The Number

I finished reading "The Number : A Completely Different Way to Think About the Rest of Your Life" by Lee Eisenberg. I've got to say I was mildly disappointed with the book. It was an interesting read, but the book jacket and title led me to believe it would be a bit of life altering book. It wasn't, it didn't change my way of thinking about retirement at all. Of course, I'm a bit of a different case, having an undergraduate finance degree from Wichita State (not just a basketball factory) and working in the financial services industry. I've done a fairly good job at building a Number and absolutely love shopping for a great stock.

"The Number" promised a new way to think about retirement. From the book jacket I thought that meant not really focusing on the number per se, but what you wanted to do with it. You know, focus on what's important, as Curly would say "One thing. Once you find that you're golden."(I'm paraphrasing. how could IMDB not have that quote>) Anyway, there wasn't much of a new way of thinking. Also, Eisenberg was focusing a lot of time on people with numbers north of $10m. That's a big number, not necessarily my demographic.

Another misconception from the book jacket; it said the book was for anyone over 30. I'm 32, this book was not geared toward me. This is more a book for a 45 year old who has not worked on his Number at all. The only way this book would be for someone in the 30 - 40 range would be to scare the hell out of them and get them started on their number. Just think how much money you need if you retire at 65. First, chances are good that you will live to at least 80 (Eisenberg had the statistics), that's at least 15 years you must pay for out of your earnings now. Then there's a chance you could live to 100. That's 35 years without wages, only investment income and whatever Social Security the government can afford then. One thing that I hadn't thought too much about was a strategy for withdrawing my investment funds over the course of my retirement. Eisenberg does a good job explaining the risks and opportunities involved with drawing down your number.

Still, "The Number" was an interesting read, not life changing, but interesting. I do think it's worthwhile for someone maybe hitting their 40th birthday. Retirement is serious stuff, you need to plan for it. If you wait too long, you're going to be disappointed in your ability to pay for things and you may have to start robbing banks.

Next up is "Small Giants: Companies That Choose to Be Great Instead of Big" by Bo Burlingham. This book explores 14 companies that forewent (if that's not a word, it should be) big riches in order to focus on their own definition of quality. The axiom 'grow or die' does not work for these 14 companies, one of which is the Anchor Steam microbrewery, which was the leader of the microbrew revolution. I think this book is going to be the beginning of a trilogy of anti-big business books. Stay tuned.