Review: Work Optional: The Non-Penny-Pinching Guide to Retiring Early

Work Optional: The Non-Penny-Pinching Guide to Retiring Early by Tanja Hester
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Early retirement has become a meme, passed through exposure to any of a number of blogs and Reddit forums focused on the concept. There are a lot of these, grown over the past five years or so. The author is one of those blog authors, following her and her spouse through their investigation of early retirement, their efforts to get there, and their life after reaching, well, the promised land, of a sort. I have occasionally read articles from their blog as well as other blogs and many, many books on the subject. “Work Optional” covers the bases, discussing the concept of early retirement, the financial know-how required to be able to do it, and the ways your life can change after retiring younger than the average worker. Much of the book is how-to, with some sections of the author’s own experience. Anecdotes from the author and other early retirees are mixed in throughout the book.

I found the author on the whole covered what I expected, but added some unique suggestions. The best of these was near the beginning of the book when the author walks through a series of questions to document personal goals. I found this very similar to personal mission/vision/values training I’ve been through in my job, and going through this looks beneficial. The author does not prescribe a detailed financial plan, instead describing many options and some basic plans discussed widely in those online sources. The key here is that the advice offered is basic. I’ve found that individual situations are often nuanced so that basic advice is really just a place to start, and I’ve found no book that covers all bases. This one does a reasonable job with the basics, and replicates the financial discussions of many blogs and online groups. One of the biggest issues for early retirees is acquiring medical insurance. The book describes the options as they currently exist, but does not forecast any changes that could impact early retirees. I’ve always found ongoing availability of medical insurance is a great leap of faith when retiring earlier than the Medicare eligible age, and this book didn’t allay my concerns, although it does provide the author’s own story – successful so far. The shortest section is the author’s description of what it is like to be retired early, but that’s not surprising since her retirement has only lasted about a year when this book was written. This book includes some useful web links at the end, and has detailed end notes that many books do not share. Most of the writing of people in the author’s age group that have retired early is in short blog entries across dozens of blogs. Having a personal story at book length is appreciated. The author’s story of planning and attaining her early retirement is a welcome addition to the early retirement literature.

I received a pre-release copy of this ebook from NetGalley.


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