Give Me Back My Five Bucks ? Book Review & Giveaway: Free at 45 by ...

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I?ve known Tim Stobbs over at Canadian Dream for quite a number of years. In fact, I really looked up to him (along with?Mike Holman, Kerry Taylor, and a few other Canadian bloggers) when I first started my journey out of debt ? and I still do today.?So, earlier this year when I found out that he had written a book, I knew I had to get my hands on a copy.

Truthfully, I don?t know much about Tim, other than the snippets of his life that he decides to share with his readers on his popular blog. But after reading his book, Free at 45, I really feel like I know him a lot better. First, he is hilarious (or maybe I just have a weird sense of humour). I found myself laughing out loud throughout the entire book. But most importantly? The guy knows his stuff. His writing style made it easy for me to understand what he was saying, and I felt like he was speaking directly to me. Also, he broke down the numbers and really helped me to see the math behind what he was talking about.

As someone who?s #1 personal finance goal is to retire early, I think it was something I needed to read. It put my goals into perspective and helped me understand why I want to retire early, and what I truly value out of life.

Here are the biggest lessons I learned from reading his blog:

• Anyone can retire early. Tim talks about how you don?t need to win the lottery, or flip houses, or get lucky in the stock market, to leave your job and retire early. It?s about knowing what?s important in your life, what makes you happy, and a willingness to work hard and put in the effort.
• When thinking about how much to save for retirement, don?t get caught up in a number. He explains that it?s not what you make, it?s what you spend that determines what you need. Such a logical way of thinking, yet somehow I never really grasped the concept until I read this book. Like he explains, we often times get sucked into thinking we need to replace a certain percentage of our income ? when in reality we might need a lot less than we think we do.

• How to be happy in the present. A huge thing for me was remembering that you can?t wait until you retire to do everything that you?ve wanted to do. Live your dreams today, and be happy with your life. I think that really rings true in my life right now. The past two months have been interesting and stressful, but I can?t recall a time where I?ve been happier.

Tim recently quit his job because he has been unhappy for so long. I think that?s amazing, and a true testament to how he lives his life and what he values.

I don?t do a lot of book reviews, and I certainly don?t endorse anything unless I truly believe in it ? but this is a great book that I think everybody should read ? even if your goal isn?t to retire early.

Now, the contest! You can enter to win your very own copy of Tim?s book! Here?s how:

There are TWO ways to enter [for a total of 3 entries]:

1. For one entry:?Comment on this blog post and tell me if you plan on retiring early ? and if so, what age? If you are anonymous, please make sure you leave your e-mail address in your blog comments.
2. For one entry [plus a bonus entry]:?Tweet about the contest, linking back to this post. Add?@krystalatwork to the tweet so I can count your entry on Twitter (mandatory). Throw Tim?s Twitter name (@canadiandream) in the tweet, and get a bonus entry!

Rules:

• Open to Canadian and U.S. residents only (please note that the authour is Canadian).
• Contest closes June 24, 2011 at 5pm PST.
• The winners will be picked using Random.org.

Good luck to everyone! :)

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4. CONTEST: Win a copy of Quicken 2011 for Canadians
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Source: http://www.givemebackmyfivebucks.com/2011/06/15/book-review-free-at-45-by-tim-stobbs/

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