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Stock Take

OK, I’ve written two monster posts over the past two weeks, one of which I felt was a personal best.  The other covered an extremely complicated topic which required a lot of research and rewrites.  Even with all the scrutiny, Grumpus Brotherus The Younger still had to catch a few mistakes in the first published version of my last article.

(Quick segue: For all you fresh faced bloggers out there, it turns out this blogging thing is a lot harder than it looks.  Not only do you have to create awesome content, but you need to make it look appealing with stock photography; think up terribly witty [or plainly terrible] captions; hotlink references to your previous posts; and promote your persona and site on social media.  Admittedly I cannot keep that pace of work up alone, so I am taking on some easier subjects and topics until I find a blogging assistant.  I am interviewing for the job in case you are interested.  You can submit your resume in the form of a 1000 word essay at grumpusmaximus@grumpusmaximus.com.)

All two avid readers of this blog may remember that I already wrote a post in which I reviewed three books, two booklets, and one chapter of a book.  I billed them as the perfect combination of reading material to build one leg in that three-legged stool of Financial Independence (FI) knowledge.  However, some of you may have been hoping that I would review a book written specifically for a Golden Albatross situation.  But unless I wrote a book about the Golden Albatross, no book out there is going to address the situation by name since I made up the metaphor.  Yet, during my FI educational journey, I’ve read a book that described the situation, just not in so many words.  The book is  Messages From Your Future: The Seven Rules for Financial, Personal and Professional Success by Larry Faulkner.  My review is below.  Enjoy …

Is there more ink on this page or my arm?

Initial Thoughts on Messages From Your Future

I’ve read numerous Financial Independence (FI) books over the past years, but none as inspirational as Messages From Your Future: The Seven Rules for Financial, Personal and Professional Success by Larry Faulkner. Unfortunately, that does not make it a definitively great FI book.  Mostly because the book is fairly light on the financial advice and heavy on the life advice.  As a result, this book will never rank among what I consider the greats in the FI genre.  What makes me recommend this book to the Golden Albatross members in the audience though, is how Mr. Faulkner steps through the exact scenario for which I coined the phrase Golden Albatross.  Most importantly he successfully navigated that challenge and came through the other side not only having achieved FI but ready to pass on his seven rules for how to get there to his readers.

Goods

This book not only addresses the foundations for building FI but provides motivational stories which exhort you to better your career and life. If I was just starting out my FI journey, or the type of person who needed emotional as well as intellectual spurring, this book is a great place to start. I enjoyed the organization of the book, the way he constantly reinforced his rules, and of course the letters from the future at the end of each chapter.

However, my main reason for recommending this book is that Mr. Faulkner went through a period of his work life where he too realized the power his pension could play in achieving FI if he could only just hold on until pension point.  Importantly, he never gave up on making his life better at work.  He took a potentially negative work situation as a policeman and turned it positive by continuing to apply for advancement and taking advantage of learning opportunities throughout his career. He and his wife also learned how to be good savers and live below their means.  He describes his methods in the book and provides several rules to live by if you want to do the same.

Others

As already mentioned above, this book is light on financial guidance of the sort you find in The Simple Path to Wealth by JL Collins.  Thus, you will not be able to create an investment strategy by reading this book.  To be honest, though, that isn’t really the point.  Mr. Faulkner’s intent is to convince his readers to save and invest, rather than how to invest.  Also worth noting, is that while Mr. Faulkner’s rules are meant to be universal, the reader must realize that he was the beneficiary of a system and a pension that provided some specific privileges which some of his readers may not have access to.  For military members our advancement opportunities, educational access, and retirement benefits will have more in common, than not, with his situation.  Workers in other types of jobs with a pension may not find so much in common.  Despite that though, I would still recommend this book to anyone who may be in line to receive a pension.

Some of his readers may not have access beyond this point.

Summary

Messages From Your Future: The Seven Rules for Financial, Personal and Professional Success by Larry Faulkner is not the perfect FI book, but it is good enough to get one started on a path to FI — especially if you find yourself in a job with access to a pension.  Coupled with several of the other books I mentioned in my previous book review, it could prove to be a powerful tool in your effort to build your wealth and achieve your goals.  If that were all it did, that alone would be enough to make me eventually recommend it to my Golden Albatross readers.

However, as a stand alone book, it also has the potential to motivate a person to take advantage of the opportunities life and a service oriented career provides a person to create wealth.  That may sound strange, and it is a message one needs to be ready to hear in order to understand.  A great example from the book is Mr. Faulkner’s story about attempting to teach other police officers how to become wealthy throughout their time on the Force.  Needless to say, it did not go over so well.

Yeah dude, I am totally not listening to you right now.

The story ultimately proves a powerful point for readers.  In fact, it is the main memory that stuck with me after reading the book.  Recognizing when someone is ready and capable of listening to the FI message was what motivated me to extend my FI services to my friend, who in turn encouraged me to create this blog.  Thus, in some small way, I have Mr. Faulkner and his book to thank for getting this blog up and running — which means it definitely earns my approval — and hopefully yours too.