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?

I read The Naked Investor: Why Almost Everybody But You Gets Rich on Your RRSP. It would make a good magazine article, but 288 pages? This guy is long-winded. However, the message is good: most mutual funds are a rip-off. The lesson I’m taking from it is stick with index funds and keep it simple: 1/3 bonds, 1/3 TSE, 1/3 S&P 500. I’ve been burned with stocks before, so I might even go with 1/2 my assets in a bond index fund. The book also turned me onto Barclay’s iUnits–index funds that are traded like stocks.

In 1994 I bought my first black and white laser printer for $2400. In 2001 I bought my second black and white laser printer for $649. It was much faster. And today, I’m buying a color laser for $379, and it’s faster still. I expect in another 5 years, they will be paying us to take home laser printers.