How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free: Retirement Wisdom That You Won't Get from Your Financial Advisor

Most retirement books focus on the financial side of this stage in life - how to save and invest properly so that you are not hung out to dry in your golden years. Zelinski focuses on the other aspect of retirement, as important if not more than how much money you have when you last step out of the working world: how you will spend your time and what attitude you will have when you retire. Because of its overarching "live life to the fullest" philosophy, this book has great value to anyone in any stage of life.

Zelinski advices current and potential retirees to plan ahead for this component of retirement - know what you are going to do. To achieve this, he provides a useful planning tool that will help retirees identify dozens of potential ways to spend their time. The key is not be a couch potato, but to engage in activities that keep your body nimble and your mind sharp. Retirement allows you to do pretty much whatever you want when you want to do it - it's a matter of going into it with a plan and staying engaged with life.

Two bones to pick with Mr. Zelinski: one, there is sometimes a lot of repetition of the same points. Two, although the main point is that sitting at home and watching soap operas will only help to speed up your mental and physical decline, there are a lot of people out there who thrive on that as well as "literature" like the National Enquirer. It's what makes them tick, whether we see it as worthless or not. More than likely, however, that particular segment of retirees is not picking up this book for edification.

I read the author's first book and now this one. I highly recommend this book.
it is both practical and thorough.

Ernie's book, How to Retire, Happy, Wild and Free, was one of the first books I read on retirement planning. Personally, I found it delightful. So maybe books can be doom and gloom, but I loved his view point and attitude.

As a retirement coach I look for optimism, positive attitudes and fun. Ernie provides all of that. If we can't have fun at this point in our lives, then we are in trouble!

I know there are scary things out there, with 'what are you going to do with the rest of your life?' but I think we have choices with our attitude and our beliefs. I think Ernie helps us see another way of looking at our lives.

There need not be any 'gloom and doom' as some folks think. Why do that when there is a much more fun alternative? Ernie's book give us that alternative. Read it.

This book is certainly a new way of viewing life.

I've found that How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free to be an interesting read.

To start off here is what I liked about the book.

Good parts of this book:
-He questions conventional retirement wisdom.
-He lists clever ways about how to lead a fulfilling life.
-I enjoy the lists he's included in the book.
-I like his attitude of take action.

Less desirable parts of the book:
-I would like to see more hard data (more facts and figures) included in this book.

This is an excellent book on retirement...carol stanley author of For Kids 59.99 and Over