Book Review: "Stop Working"

I just read "Stop Working: Here's How You Can using the strategy of Canada's Youngest Retiree". Here's what I liked:
  • It's specific to Canadian taxes and investments.
  • He actually stopped working at 34, and he never earned more than $30,000/year.
  • He's retired on just $350,000 and a paid-off house. With all the government subsidies, his family can get by on the $19,000/year that his investments generate.
  • He got me thinking about dividends and income trusts, things I hadn't thought of before.
  • It's short: 180 pages.
  • He's made me think maybe I really can retire in 10 years.
Here's what I didn't like:
  • Where was the proofreader? There are hundreds of typos.
  • Where was the editor? The book is poorly organized and often illogical.
  • He makes this big argument against RRSPs, but it doesn't hold water for anyone but low-income families, who probably don't make up the book's audience.
I get the feeling that selling me this book is part of his retirement strategy. He's smarter than he writes. But I did get my money's worth, I think. He gave me a fresh perspective on retirement. What more can I ask than that?

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About

I'm an intranet consultant living in Nelson, BC. My company is One Intranets Inc. I'm the co-creator of ThoughtFarmer, social intranet software that powers enterprise intranets in Microsoft environments. I've been consulting on web and intranet projects since 1995 with a particular emphasis on interface design, information architecture and usability analysis.

I live with my wife, Gina, and our three children, Ana (age 7), Sam (age 5), and Reuben (age 1). Gina is my best friend and the absolute bestest wife a man could ever find. Ana is the most hospitable and intuitive 7-year old you'll ever meet. Sam accosts strangers on the street and engages them in deep conversation. Reuben walks from room to room and creates disasters, washing his hands in the toilet, lifting cats by the tail and eating things he finds in the kitchen garbage.

When I'm not working I'm playing with my family: golf, swimming, snorkeling, hockey, skiing and extreme travel. We're currently escaping winter with a 4-month stint in St. Lucia, West Indies.

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