Financial Freedom: A Proven Path to All the Money You Will Ever Need

The short version----------------------If you have read the synopsis and gotten as far as reading the reviews, buy the book. Even if you already know the terminology around finance, Financial Freedom's biggest strength is its power to motivate you. After reading the book, every night I have gladly worked on implementing strategies recommended by the author, Grant Sabatier. Read the book, make notes of your questions, then join the Financial Freedom Facebook group to ask the author himself or some of the other very knowledgeable people there how you can make financial freedom happen for you. Get started on your journey ASAP!The longer version----------------------If I could reverse time, I would have read this book in my 20's. I would absolutely encourage anyone in their 20's or 30's (especially if you don't yet have or aren't planning on kids) to follow Mr. Sabatier's advice to the best of your abilities. His book breaks down the mystique around finances for young people and gives them step-by-step goals to work toward in a way that is digestible and not paralyzingly complicated. This is incredibly informative for people who didn't grow up with finance savvy parents or whose education didn't include the faintest trace of managing money (yes, I am looking at you U.S. public school system...). I wish I had gotten this as a college graduation gift!This doesn't mean that if you aren't in the above mentioned "ideal" reader group that all is lost (Disclosure: I am almost 40 with a family) but it does make some of the advice more problematic to act on. I still found many of the suggestions in the book valuable. With that said, I feel pretty confident that anyone interested in early retirement will find something of value in the book.Grant (and you do start to think of him as your personal friend, Grant, because he is so relatable and down to earth) lays out his personal finance situation in a way that will resonate with most people. All of us have been pretty dead broke at one point in time or another. What we haven't done, that Grant has, is to find the right way to make our money work for us. The terminology alone for dealing with finances can seem confusing and overwhelming.... 401k, Traditional IRA, Roth IRA, REIT, oh my! Financial Freedom may not answer every question you have on finances but it will help you get informed enough to start asking the right questions. Grant's personal story will get you thinking about your own light at the end of the tunnel. What does retirement look like to you? When do you want to achieve that? 10 years? 20? How hard are you willing to work to get there sooner? The author gets you really thinking about the answers to questions like these.What makes the experience of reading Mr. Sabatier's book truly exceptional is that the conversation he starts with you in the book doesn't have to end when you finish reading it. He is fostering a community for people whose curiosity has been sparked so we can continue the financial freedom conversation on a more personal level. His Facebook group is there to help support you, the reader, as you start to implement changes in your life on your journey to financial independence. Despite being on book tour, he is actively answering questions in person on the Financial Freedom Book group. I commend Mr. Sabatier on his efforts to reach people. He seems to truly care about helping as many people as possible.In summary, there are other books out there that have some of the same advice in them but Grant Sabatier's book is enjoyable to read. He's done the hard work already of sifting out the most important things you need to know and what you need to act on now. Financial Freedom is not an encyclopedia of financial knowledge, it's the Cliff's Notes. It will not answer every question you will have about gaining financial independence but it will absolutely make sure you are on the right track. The best part about reading it, you will be motivated to get your party started!

The negative reviews for this book were a little confusing for me to read. It's a great book with lots of good ideas and it's written in a way that is informative and engaging without being douchey or pompous like many books on money seem to be. I found it to be a great read, chalk-full of ways to improve my financial life. Although Grant was admittedly pretty extreme in his journey to financial freedom, he also repeats over and over again to adapt these strategies to your own life in a way that works for you. He's not telling you to Uber drive your way to being a millionaire; He's giving you the tools necessary to figure out your own path to financial freedom. Not every page had something I plan on adapting into my life, but there were plenty of pages that did. We are all different and Grant has compiled a ton of great ideas to help as many people as possible. You can argue tax optimization and asset allocation all you want, but if that's your major gripe with this book-you completely missed the point.I don't personally plan on ever "retiring" in a traditional sense, but I'll be damned if I ever again have to work I job I hate just to make enough money to live another day/week/month. My quick and dirty advice: Buy this book, read it slowly while considering what you want your life to look like and spend some time thinking deeply about how to get there. After that, find another book/blog/podcast to keep your mind and momentum going in the direction of progress. You will be glad you did.

I've read several books about personal finance, and this is one of the few that provides a roadmap to financial independence.The ideal audience for this book is someone fresh out of college with a job making a decent middle class income. Grant provides strategies for maximizing your income and increasing your savings, which by the way is the best way to grow your wealth. The bottom line is always keep your expenses as low as possible, and spend only what you have to. Save and invest 20-50% of your income using the recommendations in the book.I do though disagree with a few of Grant's recommendations: I think keeping a budget is very important. I've been using YouNeedABudget for almost three years now, and it has enabled me to increase my cash flow and never have to pay interests on my credit cards. I use YNAB to budget for my true expenses, and to maintain a one month buffer of my expenses. By keeping a budget, I paid off my $12k car loan in 14 months using my regular income and getting paid to build a couple of websites, as Grant talks about his book.So if you're not disciplined about managing your money (which means you're living paycheck to paycheck, you don't have a decent emergency fund, and you're not budgeting for your true expenses), then you need to learn the budget to zero method.Reading Financial Freedom has though inspired me to save $10-$12k this year and in years to come, and to start investing a portion of that money in a ROTH IRA account. I get a salaried income and no company 401k, so I'll need to develop more sources of passive income.I wish I read about personal finance growing up, because it would have made a huge difference in my financial life. Financial Freedom is must read, and good guide to return to when you can start investing. But it's not the only book you should read about personal finance. Try to read at least three books a year on the subject, because handling your money and increasing your wealth is very important, especially in capitalist society like the U.S..

Muy interesante y desde un principio te quedas a continuar leyendo lo que viene, la lectura no es aburrida y si tienes gustos o comienzan por las finanzas pues que mejor que leerlo completo.

General information but not super helpful.

Super read ! just Great read ! one of the best books that I have read on financial freedom. most books I would read just a few pages but I could actually finish this book.

The type of book you should offer youngsters in your family. I wish I had read it 20 years ago. Therefore I passed it down to my 22 year old son. Great eye opener.

The book is well written with an abundance of information. Even though I'm Canadian and the book is written for American residents, a lot of the material applies to wherever you live. Reading about success stories is interesting and makes a person think about possibilities. The important thing is to just start. It begins with a desire for something different. If you are planning on reading the book, you must have some desire and most likely can implement many of the steps and ideas Grant discusses. Best of luck in your future efforts.