| The 4-Hour Work Week by Timothy Ferriss does | | | | companies that specialize in outsourcing. |
| what only the best books can do. It strikes a cord | | | | 3. Negotiate with your present boss to work at home |
| deep within us, confirming thoughts that we have | | | | instead of working at the office. This allows you to |
| always vaguely felt were true, and pointing us down a | | | | focus your efforts on the important aspects of your |
| path that offers fresh hope for the future. Some of | | | | job and doing them more quickly and efficiently. |
| the outstanding points the author covers are: | | | | While I think these are all reasonable options, this is |
| 1. Retirement as a goal is flawed. Doing the same thing | | | | where I part company with the author, in terms of how |
| for 8 hours a day until you breakdown or permanently | | | | I approach passive income streams. |
| stop is the wrong way to live. Ferriss says that | | | | What works for me is to buy fixer-upper houses, |
| alternating periods of activity and rest are necessary | | | | repair them and rent them out. The work is front |
| to survive, let alone thrive. He advocates distributing | | | | loaded with the initial purchase and repair of the |
| "mini-retirements" throughout life instead of hoarding the | | | | property. After that initial push, like the 4 Hour |
| recovery and enjoyment for the retirement years. | | | | Workweek, it requires minimal input and can allow time |
| 2. The question one should ask oneself is not "What | | | | for mini-retirements. |
| do I want in life?," or "What are my goals?" but the real | | | | For me, the advantage of real estate is that it provides |
| question should be "What would excite me?". To focus | | | | both long-term and short term profits. Long-term from |
| in more, you should ask yourself, "What would I do if | | | | the average 5% increase in equity, and short-term |
| there were no way I could fail, or, if I were 10 times | | | | from monthly rental payments and tax deductions. If |
| smarter than the rest of the world?" | | | | you turn your rental properties over to a management |
| 3. Getting fired, despite coming as a surprise and | | | | company, you are free travel. |
| leaving you scrambling for recover, is often a godsend. | | | | This is not to take anything away from The 4-Hour |
| Someone else made the decision for you and it's | | | | Workweek. On the contrary, the book is worth reading |
| impossible for you to sit in the wrong job for the rest | | | | because it is eminently thought-provoking and written in |
| of your life. Most people aren't lucky enough to get | | | | a style that is wildly entertaining. (His hilarious Mad Lib |
| fired and die a slow spiritual death over 30-40 years | | | | fill-in-the-blank job resignation letter is a work of mad |
| of tolerating the mediocre. | | | | genius.) Yet, as I mentioned, the book goes way |
| The author describes several insightful ways to free | | | | beyond this by examining deeper themes of life and |
| up time for mini-retirements. | | | | work that are seldom addressed in such a enthralling |
| 1. Start your own business, then turn the reins over to | | | | manner. |
| someone else who runs the operation for you. You | | | | Another excellent book that also takes a meaningful |
| become a ghost owner. As Ferriss quotes the | | | | look at issues of work and money is "Your Money or |
| Guardian of the Emerald City Gates in the Wizard of | | | | Your Life: Transforming Your Relationship with Money |
| Oz, "Orders are nobody can see the Great Oz! Not | | | | and Achieving Financial Independence," by Joe |
| nobody, not no how!" | | | | Dominguez and Vicki Robin. |
| 2. Outsource your work to foreign and domestic virtual | | | | |