Book Review: Playing with FIRE by Scott Rieckens

Playing with FIRE (Financial Independence Retire Early): How Far Would You Go for Financial Freedom? by Scott Rieckens

Again the reviews on Goodreads seem to be focused on the Rieckens’ household income of $142,000 per year. Let’s put some things into perspective. The median (not the average but the family in the middle’s) household income is at $99,641 in Coronado, California. The median (again not the average but the house in the middle’s) property value is $1.42M in Coronado, California. While having a household income at $142,000 might be a dream for you or a nightmare for you, that income is not out of line with the area.

On to the book review. This book excited me in ways that David Ramsey just simply didn’t do it last summer. This book was on FIRE as I tore through the pages just soaking in the information. I subscribed to more podcasts due to Scott’s recommendations because at the end of the day no two journeys will be the same and every little bit of knowledge can help. I am determined to pay off debt and build savings/retirement!

We trade most of our free time for money by working the highest-paying job we can find, but then we trade most of this money for the most expensive stuff we can possibly afford, in most cases even borrowing or leasing this stuff so we can claw our way even higher up the luxury scale whenever we get the chance.

Playing with FIRE by Scott Rieckens