the point that he created a course (for the US market) on how to engineer your redundancy. I really enjoy both his blog and his podcast.
She retired at 28. That is impressive in itself.
She graduated debt free and had a brief but successful career in finance in NY. She has gone a little quiet since having her first kid, but her posts are timeless. She offers a well-researched view based on her own life on how to optimise your finances and aim for high goals. Inspiring.
Podcasts
Brand and Jonathan are simply a pleasure to listen to! They have amazing guests who talk about their super interesting life hacks. Not only that, they also have pleasant voices and a professional yet friendly style of podcasting. I could not recommend this podcast higher.
80,000 hours – How to make a difference with your career. Don’t miss it! See above (blogs & websites) for more details.
See above (blogs & websites) – love what this guy’s blog and podcast!
Chris Guillebeau’s podcast is fascinating. His daily episodes of about 7-10 minutes each tell the story of a “normal” person who stumbled on to an money-making side hustle. Like the former teacher who sells teaching material online, or the actor selling an acting rehearsal smartphone app, or the product manager who creates swipy note sheets. He brings examples from different industries, countries and types of products. Also love his motto: inspiration is good but inspiration with action is so much better!
He is the one who got me hooked on podcasts! He has a great range of hosts and asks mesmerizingly good questions. Hi wife is Scottish, which in a way makes him feel closer than all other American podcasts, though he remains US-centric. The only thing I don’t like is that he doesn’t post often enough… 🙂
Produced by NPR, this is a weekly podcast on money though not specifically on FIRE. I am adding it to the list because it is good and interesting for general money knowledge.
As much as I try not to waste spend too much time on Facebook, there are some pages and groups that I enjoy reading very much.
Facebook pages
Financial Times – do they need an introduction??
World Economic Forum – they provide a good mix of articles, videos and charts on global economics and finance without the jargon. Absolutely thought-provoking.
Wall Street Journal – on Facebook they post some of the interest stuff these guys write about every day.
Women You Should Know – why are there SO MANY women I had never heard about? Thank you Women You Should Know for telling us about them!
Facebook Groups
Choose FI London – the London group of the global Choose FI movement where you can meet plenty of like-minded people in your area. Love it!
Financial Independence London – another group of FIRE seekers in and around London. If you live somewhere else, just have a browse to see if you can find a local group you can join.
Financial Independence Europe aka FireHub.eu – here you can find FIRE seekers and bloggers from all across Europe so you can exchange ideas and hacks most relevant to the country where you live. These folks are also organising yearly FIRE retreats, so follow them or sign up for regular information.
Financial Independence UK – a somewhat younger crowd but equally interesting and active.
Use Facebook to your advantage
It’s so easy to forget time when on Facebook – use this tool to your advantage by filling your feed with interesting articles!