Work Less, Live More

by Clyatt, Bob; Repa, Barbara Kate

• ISBN13: 9781413302004
• ISBN10: 1413302009
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-10-30
• Publisher: NOLO

Summary

Most people are overextended, and over-stressed-and feel that the thrill is gone from their worklives. Even those who are not mired in debt or struggling to save for retirement feel they have no choice but to keep slogging away until age 65. The book teaches how to make early semi-retirement work, built on:* sensible spending* a rational investing method based on Nobel Prize winning research* a safe lifelong withdrawal rate system, and* psychological adjustments needed to live a life outside the dominant culture of consumption and overwork.

Author Biography

Author and lecturer Bob Clyatt is the managing director of Rye Venture Advisors, which specializes in advising education companies on mergers, acquisitions and raising private equity capital. He lives in early semi-retirement with his wife and two sons in Rye, New York.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Something Wrong in Paradise	3	(2)
The Solution: Early Semi-Retirement	5	(1)
Escaping the World of Work: One Story	6	(2)
How This Book Can Help	8	(1)
A Look at Some Typical Early Retirees	9	(14)
HOW TO USE THIS BOOK
Stages of Early Retirement	23	(6)
A Quick Look at the Chapters	29	(8)
Figure Out Why You Want to Do This
Why Work Seems Stale	37	(6)
Work in Other Times and Cultures	43	(4)
Planning to Make the Leap	47	(2)
Moving From Work to Early Semi-Retirement	49	(20)
Live Below Your Means
What It Means to Live Below Your Means	69	(2)
Creating Your Spending Plan	71	(2)
Determining Your Annual Spending	73	(10)
Determining Your Means	83	(12)
Planning for Changes	95	(9)
Shifting Your Thinking to Reduce Spending	104	(16)
Children and Early Retirement	120	(6)
Retiring Outside the U.S.	126	(4)
Deciding Whether It's Possible to Retire Early	130	(9)
Put Your Investing on Autopilot
Help for the Beleaguered Investor	139	(3)
Where Wall Street Goes Wrong	142	(4)
Myths About Investing	146	(5)
Prize-Winning Portfolio Theory	151	(2)
Rational Investing	153	(8)
Examples of Rational Investing Portfolios	161	(13)
Rebalancing Your Portfolio	174	(7)
Take 4% Forever
The Safe Withdrawal Rate	181	(3)
The Safe Withdrawal Method	184	(4)
Data and Results	188	(11)
Using the Safe Withdrawal Method	199	(7)
Stop Worrying About Taxes
Tax Benefits for Early Retirees	206	(1)
Strategies for Lowering Taxes	207	(9)
Comparing Taxes: Salary Earners and Early Semi-Retirees	216	(7)
Do Anything You Want, But Do Something
Why Work?	223	(1)
How Work Evolves in Early Semi-Retirement	224	(3)
Making the Shift	227	(4)
Common Work Options for Early Retirees	231	(18)
Unpaid Work Alternatives	249	(5)
Advantages for the Early Semi-Retired Worker	254	(1)
Finding New Activities	255	(8)
Don't Blow It
Challenges of Early Retirement	263	(11)
Special Advice for Couples	274	(7)
Make Your Life Matter
Simple Steps for a Life Well-Lived	281	(2)
Taking Your Pulse	283	(4)
APPENDIX 1 The Asset Classes in the Rational Investing Portfolio
Stocks	287	(1)
Bonds	288	(3)
Other	291	(6)
APPENDIX 2 Resources
Early Retirement	297	(1)
Personal Finance	298	(1)
Rational Investing	299	(3)
Safe Withdrawal Rates	302	(5)
Work/Life Issues	307
Index