Books on financial independence retire early: The 4 best books to learn how to achieve financial independence and take control of your time. This post contains affiliate links.
If you didn’t know any better, you might think achieving financial independence means you have to deprive yourself.
To someone that is new to the movement, financial independence means you have to forgo buying the new car, new tech, or larger house that you want.
But the truth is, financial independence is the exact opposite of depriving yourself.
It’s about controlling your time and pursuing more fulfilling work.
It’s about focusing on what you value most.
Frankly, it’s about escaping deprivation.
Instead of being told when to work, where to be, and what to work on, you decide what to do each day.
Rather than being moulded by the company you work for, you get to choose what matters.
Instead of being exhausted after work, you are energized.
It sounds fantastic, doesn’t it?
You’d have to be a fool to not want more time and freedom.
The good news is that it is totally possible for anyone to reach financial independence.
If you truly want it, you can have it.
However, it requires commitment and a psychological shift in how you view money.
It requires an individual to become somewhat of a contrarian. Habits must be changed.
Fortunately, there are some excellent books that will teach you how to achieve financial independence.
In this post, I will show you the 4 best books on financial independence retire early.
After reading these 4 books, you will be well on your way to controlling your own destiny.
Let’s dive in.
The 4 Best Books On Financial Independence Retire Early (F.I.R.E.)
Early Retirement Extreme By Jacob Lund Fisker
Early Retirement Extreme by Jacob Lund Fisker is probably the best book on financial independence that has ever been written.
If you want to reach early retirement in 5 years or less, this book will show you how.
In short, the author shows you how to reduce your expenses enough to supercharge your savings rate so you can retire in 5 years or less.
The book focuses on the reduction of the three main spending categories: transportation, housing, and food.
From the very beginning, the author takes a contrarian approach to the masses. By the end of the first chapter, you will know if financial independence is right for you.
“Do you want to spend most of your life paying off the interest of a 30-year mortgage and working so you can fill increasingly bigger houses with increasingly more stuff while being stuck in your daily commute in increasingly nicer cars?” ― Jacob Lund Fisker, Early Retirement Extreme: A philosophical and practical guide to financial independence
The 4-Hour Work Week By Tim Ferris
The second book on this list takes a much different approach to financial independence than Early Retirement Extreme.
If you are more interested in Barista FIRE, Slow FI, or FIWOOT, this is the book for you.
The great thing about financial independence is that there’s more than one way to do it.
It’s not just about saving up 25 times your income and then doing nothing for the rest of your life.
For some people, it’s about pursuing more fulfilling work or just working less.
If that’s what you are after, The 4-Hour Work Week by Tim Ferris is what you should read. It will open your mind and teach you how to think different.
“To enjoy life, you don’t need fancy nonsense, but you do need to control your time and realize that most things just aren’t as serious as you make them out to be.” ― Timothy Ferriss, The 4-Hour Workweek
The Psychology Of Money By Morgan Housel
The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel is both an investing and a financial independence book. It’s very applicable to both.
Hence why I also included this book on my list of best investing books to read.
One of the key concepts in the book is about not moving the goal post. In other words, don’t succumb to lifestyle inflation when you make more money.
If you can be satisfied with a more simple life, you will require less money and you will be able to retire earlier.
But the book is so much more than that. The author, Morgan Housel, makes seemingly obvious concepts simple and easy to understand. He articulates it so eloquently and effortlessly.
It’s one of the most quotable books I’ve ever read.
Furthermore, it will help you understand why people have such different views on managing money.
It teaches you to judge people less and be more understanding of why people think differently.
Most importantly, though, it will help you realize that personal finance and investing are more about behaviours than money.
“Use money to gain control over your time, because not having control of your time is such a powerful and universal drag on happiness. The ability to do what you want, when you want, with who you want, for as long as you want to, pays the highest dividend that exists in finance.” ― Morgan Housel, The Psychology of Money: Timeless lessons on wealth, greed, and happiness
Financial Freedom By Grant Sabatier
Full disclosure, this is the only book on the list that I have not yet read.
But I have been a long-time reader of Grant and his blog, so I believe in his concepts to reach financial independence.
Since I have not read it yet, I don’t have much insight to add.
“Every $1 invested today is worth hours, if not days, of your freedom in the future. The more you save today, the more time you buy in the future.” ― Grant Sabatier, Financial Freedom: A Proven Path to All the Money You Will Ever Need
Best Books On Financial Independence Retire Early (F.I.R.E.) – Final Thoughts
Although there are more books that discuss the concept of financial independence, I focused on these 4 because they are almost exclusively about it.
In my humble opinion, these are the 4 very best books on financial independence retire early (FIRE).
Although I have not achieved full financial independence, I would call myself Barista FIRE.
I decided to switch a high paying part-time job back in 2019 to have more time now. On average, I work 20 hours per week or less.
Surprisingly, having more time makes you spend less time on passive activities as well.
Suddenly, you have enough time to waste time and to pursue personal interests too.
Instead of coming home and wanting to forget about my job by playing video games, I find myself wanting to work more on investing and blogging.
Anyways, I never would have been able to think different enough to achieve Barista FIRE without learning the concepts in these 4 books.
I hope they help you live a more fulfilling life and allow you to control more of your time too.
Now I’d like to hear from you. Do you agree these are the 4 best books on financial independence retire early (F.I.R.E.)? Have you read these books? Any others you would recommend?
If you prefer to read blogs instead of books, check out the 50 best financial independence and early retirement blogs on Hard Bacon.
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Slow FIRE Financial Independence: (Slow FI) Is A More Enjoyable, Balanced Path To Freedom
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