While on vacation in Costa Rica earlier this year, I read Quit Like a Millionaire by Kristy Shen and Bryce Leung. It was so inspiring to read a book about early retirement while on vacation in a beautiful and foreign place. Reading about a life of endless travel and how to make it reality was also a nice balm for a trip that involved quite a bit of remote work.

Overall, I liked this book quite a bit. It is required reading for anyone interested in pursuing early retirement through financial independence (FIRE). I especially enjoyed their writing style, which is familiar to anyone who reads the blog Millennial Revolution. Kristy has an amazing story that is very inspiring. 

My favorite part of Quit Like a Millionaire was the detailed explanation of Kristy’s and Bryce’s portfolio structure. This is a useful roadmap for anyone who self-manages their funds and wants to know what types of investments to purchase. If Mr. Vine and I ever ditch our financial advisor, we may purchase a copy of Quit Like a Millionaire for reference. (I checked it out from the library).

Another aspect I enjoyed from the book was the cost breakdown from Kristy’s and Bryce’s first year as nomads. I was so impressed with how cheaply they were able to travel the world! Mr. Vine and I aren’t great at practicing any sort of extreme frugality. I suppose we tend to be more frugal than our peers. But it still seems like we spend far more than most members of the FIRE community. 

I didn’t like some of the details that were irrelevant to my situation or highly changeable like taxes. I would have preferred that Kristy and Bryce use this space to tell more of their background stories or share other information about their journey.For the most part, this information was limited to the appendices. This is a minor critique and some people may enjoy it. I found that the tax information was already slightly outdated by the time I was reading, not long after it was published. 

This is a brief review for a short book. Quit Like a Millionaire was informative, but also a fun read. Kristy and Bryce have their own take on FIRE and I enjoyed learning more about how and why they got where they did. Kristy, in particular, opened up great details about her childhood and mental health. I’m sure it took a lot of courage to be so open. I’m glad she shared more of her story with the world. For anyone interested in pursuing FIRE, especially those who think it might be impossible based on their backgrounds, this is the book for you! Even for those not interested in FIRE, this book is also for anyone looking for an inspirational story about how one couple harnessed the power of capitalism to become perpetual travelers at a very young age. Quit Like a Millionaire is worth your time and bonus points that the authors are diverse.