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Have you ever dreamed of a work optional life?
I love reading books on personal finance. I have read quite a few and always take out multiple books from the local library any time I go. The Work Optional book stood out for me among the books I have read, so I encourage you to check it out!
Work Optional by author Tanja Hester, takes a slightly different approach than other personal finance and investment books I have read. Most books focus on the how-to of getting to your financial goals. In this book, the author helps the reader visualize their life once they reach their goal. She focuses on the reasons why they are pursuing the path toward early retirement.
Major Themes
Tanja Hester segments her book into three major themes or sections.
- Planning out the work optional life you want to live.
- The financial plan for your work optional life.
- Thriving in your work optional life.
Instead of just focusing on calculations and formulas of how to build your wealth or be ready to retire financially, Work Optional focuses on what to do once you actually reach your early retirement. Planning what your life looks like then instead of focusing only on number crunching and investment planning is what sets this book apart from others. It also helps you focus on why you are working toward this goal.
Understanding your WHY, and visualizing your future can really help motivate you toward your goals!
Other key components to Work Optional:
Here are some of the other factors that make this book by Tanja Hester Stand out among personal finance books!
- It shares the logistical and emotional sides of pulling the trigger on early retirement.
- It puts the focus on the life you will live, not just the money needed to do so.
- It provides handy checklists at the end of each chapter to ensure you are on track.
Who doesn’t love a good checklist and action items?! Having practical steps to take after reading a book can really help you to achieve a goal. Solid takeaways and resources are valuable and will help you take action if early or partial retirement in the future is a goal you have!
Have you read this book? What are your thoughts?
For other personal finance book reviews check the Reviews section of the blog.
About The Author

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Jessica Morgan
Jessica Morgan is the founder and CEO of Canadianbudget.ca. She is passionate about personal finance and helping Canadians improve their financial literacy by providing more Canadian focused financial content. A millennial mom of one, she has a burning obsession with all things personal finance.
Jessica has a BA in East Asian Studies from York University and a Masters in Business Administration from Toronto Metropolitan University. She is a career public sector employee with a Hybrid Pension, and an advocate for Canadian women to improve their personal finance knowledge.