What an awful book. I received this as a gift from someone who had some extra copies. I appreciate the gesture, and I would gladly link to them, if it didn’t reflect so poorly on their judgment. It’s that bad.

How Secrets of the Millionaire Mind by T. Harv Eker became a New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestseller, I have no idea. It’s like the guy started with Rich Dad, Poor Dad, threw out all the good parts, and padded the bad parts out to 200 pages.

I don’t even need to tell you what’s wrong with it. I’ll let the author do that for himself:

“This is a special ceremony, so I’m going to ask you to eliminate any distractions right now. Stop munching, stop talking on the phone, and stop whatever you’re doing. Men, if you like, you can change into a suit and tie, although a tuxedo would be best. Women, a formal evening gown and heels would be perfect. And if you don’t have anything that’s classy or new enough, this would be an occasion to go buy yourself a brand-new dress, designer label preferred.

If you’re all ready, let’s begin. Please kneel down on one knee and bow your head in respect. Ready, here goes. ‘BY THE POWER INVESTED IN ME, I HEREBY ANOINT YOU AS ‘WORTHY’ FROM NOW UNTIL FOREVER MORE!’

Okay, we’re done. You can stand up now and hold your head high because you are finally worthy.”

Feel better now?

“The play account rule is that it must be spent every month. That’s right! Each month you have to blow all the money in that account in a way that makes you feel rich. For example, imagine walking into a massage center, dumping all the money from your account on the counter, pointing to the massage therapists, and saying, ‘I want both of you on me. With the hot rocks and the frickin’ cucumbers. After that, bring me lunch!’”

After that, bring me humility!

“[At my workshop] I then pull out a wooden arrow with a steel-pointed tip and explain that as a practice for this discipline [going beyond your comfort zone], you’re going to break this arrow with your throat. I then demonstrate how the steel point goes into the soft part of your throat, while another person holds the other end of the arrow against their outstretched palm. The idea is to walk straight into the arrow and break it using only your throat before it pierces through your neck.”

And if you survive this, next you drink the Kool-Aid!

I really don’t have much to say. For an infinitely better financial motivation book, try Rich Dad, Poor Dad. It has its flaws, but anything negative you can say about it goes ten times for Secrets of the Millionaire Mind.

So why did I even bother writing a review? Because I had to say something. It greatly concerns me that a book like this can become a bestseller. We’re in an economic crisis because too many people checked their brain at the door when making financial decisions, and I don’t think books like this are going to help restore sanity to the American public.

Have any of you read it? Did you find it helpful? If so, tell me what I’m missing.

Photo by MENE TEKEL

I have a credit card that I haven’t used in a long time. I just got a letter from the company saying:

“We’re writing to you because we noticed that this credit card account hasn’t been used for at least 24 months. We believe this may indicate that the account no longer meets your financial needs. With this in mind, the account has been closed.”

Translation:

“We haven’t been making any money off of you, and because you haven’t used your card in 24 months, FINALLY we’re allowed by law to close your account without notice. Go away now.”

Today’s quiz: what will happen to my credit score?

A) It won’t change, because closing an account that hasn’t been used in 24 months doesn’t make any difference.

B) It will go up, because now I have less credit available, and therefore less ability to go into debt.

C) It will go down, because my balance on my other card is now a higher percentage of my total available credit.

D) It will go down, because I’ve lost the history of timely payments on that account.

I don’t know the answer. Do you?

So at last I get around to reviewing Napoleon Hill’s classic, Think and Grow Rich. It was first published in 1937. People had lost their money as well as their spirit in the Great Depression, and needed a reminder that financial success was still possible for people who would create their own opportunities. That’s not so different from today, is it?

“You have ABSOLUTE CONTROL over but one thing, and that is your thoughts. This is the most significant and inspiring of all facts known to man! It reflects man’s Divine nature. This divine prerogative is the sole means by which you may control your own destiny. If you fail to control your own mind, you may be sure you will control nothing else.

If you must be careless with your possessions, let it be in connection with material things. Your mind is your spiritual estate! Protect it and use it with the care to which Divine Royalty is entitled.

You were given a WILL-POWER for this purpose.

…

Doubting Thomases scoffed scornfully when Henry Ford tried out his first crudely built automobile on the streets of Detroit. Some said the thing never would become practical. Others said no one would pay money for such a contraption.

FORD SAID, “I’LL BELT THE EARTH WITH DEPENDABLE MOTOR CARS,” AND HE DID!

His decision to trust his own judgment has already piled up a fortune far greater than the next five generations of his descendants can squander. For the benefit of those seeking vast riches, let it be remembered that practically the sole difference between Henry Ford and a majority of the more than one hundred thousand men who work for him, is this-FORD HAS A MIND AND CONTROLS IT, THE OTHERS HAVE MINDS WHICH THEY DO NOT TRY TO CONTROL.”

This gives a taste of his writing, which is a bit old fashioned and peppered with glaring typos, creative punctuation, and RANDOM ALL CAPS. It also requires a good amount of patience to read it, because he’s very wordy, sometimes going on and on about things that are completely out of date.

But Think and Grow Rich is worthy of being a classic. While the wording is dated, the ideas are timeless. It’s also incredibly optimistic without being too cheesy.

And it’s practical. It’s about controlling your thoughts, but in a down to earth way instead of being all about “thought vibrations” (although there is some of that). If you find yourself making excuses instead of money, Napoleon Hill will whip you into shape.

Actually, it’s not really specific to money. At one point he says that “riches” means “financial, spiritual, mental, and material estates.” Think of it as a guide for keeping your mind from getting in the way of your success, whatever it is you’re working towards.

He alludes to Andrew Carnegie’s secret, which he says is the key to all great financial success. He doesn’t state it directly, but he hints at it in every chapter, and says the secret will appear to you when you’re ready. I’ll revisit the Carnegie Secret at a later time. (Update: now you can learn The Hidden Secret in Think and Grow Rich!)

Meanwhile, Think and Grow Rich is freely available from this link.

Table of Contents:

Author’s Preface
Chapter 1 – Introduction
Chapter 2 – Desire: The Turning Point of All Achievement
Chapter 3 – Faith Visualization of, and Belief in Attainment of Desire
Chapter 4 – Auto-Suggestion: the Medium for Influencing the Subconscious Mind
Chapter 5 – Specialized Knowledge, Personal Experiences or Observations
Chapter 6 – Imagination: the Workshop of the Mind
Chapter 7 – Organized Planning, the Crystallization of Desire into Action
Chapter 8 – Decision: the Mastery of Procrastination
Chapter 9 – Persistence: the Sustained Effort Necessary to Induce Faith
Chapter 10 – Power of the Master Mind: the Driving Force
Chapter 11 – The Mystery of Sex Transmutation
Chapter 12 – The Subconscious Mind: The Connecting Link
Chapter 13 – The Brain: A Broadcasting and Receiving Station for Thought
Chapter 14 – The Sixth Sense: The Door to the Temple of Wisdom
Chapter 15 – How to Outwit the Six Ghosts of Fear

Today I came out from under my rock to see what was happening in the financial world, and found that today was one of the worst days of the financial meltdown. I found myself thinking about Martha Stewart, and wondering whether insider trading should have been included as the seventh income stream in Online Business School.

Seven years ago, Martha sold all of her ImClone stock on insider information the day before an 18% drop, avoiding a loss of $45,673. She denied it when questioned, saying “I just want to focus on my salad.” But sure enough, she was eventually convicted of conspiracy, obstruction of an agency proceeding, and making false statements to federal investigators. She was given a free five-month vacation in Camp Cupcake, and fined $30,000.

I didn’t follow this story closely, but am I missing something here? Did she actually profit from the deal, even after the conviction? I’m not an economist, but it seems that one good way to reduce the deficit is by raising the “insider trading tax.” I’m not a big fan of taxing the rich just because they’re rich, but if they’re guilty of illegal riches, can’t they share the wealth a little?

Below are the lyrics I remember from the parody song “Martha,” to the tune of Barry Manilow’s Mandy. I heard it on the radio years ago, but I can’t find it online. I wish they did a video, because it really loses a lot without the tune.

She got an inside Wall Street tip
Now she’s gonna pay for it
Her broker says she lied
She’ll soon be indicted
She’s facing lots of time
And we’re so excited

To see her walking out in cuffs
Twenty years won’t be enough
Dress her up in stripes
Send her to Sing Sing
Keep her there for life
It would be a good thing, oh Martha

Well they’ll get you for insider trading
Then they’ll send you away, oh Martha
When we’re laughing so hard that we’re shaking
What’s your stock worth today, oh Martha

You had everything and you spoiled it
Now they’ll lock you away, oh Martha
Pretty soon you’ll be sharing a toilet
With your cellmate

If you live in the U.S., no doubt you’re aware of being in the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression. If you live outside the U.S., it will still spread to your part of the world if it hasn’t already. But is it really as bad as everyone says?

I think people are severely overreacting to the short term problem while severely underreacting to the long term problem.

The short term problem

The economy is obviously in trouble, but remember that for most people, nothing bad has actually happened yet.

Some people have lost their jobs, and I most likely will too. I’ve known for about 6 weeks that the company I work at is going to lose 80% of its revenue on October 3, and that date is finally here, so we’ll see what happens. But most people in this country haven’t lost their jobs.

Homes have dropped in value from their peak, but that doesn’t matter. You don’t feel it at all until you sell, and even then, you’re getting a better deal on the next place you buy. Some people have lost their homes, but that’s because they were counting on a miracle to be able to afford them. Failure of a miracle to materialize is not a crisis.

Stocks have dropped, a little. It amazes me how much people were freaking out about that tiny 4% dip in the Dow we recently had. 4% is nothing. It was back up more than 4% the next day. Now the 7% drop, yeah, that was big. They called it the biggest Dow plunge ever, but that’s only in terms of points. In terms of percentages, which is what matters, it was only the 17th biggest Dow plunge.

It dropped by a greater percentage as recently as September 17, 2001. 7% is really big, but not close to the record of 22.6% on October 19, 1987. Did anyone here survive 1987? Corrections happen once in a while, and we were about due for one.

Gas is up a little, they say. Actually, adjusted for inflation, gas prices have remained relatively flat in the U.S. since 1918.

What is this blood in the streets that everyone’s talking about? Maybe it’s not champagne, but it’s sure not blood. There will be some kind of bailout, and then everyone will forget all about this.

The long term problem

Don’t get me wrong, lots of bad things have happened lately. It’s just that we haven’t felt the effects yet. The tumors are growing, but we appear healthy on the outside.

Unfortunately, it’s possible to rack up an awful lot of financial problems before it all comes crashing down on you. But then, it’s too late. One good thing to come out of this mess is a wake up call.

This past Tuesday, the U.S. national debt passed $10 trillion. That’s 1 quadrillion pennies. How often do you get to measure things in quadrillions? When you include unfunded Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, etc., the total debt is $59.1 trillion, or $516,348 per household.

We’ve been at a financial DEFCON 2 for a long time. For us to really see blood in the streets, all that has to happen is for the world to say, “You know what, America? We don’t want to lend you any more money.” Then we’ll see how helpless we are at paying our own bills.

Don’t think that the U.S. is invincible. The Holy Roman Empire had a nice run for 1,000 years. How are they doing today?

The day of reckoning is coming. I have no idea if it’s coming soon, or in 10, 20, or 50 years. But it doesn’t matter. The longer we wait, the harder it will be to avoid it. We need to start taking some drastic actions now.

So here are some basic ideas. You won’t like them, but you can’t get a shot without feeling a pinch. No sacrifices and the whole country goes under.

I’m going to take a risk and get slightly political here, but seeing as how I’m an independent, it’s probably relatively OK. (Interestingly, Breanne Potter posted some political statistics about the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, which predict that I’d be an independent based on my type.)

Social Security

They say that Social Security can’t be saved. Really? Are you sure that cutting benefits by 90% and raising the retirement age to 100 wouldn’t do it?

Social Security was originally meant to provide some extra income in your golden years, not cover all your expenses. People would start collecting benefits at 65 (I assume), and maybe die at 68. They also probably had a pension. (Remember those?)

Now people are living much longer, there are fewer workers per retiree, and people expect Social Security to pay all their bills. And yet, we’ve made basically no changes to the system.

If you want to retire at 65 and live to 95, you need to save up a lot of money to pay for that. Social Security is just your ice cream money, but you’re responsible for the rest.

Let’s start raising the retirement age right now. We don’t even need to cut benefits for current retirees, but at least stop making cost of living adjustments. I know you think you’re entitled, but we’re in a crisis, and we need to do SOMETHING.

Wars

New rule: no more unnecessary wars. Even if a war would cost absolutely no lives and liberate these people and make us allies with those people, it doesn’t matter. We can’t afford it.

We used to be the country that thought Hitler was Europe’s problem. Now we’re the country that wants to send the military whenever someone looks at us wrong. Stop doing that. If there’s a problem, let the UN do something.

The bailout

The bailout might not end up being $700 billion, but there will probably be a bailout of some kind. Bail out who you absolutely must, but let some people go under. Don’t reward recklessness and encourage it to happen again. Go after the bad guys and make them pay. Let people lose their homes if they can’t afford them; it’s their own fault and we can’t afford to save them.

Personal debt

As for individual households, stop racking up so much debt. I recently got a letter saying my credit card limit had been increased to $20,000. If some disaster ever forced me to charge even a tenth of that, I’d cut my power and starve myself until I paid it off.

I know someone who makes considerably less money than me, who just bought a $27,000 car and financed most of it. Meanwhile, the car I paid about $14,000 cash for 6 years ago is holding up just fine. I know being cheap isn’t much fun, but neither is being in debt.

I have a friend of a friend who owes $25,000 on his credit cards, and he has no intention of ever paying it off. His plan is to just keep charging and making the minimum payments until he dies. A good plan, until he maxes out his credit and has to declare bankruptcy.

Stop thinking of debt as normal. The attitude that citizens and politicians can afford anything they can charge is killing this country.

An inspiring story

But I won’t end on such a grim note. Instead, I’ll share this story I heard years ago, which provides some much needed inspiration for these troubling times.

---

A young man asked an old rich man how he made his money. The old guy fingered his worsted wool vest and said, “Well, son, it was 1932, the depth of the Great Depression. I was down to my last nickel.

I invested that nickel in an apple. I spent the entire day polishing the apple, and at the end of the day, I sold the apple for ten cents.

The next morning, I invested those ten cents in two apples. I spent the entire day polishing them and sold them at the end of the day for 20 cents.

I continued this system for a month, by the end of which I’d accumulated a fortune of $3.50.

Then my wife’s father died and left us ten million dollars.”

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My last post on how to slowly grow your subscriber count ironically brought in 20 new subscribers that day.

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Michael Martine at Remarkablogger is going to hold a blog traffic teleseminar in a couple of weeks. See that link for details. If you click, it increases my chances of winning something. Again, see that link for details.

I just read the international bestseller The Millionaire Mindset by Gerry Robert. It’s available for free when you sign up for Bob Proctor’s mailing list, but I didn’t actually sign up. You know how you get a confirmation email with a link you have to click on in order to sign up for a mailing list? They gave a link to the ebook in that email, so I didn’t actually have to opt in. That being the case, I guess it’s OK for me to link directly to the ebook and save you the hassle: The Millionaire Mindset.

This is yet another finance book with a picture of a guy pointing at you (page 6), but it’s good. And it’s also an actual book, selling on Amazon from $80.90 used and $122.88 new. Here, let me save you a hundred bucks or so.

Here’s the table of contents:

Chapter 1: MAGIC THINKING: The Key to Success

Chapter 2: HABIT MAGIC: Turning Yourself On to Self-Discipline

Chapter 3: GOALS MAGIC: The Ultimate Tool for Financial Success

Chapter 4: MONEY MAGIC: The Keys to Mastering Your Money

Chapter 5: M.S.I. MAGIC: Multiple Sources of Income-What the Rich Have Always Known About Wealth Creation

Chapter 6: MASTERMIND MAGIC: The Secret Weapon
of Wealth

Chapter 7: TIME MAGIC: Double Your Power and
Personal Effectiveness

Chapter 8: SALES MAGIC: Learn To Sell-The Key to Your Future

Chapter 9: SUCCESSIBILITY THINKING: The 30-Day Success Declaration Plan

Chapter 10: MULTIPLY YOUR BUSINESS: The Ten Realities

This is a full-fledged book at 321 pages, so don’t expect to finish it quickly. It’s filled with lots of good stories, tips, ideas, quotes, and so forth, and he really covers a lot of stuff. In fact, he covers too much; I would have split it up into a few separate books.

As with any finance book, I don’t agree with everything he says. Among his more stupid ideas is to call up the most successful person in your industry and say this:

“Hi, my name is ______. We’ve never met, but I really admire you. The reason I’m calling is I would like to meet briefly with you. I’m trying to hit new levels in my business life and I know I could learn from someone like you. I will only need 37 minutes of your time. When we meet, I will have a list of well-thought out questions. I will take notes and I will act on the advice you give me. Also, I will report back to you all my progress.”

I dare someone to do that!

I was a little thrown off by Chapter 10: Multiply Your Business. It really looks and feels like a completely separate book that was just randomly thrown in. It even comes after the epilogue, so I guess it’s supposed to be a bonus book. It’s about marketing, it’s not as good as the rest, and some of it is really dumb. He says he can teach you how to get a book published in order to differentiate yourself from your competitors. OK, but he says you can write it in 40 hours, or use their copyright-free material, or use ghostwriters. Huh?

Anyway, if you ignore the weird chapter 10, this is a good book, though personally I found it more entertaining than practical.

I really wish people on the covers of finance books would stop pointing at me.

Nevertheless, 4 Steps to Financial Freedom by Sean Toh is a good ebook. It sells for $18.90, but you can get it for free from Saiful’s blog. (Click that link, then click the picture of the ebook at the bottom of the post).

And this ebook really should have been free from the start. It’s good, but it’s not the kind of thing that you’d want to pay $18.90 for considering what’s already available on the internet for free.

Here are Sean’s 4 steps:

1. Get Healthy And Strive For Great Health

2. Adopt An Open Mindset To Learn

3. Invest Your Time In Financial And Health Education

4. Enjoy The Wealth That You Have Created

What I enjoyed most was Sean’s personal story of how he rose from humble beginnings to financial freedom. I love stuff like that.

One warning, though. This ebook is pretty long at 158 pages, and completely unfocused. It jumps all over the place, from bodybuilding to nutrition to mental health to putting together a financial plan to changing your mindset to the different types of income to how to trade stocks online in Singapore, etc. He has a lot of good stuff here, but I would have split it up into several more tightly focused ebooks.

I guess Sean’s breadth of knowledge comes from all the different experiences he’s had. For example, his jobs have included being a waiter, dishwasher, painter, construction worker, promoter, salesman, technician, flight attendant, lighting designer, engineer, personal trainer, educator, competitive bodybuilder, and model. Different experiences make life interesting, and I guess they also make for interesting ebooks, if you can handle the twists and turns.

Erica Douglass has written a nice post about the current U.S. real estate market, When Should You Buy Real Estate — And When Is It Better to Rent? It should be especially interesting to anyone who’s thinking about buying a house now, or anyone who’s concerned about housing prices.

She looks at two metrics (house prices as a multiple of median income, and house prices as a multiple of monthly rent), and concludes that houses are still overpriced in her city (San Jose). She also predicts that the housing market will reach the bottom in late 2010 to 2013.

I always pay attention when someone analyzes house prices with numbers instead of feelings. But one thing to keep in mind is that every situation is different, so be sure to plug in your own numbers. Whenever I see someone say that now isn’t a good time to buy, renting is better than buying right now, buying is always a bad deal, etc., I plug in my own numbers and confirm that I would have been crazy to rent instead of buying. I realize that for some people in some markets it’s better to rent, but that’s never been true for me.

By the way, why does it matter if it’s a good time to buy? Most likely, you’d be selling one house in order to buy another. If it’s a good time to buy, it’s a bad time to sell, and vice versa. You win one, you lose one.

The main exceptions are if you’re entering or exiting the market. If you’re buying your first house, you definitely want a buying opportunity. If you’re selling your house and renting, you definitely want a selling opportunity. Other exceptions are if you’re trading way up or way down, or if you’re buying and selling in completely different markets. But other than that, do you really care about house prices?

Are ebooks worth the money?

About three months ago I recommended an ebook called Learn More, Study Less by Scott Young, priced at $39.95.

A lot of people complained about the price, but this is by no means the most expensive ebook out there. One that comes to mind is Desperate Buyers Only (which I haven’t read) by Alexis Dawes, priced at $77. And there are yet more expensive ebooks out there, some well over $100.

But this is the internet age. With so much free stuff out there, can an ebook ever be worth the money? Absolutely!

What Is Money Really Worth?

First, I think we need to look at some conflicting beliefs people have about money.

Whenever someone writes a post about how money isn’t that important, almost everyone jumps on board and says “Yeah! That’s right! All that matters is [choose from family, health, happiness, etc].” But when it comes time for them to buy something, they do a complete 180 and attach far too much importance to their money, being unwilling to part with just a few dollars for something that can be worth much more.

It’s not a good idea to waste money, but it’s also not a good idea to hoard it. Money is meant to be spent on things that improve your life. What kind of a world do we live in where people will drop $20 for a pair of tickets to Sex and the City, yet balk at the cost of a $20 ebook?

Many people who read blogs think they’re getting such a good deal…all this information for free. But nothing is free. What is your time worth? $5 an hour? $50 an hour? How many thousands of dollars do you spend each year by using your time to read “free” information?

The Value of an Ebook

The reason ebooks cost money while blog posts are free is simply because ebooks are much better. Not every ebook is going to be for you, but if a particular ebook is what you need, it should have a lot of useful, insightful, original information, perfectly targeted for its niche, impeccably presented, and instantly delivered. Not to mention that it’s probably from someone you know.

No spending countless hours combing the web for free information that may or may not be out there somewhere. No getting in your car and burning gas to get to the bookstore, only to pick up something that will clutter your home for the rest of your life. No buying a book from an author you know nothing about, only to find out you don’t like their style.

Of course, not every ebook delivers. I just read an ebook that normally costs $19, but I got it for free. It’s fine as a free ebook, but it’s sure not worth $19. That’s why it’s important to know the author or get a referral from someone you know. You can do this by reading blogs (yes, even though our time is precious, there are lots of blogs worth reading).

So why do I think that one ebook is overpriced at $19, while I think “Learn More, Study Less” is worth $39.95? Simply because ebooks are not a commodity. The difference in prices is miniscule compared to the difference in value. While double the price of the $19 ebook, the $39.95 ebook has a free preview, a money-back guarantee, and a 50% affiliate program (so the ebook is free if you refer two people). It’s also by an author who has acquired thousands of readers with his unique ideas. It’s also well presented and beautifully laid out and illustrated. And now having read it, I can say that the information it contains just doesn’t exist anywhere else, as far as I know.

What about p-books? (By p-books, I mean “paper books.” As e-books become more popular, it becomes more important to make a distinction.) Why are p-books often cheaper than e-books? It’s because the p-book publishers know they’ll sell millions of copies, so they can afford to sell them dirt cheap and still make millions of dollars. Bloggers don’t have nearly as large a market, so they’d be crazy to sell their ebooks for pennies above cost like the big book publishers do.

Support Your Favorite Bloggers

In fact, many people severely overestimate the income of bloggers. Did you know that only 1 blog in 1,000 makes $20 a month? Even Scott Young, author of “Learn More, Study Less,” who is in the Technorati top 4,000 blogs out of 2 million, only expects his blog to earn roughly $15,000 – $25,000 in 2008. An impressive accomplishment for sure, but hardly a princely sum.

A lot of bloggers have a donate button where you can send them a little money to support their efforts, which is perfectly reasonable, seeing as how their earnings almost always work out to be less than minimum wage. I like to support my favorite bloggers, but instead of just making a donation, I prefer to buy their e-books (or p-books if they have them). That way, it’s mutually beneficial.

Yesterday I bought Randy’s Pausch’s p-book The Last Lecture and Darren Rowse’s p-book ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income. Do they need the money? No, not really. Darren supposedly makes over $20,000 a month just from his two blogs, plus he has his book proceeds and his income as VP of Blogger Training for b5media. Randy’s a smart guy and I’m sure he has enough life insurance, plus Hyperion paid $6.7 million for the right to publish his book (I don’t know what Randy’s cut was). They don’t need the money, but I like supporting them because of the work they’ve done. Besides, my blog is mentioned in The Last Lecture, page 184!

I think that buying an ebook can very well be a good investment. You have to do your homework and buy wisely, but an ebook can give you instant access to the latest information that may not exist anywhere else, presented in a style that resonates with you (or you wouldn’t read their blog), in a format that doesn’t take up space, while letting you support a deserving blogger. Isn’t that worth a few dollars?

Check out my guest post When Good People Give Bad Financial Advice on Early Retirement Extreme. It’s about a situation where I received advice from someone who meant well but didn’t know what they were talking about. While written specifically about finance, it could just as easily be applied to any other type of advice.

Early Retirement Extreme is a very interesting personal finance blog where Jacob shares his story of achieving financial independence in five years. He did this not by making tons of money, but by focusing on values and efficiency. While many of his tips are too extreme for me (and believe me, they’re extreme), I’ve benefited from observing Jacob’s unique perspective on wants and needs, and seeing what’s possible for someone who is truly committed.

Early Retirement Extreme placed 7th on my list of The 10 Most Readable Blogs (That I Like).