How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free: Retirement Wisdom That You Won't Get from Your Financial Advisor

This book is quite different than the author's other one that I like so much, "The Joy of Not Working." The format is quite different. In my opinion, the organizational structure is not as good. But in the end, there is a wealth of good, solid, useful, insightful information contained inside, and that would be the point of reading it in the first place. In short, "Happy, Wild and Free" is another winner by Zelinski for retiree readers, and it can serve as a great "only" retirement book for those who are looking for that. I can't imagine anyone feeling they don't get their money's worth from reading the book. Just a read of the preface may be worth the price of admission. Here we find a good overview of the subject of retirement, with some first-class comments to boot: "Retirement is the perfect time to become the person you would like to be and do the things you have always wanted to do." "Retirement can be both exciting and demanding, bringing new challenges, new experiences, and new uncertainties." "...retirement is the last opportunity for individuals to reinvent themselves, let go of the past, and find peace and happiness within." "Despite the bad press that retirement sometimes gets, there has never been a better time to be retired in Western nations." And the one I like the best: "The most fortunate of retirees are those who through good planning, experimentation, and risk-taking succeed in making retirement the best time of their lives." I just don't think the elements of this retirement insight and advice gets any better any place else. I truly believe that Zelinski is the reigning guru on retirement, and I have since I first found and read, "The Art of Retirement." If Zelinski didn't exist, I think we would have to have invent him. But he's saved us the trouble with his combination of fantastic books on retirement. The major criticism of the book is that, for me, the flow of chapters and even the flow of sections within the chapters does not work. The collection of chapter sections, I think, could probably be randomly placed with the same eventual result. It's not like one section logically follows the other, nor positively belongs in one chapter rather than another. And, as I look back through my notes in the book, I find words I've written such as "sophomoric," "irrelevant," "repetitive," "dumb," and "weak." I simply do not find all sections of the book to be at the level I want them to be. But that's it. That's all of my criticisms. To me the reader is free, after reading the preface, to read through the rest of the book, remembering quotes and advice and insight along the way, finding sections that he or she finds valuable and to be favorites, ignoring those found not to be worth the read. The flaws that I see should not prevent most from finding the bulk of the book to be well worth the effort. I highly recommend this book as a gift to oneself and/or for others. I don't think it gets any better than Zelinski when you look for books on the subject of life after work.

Ernie Zelinski's best-seller book on retirement, How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free, is one of the best written resources on the subject. Since I retired from teaching music in the public schools in 2013, I have been preaching his gospel about finding meaning and work/life balance in retirement. I even promote it in my blog-posts [...] for soon-to-retire music teachers. His informal curriculum of setting goals, creating a "get-a-life" tree, and satisfying the three basic needs of retirees to find "purpose, community, and structure," is absolutely amazing. I call it "re-channeling your juices," focusing on your "new" mission - why you are excited to get up in the morning - avoiding too many passive (boring) activities, and seeking out ways to "make a difference." His text, illustrations, and quotations are hilarious! Especially for many music educators, the transition to our "golden years" can be "bumpy!" We are too "Type-A" for our own good and personally identify (our self-worth) too much with our school music programs. It is difficult to walk away and not look back. When we take that first leap and leave full-time employment, sometimes we carry excess emotional baggage. Ernie Zelinski helps us to learn how to take it slow, plan and "intern" retirement, and get rid of everything else. My favorite sections in his book are Chapter 2 "Retirement: A Time to Become Much More than You Have Ever Been," Chapter 3 "So Many Worlds, So Much to Do!", and Chapter 5 "Learning is for Life." This is the book I purchase and give to every colleague who I know is planning to retire... the art teacher who lives on my street, the foreign language curriculum leader who is leaving the profession after serving 43 years at the school I also taught, etc. My only complaint is that I can never find my own copy of the book... I keep lending it out to "needy" newly retirees who probably "forget" to return it. That's another good reason he has sold more than 275,000 copies of How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free... we keep snatching them up and passing them on!

A Joyful Wake-Up Call for Life After Work Ernie Zelinski’s *How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free* is easily one of the most refreshing and liberating books ever written about retirement. Instead of focusing on 401(k)s and Social Security projections, Zelinski explores the *emotional and creative side* of retirement — how to build purpose, community, and structure once the career identity fades. He reminds readers that happiness in retirement has little to do with net worth and everything to do with curiosity, friendships, and personal reinvention. The tone is upbeat and irreverent, filled with clever quotes, humor, and exercises like the “Get-A-Life Tree” to help readers visualize how to fill their days with meaning. His core message — that retirement is a *beginning*, not an end — resonates across all stages of life. For anyone approaching or already in retirement, it’s a great antidote to the fear-based financial talk that dominates the topic. That said, the book can be repetitive at times, circling back to the same ideas about purpose and creativity. Some readers may also find his dismissal of traditional work a bit one-sided — not everyone needs to “escape” a miserable job to find joy later in life. But if you take the spirit of the message rather than the literal tone, the advice is life-affirming and actionable. Bottom line: An inspiring, funny, and gently provocative guide that helps you design a rich, meaningful retirement — not just financially secure, but genuinely alive.

As a retirement-planning seminar presenter and life coach, I highly recommend this book to all my clients. I know of several organizations, like the Syncrude Company and Allstate Financial, that have purchased the print edition of this book in large quantities to give their employees and clients. I can see why. "How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free" deals with the important, non-financial elements of retirement. It truly is "Retirement Wisdom That You Won't Receive from Your Financial Advisor". Zelinski paints a picture of retirement so enticing that you may want to retire early even if you are in your fourties or fifties. He covers essential non-financial retirement topics such as the importance of friendships, lifelong learning, the right place to live, interesting travel options, and choosing the right type of leisure activities. His retirement-planning tool called "The Get-a-Life Tree", along with seven pages of suggested retirement activities, are two extremely important features that you won't find in any other retirement books. In the Kindle ebook edition, he has also added the aspect of "The Ultimate Life Adventure List", that you should create for yourself and pursue with commitment. The Kindle ebook edition has a little more informationn and some humorous color images to add to the value of this book. Nonetheless, the print edition will be relevant for decades, unlike most financial retirement planning books, which can be out of date in a year or so. Purchase either edition and you will be receiving much greater value than the vast majority of retirement books. Given that I like quotations, and use them in my retirement planning seminars, I was happy to see Zelinski utilize a lot of great quotations about retirement that enhance the important message of his book. Warning; "How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free" is not a book for those who have not saved enough for retirement and are looking for someone to rescue them from their financial dilemma. This is a book for those who are comfortable that they have sufficient money in their retirement accounts. "How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free" is also for those who realize that they can be happier with an retirement income of $30,000 than other people can be with a retirement income of $100,000 or more. Zelinski's approach is informative, fun, and creative. "How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free" is a must for those adventurous souls who would like a daily dose of inspiration to make their retirement years the best time of their lives.

This is an entertaining book that encourages people to be brave enough to quit their jobs and gives ideas about ways to spend the time after retirement. The author tells many stories of people who retired on very low amounts of money. One of these gentlemen lived very well on 6 thousands pounds per year twenty years ago. The problem is that the author makes no mention that I found about inflation. I think about the man getting by on 6k pounds a year in his 80s now in the 2020s. I can imagine that he'd make it about 3 months on that amount of money if he's lucky... very dangerous not to take inflation into account.

I recently purchased the ebook edition even though the print edition was given to me as a gift. In some ways, the ebook is even better than the print edition. Here is some of the added value in the ebook edition: * The ebook edition has a bit more material and information in topics such as "Don't Forget to Include Your Spouse in Your Retirement Plan" and "Your Ultimate Life Adventure List". * Three inspirational letters from readers of the print edition have been incorporated into the main content of the ebook edition. * There is also a new section at the end of the book with about 10 other letters from readers, including a great retirement poem called "I Can Still Matter" submitted by a reader. * There are many more recommended retirement-related websites. The hot links to the recommended websites are also very convenient. * Humorous color cartoon-type images add to the book's value (only if you have a sense of humor, of course). * There are several new funny and inspirational quotations about retirement that weren't in the print edition. For the record, the so-called errors in the print edition that one reviewer talks about have been corrected or eliminated. Besides, these were minor and irrelevant in the higher order of things, particularly to the great value of this book. Most of the material in this book will be relevant for decades. This is not a book that gives financial advice for retirement, which can go out of date in a year or two. The principles in "How to Retire Happy, Wild, & Free" are lessons about living life to the fullest, which are just as relevant today as they were when the print edition was first written. This can also be said for Zelinski's The Joy of Not Working", which was written over 21 years ago and still sells almost 5,000 copies a year. If you want to give "How to Retire Happy, Wild & Free" to someone as a gift, then the print edition will make a much better gift, simply because real books make better gifts. If you would like the convenience of immediately checking out all the recommended retirement resources on the Internet and would like to read a number of new inspirational letters from readers who are truly enjoying retirement, buy the ebook version. In either case, the book will be well worth the price.

Loved this book. I'm approaching retirement in the very near future. I can continue working if I want to change jobs, or take contract work, or just change careers, but I can also afford to just retire, too. It is a perplexing decision. I like working and I like leisure time, too. This book helps you frame your decision in terms other than financial. There is, of course, financial considerations, but the real conundrum is what will you do with your new found leisure time? This book gives anecdotal, real world, testimonial and concrete advice on how to analyze and make a retirement decision. The truth is that just because you retire, doesn't mean you can't work, in fact the author suggests you find a purpose for your retirement which may very well mean you work at something you enjoy. This book is a great balance to others I've read which focus on all of the "gotchas" associated with retirement like social security, savings, and health care. These are discussed in this book, but he gets you to consider that retirement is not about money. Many people with tons of money are unhappy and some who have very little money are very happy. Pick up the book if you want to be inspired to retire. It is a very easy read and one I enjoyed.

How do you plan to spend your post- employment years? You may not have given it much thought if you are under, say, fifty years of age. But if you are nearing the traditional age of retirement, this question is likely at the forefront of your thoughts. A book that wants to help guide you on the path to retirement happiness is How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free. This book is focused on one thing: Helping you get the most possible out of your retirement years. It devotes its space to talking about the things that really matter; the things that will make your retirement years the best years of your life. And contrary to what you may believe, having a massive amount of money isn’t the key to a happy, fulfilling retirement. What matters most is personal relationships, continued growth, creativity, continuous learning, a healthy body and spirit, and so much more. The financial side of the retirement equation does matter, but this book doesn’t devote much space at all to this topic. There are already enough books that focus on the financial aspect of retirement anyway. This book instead concentrates on becoming a better, fuller, more enriched person in your golden years. The book wants you to realize your potential and go for what you like with gusto and determination. This book is written in a wordy way and isn’t going to win any awards for creative non- fiction. The author even admits this, in so many words. It gets a little bit repetitive from time to time too. But you know what? The practical guidance you receive in this book will make you not care one iota about its award- winning credentials. After you read this book, you should have more than enough suggestions on what your ideal retirement looks like. It could be writing that novel you always dreamed about. It could be visiting countries on each continent. It could be going back to school and studying a subject you always loved but rejected when you were younger because it wasn’t practical enough. Every individual has a different idea about retirement and what it should be. And it is up to each one of us to pursue those unique interests that make us happy. Retirement will sneak up on you faster than you think. You don’t need to have a ton of money on hand to enjoy a happy and prosperous retirement. What you need is a plan that incorporates your personal self- interests and makes your life complete. A happy, wild, and free retirement is within everyone’s grasp and this book is ready to help you achieve your retirement dreams.

Worth a read

The premise of the book is good but author likes to repeat his points. Also not everyone hates their job or has a boring job but he seems intent on painting all jobs and careers as boring and meaningless and that people should aspire to retire as soon as possible and do what they really want, ie retirees need to find themselves. I think he should understand that some people have had meaningful careers, not everyone is dying to be rid of their jobs and not everyone needs to find themselves. I will be happy with a few simple hobbies, pottering around my house and having a cup of tea when I retire. That probably would not sit well with the author though lol

With eight weeks to go before retirement, I needed some help! My financial plans were in place (sort of. as much as they can be these days), but I had no idea about how would I cope with colleagues no longer around, missing the workplace water-cooler moments and no longer having a very busy 24/7 work schedule. I felt pretty foolish that I'd had 40 years to prepare for this, but had no plans about how to spend the next phase of my life. This inspirational, funny and very readable book by Ernie Zelinski has given me a template for how to get the most out of my retirement. The premise is that not to plan for an active retirement is to set yourself up for a difficult one. To be bored is to retire from life, so the book takes you through practical planning to establish a lifestyle that is adventurous, rewarding and exciting. One minor downside is that it is written for the North American market, but the basic wisdom is pretty much global. Anybody about to retire should read this book.

This book is a great tool to traverse this new career of 'retirement', especially when retirement comes earlier than you had planned. It's an easy read, light hearted in tone but serious in content. Confirms some beliefs and challenges others. I've made so many notes from it that most of the book is highlighted in my Kindle. I am now embarking on the exercises, which will help bring clarity. I suggest that all financial advisors send a copy of this book when they issue their invoice!

A fairly typical self help book, with lots of examples through letters from the author's fans. There are not very many new messages in the book. Basically when you retire you need to keep active and involved. Another message is that if you don't have life outside of work before you retire, you will probably not have a successful retirement. I am not sure that is really useful advice. My advice: Live life well, and it doesn't matter whether you are working or retired.