Book Review - Quit Young!

This article was posted on June 1, 2003.

"New Age" retiree Rick Stewart details his path to early retirement in Quit Young! New Age Retirement for the Boomer Generation. This book is part of the growing genre that defines retirement more as a change of career rather than sitting on a beach or playing golf. It's specifically aimed at baby boomers who haven't saved enough money to simply "live off their investments."

Dr. Stewart is an Ohio podiatrist who decided to pack in his medical career in 1996 at age 47 and move to Southwest Florida to indulge his passion for sailing. Quit Young! details his planning process in making this happen:

1) Stewart had an impressive inventory of "toys" that needed to be liquidated prior to "retirement" including three homes, three boats, six cars, a hot tub, restaurant, and two nightclubs. He kept the $200,000 43 foot catamaran for use in Florida.

2) His passion for sailing led him to buy a sailboat charter business as a second career. A passion for playing the guitar and singing led to the sale of the sailboat charter business and a job managing the large tropical nightclub where he often took to the stage with his guitar to perform.

3) Contingency planning was a big part of his strategy. His retirement even survived a nasty divorce from his wife of ten years when she decided that partnering with a Florida sailboat captain wasn't as attractive as being married to a successful Ohio doctor. His financial "Plan B" is still working well despite being stripped of half its assets.

You Can Retire Young!

by (Dr.) Richard Stewart

Retire Early rating:

The best part of the book is the author's description of the emotions that prompted his "New Age" retirement. These kinds of narratives that chronicle a retiree's pre-retirement and post-retirement lives often make very interesting reading -- that's certainly true in Dr. Stewart's case.

Retire Early rating: (4 stars)

Stewart also maintains a website at http://www.quityoung.com/.