Another pandemic favorite, Quit Like a Millionaire is one of my most-recommended books for people who feel that investing is too risky, or don’t believe that financial independence can be achieved by normal people. Kristie and Bryce wrote the book together, but the book is written from her perspective mostly, so it’s much easier to follow as a story, rather than as a technical lesson-type book.
Kristie Shen explains her childhood growing up in rural china, not to garner pity, but to portray the vast psychological impact her family’s economic status had on her financial behaviors. I was absolutely fascinated to hear all of the difficult things she went through or put herself through in the pursuit of success. She then goes on to explain the cultural expectations of her Chinese family members and how that also affects her choices in her adult life. Overcoming some deep-seated cultural norms was a major part of her journey to financial independence.
My favorite part of this book is when she goes into great detail regarding how she built her safety net in her retirement portfolio. She functions under the assumption that her retirement portfolio will experience market drops and that she will need to be prepared to continue paying her daily life expenses without depleting her portfolio in a down market, and her various backups provide a nearly indestructible portfolio.
I also really like this book for understanding the true cost of home-ownership, and what it really means to “own” a home. They outline purchase costs, maintenance costs, selling costs, and interest all compared to prospective appreciation of a home’s value. I love this because, I want to buy a home, but I really don’t consider it a part of my “net worth” in terms of my retirement portfolio because I don’t plan to sell it and use that money, and if I did, I would buy a completely different home. This section really helps put purchasing a home into a logical, mathematical perspective.
I listened to Quit Like a Millionaire on audio book from my library. Kristie Shen and her husband are engineers, and they use a lot of mathematical examples, which can be difficult to follow if you are listening while driving, running, or washing dishes like I do. I definitely had to listen to some sections more than once because they gave such incredibly thorough explanations.
This will take you to the current link on Amazon if you’d like to purchase the book. If you choose to purchase through this link, I will get a small affiliate commission, which would be dope! It won’t add any additional cost for you, but it would help FSE keep providing awesome information and education to all you lovely people! Enjoy!