Work Less & Play More

Rating:
Summary: The title says it all
Review: "Work Less & Play More" presents a viable alternative to the "Work till you're 65, then go home and die" tradition. Contained within this book are many techniques and strategies that can allow someone to reduce their spending and increase their savings, facilitating an early retirement or a semi-retirement.

The chapter entitled "Avoiding Consequence Costs" is excellent. The author makes a convincing argument that you need to examine the total cost of a purchase, not just the initial price. The example he uses is of a dog that has an initial purchase price of $50. But then after the initial purchase there are license fees, shots, food, and vet bills for years afterward. In addition, there is the inconvenience factor to consider: bathing, walking, cleaning up after the dog, etc.

The chapter entitled "The Law of Possessions" is equally well done. He effectively illustrates how every possession has a cost in money and time associated with it.

Another factor that makes this book worthwhile is that it's well written and enjoyable to read.

Highly recommended.

John L. White, author "I'm in Debt, Over 40, With No Retirement Savings, HELP!"



Rating:
Summary: Sensational Book on Personal Finance
Review: A common sense, easy to read book that does an outstanding job of getting the reader to re-evaluate what is important in life. Today's society rates success by the amount of material posessions one has acquired. For most, this process is achieved through increased time at the office, often resulting in increased stress, and a substantial reduction in time for personal activities. This might be o.k. if your vocation is your vacation, but for most, it is not. The typical 40 year, 9 to 5 job is challanged in this book, and provides far more attractive alternatives. After reading this book, I immediately made changes in my buying decisions and lifestyle, and am much happier as a result. Everyone will get something positive out of this book. I hope Steve Catlin has a follow up book sometime in the future.

Rating:
Summary: insightful, valuable and fun to read
Review: Finally--a book with practical "life management" advice written in a readable, often hilarious style! Catlin offers valuable tips on how to make the most of one's time and money by suggesting strategies which easily apply regardless of income. Contains many pearls of wisdom!

Rating:
Summary: MY 2ND FAVORITE BOOK OF ALL TIME...
Review: I love this book! It's easy to do and I did it. I haven't
worked in the past 2 years by choice, by following his advice
in this book. If I can do it on 25k a year anyone can. He
really challenges and gets you thinking about the American
Dream. Don't wait until you are 65 to retire, read this book.
It's easy reading and hard to put down. I've read it 5 times.

Rating:
Summary: MY 2ND FAVORITE BOOK OF ALL TIME...
Review: I, for one, really liked this book! As someone who is more than ready to retire from the rat race and have shared similar thoughts, it was an affirmation of my own instincts. Catlin recommends that we evaluate the difference between needs and wants (and doesn't label "wants" as necessarily bad, asks only that we be conscious of the difference), think of the "consequence costs" of the things we buy and recommends that we simply... save our money! I've been reading plenty of books about investing and find that most of them are far too complex for those who simply don't have enough interest to learn all the details. Catlin is not recommending gambling... but conserving. His concept of a "personal treasury" worked well. His discussion of the minimalist lifestyle made a great deal of sense. All in all, well worth reading! For those who want to escape the mind-numbing conformity of corporate America and want more quality and leisure, the ideas presented in the book are right on! I would like to see more books by Steven Catlin, perhaps addressing some of the simpler investment options like low-cost mutual funds and I-Bonds.

Rating:
Summary: One or two ideas plus padding - buy "Joy of Not Working"
Review: Take your first step towards earlier retirement by saving your $14 and not buying this book. There are better personal finance books available, a topic which this guy spends a ton of time giving a light treatment to. He disquises a basic personal finance concept with custom vocabulary and stretches it for most of the book. The result is a simple concept obfuscated page after page.

The concept? First, do you think there's more to life than working yourself to death? If so, then don't spend money on things you don't have to. Spend it only on what you need and enjoy. Learn to live cheaply and your retirement savings will stretch farther, allowing you to retire earlier or partially retire for the rest of your life.

That's nearly the whole book in one paragraph. Publishers seem to insist on some minimum length of book which leads authors to pad good ideas to the point where it gets frustrating to read through them.

I found the author's near constant parenthetical quips completely annoying.

I did enjoy the last fourth of the book which explained how sources of manipulation (salespeople, the government, businesses) will sap your time and money.

A much better book on the same topic is Ernie Zelinski's "The Joy of Not Working" which is teeming with philosophy (lacking in "Work Less..."), better stories, and more inspiring and practical advice.

Rating:
Summary: A Real Fun Book for Singles
Review: This book contains little new information and a lot of "victim-thinking". If you are looking for a way to make changes in your financial life, including more free time or early retirement, I recommend, Your Money or Life, or The Energy of Money, or even the somewhat more radical, but useful, How to Survive Without a Salary.

The last half of this book seems to be an extended rant, finger pointing at all the bad guys out there: advertisers. salesman, employers and the government. For a book that supposedly advocates thinking for oneself, there is an awful lot of blaming going on here.

I recommend not buying this book and reviewing instead some of the above-mentioned titles.