News release on new edition: review copies available on request
The official news release announcing the new US edition of Findependence Day has just gone up on PR Web. Click here to view. Since the publisher does not as a matter of course send out review copies to the media, any member of the press interested in reviewing the book needs to contact the publisher to formally request a copy.
The contact for this is at the top right hand of the release linked above: Marketing Services, Trafford Publishing, 888-232-4444. There’s also an email request form there. If you tried and found the process unwieldy, drop me an email at jonathan@findependenceday.com and I’ll try to expedite the request.
Review: Findependence Day = Financial Independence Day
For some reason — perhaps because I was finalizing the new American edition of the book — I missed this The Canadian Wallet review of the Canadian edition that ran in January of this year. For those who missed it (apart from myself!), here it is.
I was intrigued by the reviewer’s suggestion for several sequels that might focus on single people or other markets. The original and the US edition are of course both oriented to couples embarking on family formation.
Anyone up for a sequel?
Of course, as soon as I completed the original Canadian edition in 2008, I had an idea for a sequel, possibly following the Michaela character (Jamie & Sheena’s daughter) forward as she enters adulthood — somewhat like my own daughter Helen, who has just graduated from university.
If there are any readers out there who think any of these sequel ideas might be promising, leave a comment here or email me at jonathan@findependenceday.com.
For now, I have my hands full with MoneySense and the US edition.
Speaking of reviews, over the past week, a handful of 4-star and 5-star reviews have appeared on Amazon.com in conjunction with the new American edition. One of them describes the book as a “bargain: where else can you get a financial plan for under $30?”
Where indeed!
Gold & Findependence
Since the price of gold crashed a few weeks ago, I’ve twice blogged on the topic over at MoneySense.ca, as you can read here. I’ve also done a bit of radio and TV commentary on the topic. As noted at MoneySense, personally I’m somewhere between the 5% “gold as insurance” camp and the “gold bug” camp that allocates upwards of 15 to 25% of a total portfolio to the yellow metal as a permanent strategic allocation in a well balanced portfolio.
My second MoneySense blog looks at Nick Barisheff’s just-released book, $10,000 Gold, a prediction which if it came true would mean a seven-bagger from the most recent post-correction price of $1460 or so. Of course, gold has started to recover from the shocking drop that grabbed the media’s attention earlier this month.
So how does gold fit in with the concept of financial independence? Historically, it has held its own in providing a degree of capital preservation. Anyone who experienced the hyperinflation of Weimar Germany or more recently Zimbabwe can attest to the value of “real money” when contrasted with mere pieces of paper that once promised to pay the underlying metal “to the bearer on demand,” but today are no more real than digits in a computer somewhere.
Bricks & Mortar are another tangible investment I like
So the question isn’t so much whether gold could possibly rise seven fold or ten fold from here, although that’s roughly what it DID accomplish over the past decade. The question is whether paper money backed only by governments with unlimited access to printing presses can continue to be perceived as having value. Just as real estate investors see value in bricks and mortar and the assured streams of income known as “rent,” so too do some investors feel comfortable having at least some of their wealth in tangible precious metals or comparable financial derivatives they hope will retain value if mere paper money falls in value (i.e. ETFs like GLD or SLV). As readers of Findependence Day know, a major subplot of the book is the conflict between Sheena’s desire for tangible bricks and mortar and Jamie’s preference for paper/electronic assets like stocks and bonds.
I’m a Capital Preservation Asset Allocation Bug
Does all this make me a gold bug? No, it makes me a capital preservation asset allocation bug: SOME gold, some cash, some bonds, some stocks and some real estate. And of course, that’s just the investment part of the equation. To this we should add employer pensions and Government pensions like Social Security or the Canada Pension Plan. If someone came to me saying they believed ONLY in their employer pension plan or ONLY in their Social Security or CPP pensions, I’d be just as worried on their behalf as I would be if they told me they had only paper money or — for that matter — only gold coins.
Together, this is my recipe for financial independence.
The vinyl records subplot in Findependence Day
As noted on Twitter, there have been a fair number of stories in the press lately about the resurgence of vinyl records: as recently as Friday morning on BBC World News.
When I tell people vinyl actually plays a big role in the subplot of Findependence Day, I usually get some blank stares. So I’ll summarize it here. The Jamie character is 28 years old when the action begins, which makes him an echo boomer or member of Generation Y. He carries an iPhone everywhere he goes and, like most of his generation, listens to music mostly via MP3s, although he also frequents traditional music stores to buy physical CDs and DVDs.
After he meets a financial planner (Theo) on the financial reality TV show, Jamie “gets religion” about guerrilla frugality, and starts brown-bagging it and visiting a vinyl record store in Boston. Ostensibly this is to save money but also because the proprietor is a fee-only financial planner on the side, and recommended highly by Theo.
Will cloud-based music eventually vanish?
Jamie returns frequently for vinyl bargains and financial advice and ends up creating a hobby web site and selling vinyl through the site around the world. He starts blogging about the future of digital music, taking a bit of a “retro” approach as he champions the superior audio quality of the Boomers’ old vinyl records. He starts to fret that all the music held on the cloud and in mobile devices will eventually vanish. When a blog he writes entitled “The day the music died,” goes viral, his web site starts attracting interest from big social media sites, which spins the plot in another direction.
The other recurring theme in Findependence Day is real estate. This ties in to the vinyl subplot when Jamie decides to venture into commercial real estate, living in an apartment above a commercial unit that eventually becomes a vinyl-themed Internet cafe. When it too attracts attention for its franchising potential, the plot again advances. On top of all this, there are romantic complications, as Jamie’s marriage with Sheena encounters turbulence triggered — as is so often the case with modern couples — over disagreements about money.
You can read the first two chapters free at Amazon.com, which includes the very beginning of the vinyl subplot midway through chapter two, when Theo suggests Jamie should visit his friend Bobby at the Vinyl Cave.
Findependence Day USA now available on the Nook
In addition to the various e-book formats found at Trafford.com (see previous post), Barnes & Noble is now making the new US edition of Findependence Day available on the Nook, and at a slight discount to the regular e-book price of $3.99. Details here. Note that you can also peek at the first two chapters, table of contents and new foreword by Sheryl Garrett without having to commit to purchase.
P.S. I sometimes refer to the new American edition as Findependence Day USA to distinguish it from the original Canadian edition. However, the actual title in both versions is simply Findependence Day.
Findependence Day now available on iPad, iPhone, Kobo, Sony, iBooks, PCs
The new U.S. edition of Findependence Day is now available in e-book format for $3.99 in the major tablet formats:
Sony e-reader, Kobo, iBooks, iPad, iPhone, Stanza, Bluefire (OS & Android), Kindle and in PDF format for various Personal Computers. Go to Trafford.com here to order. Kindle version is from Amazon.com here.
Amazon Kindle reviews
Wanted to share a nice review on the Amazon Kindle site today about the new US edition of Findependence Day.
Here’s what Rob has to say:
A unique and well-written book that is doing something important….. it is teaching you more about becoming financially independent than anything else out there. The narrative story is easy to follow for those who would never read a financial book and a nice format change for those who would. Well worth it – enjoy.
The day after Findependence Day
Some may wonder why if I celebrated my Findependence Day and 60th birthday party over the weekend (see previous blog), then why on earth am I still going to work to engage in the stressful job of putting out a worldclass personal finance magazine.
My answer ran today on my sister blog housed at MoneySense.ca, which we call the Financial Independence blog.
Here it is in its entirety.
Kindle edition of Findependence Day (US edition) now at Amazon.com
The Kindle edition of the new American edition of Findependence Day is now available at Amazon.com, along with a free sneak preview of the new foreword by Garrett Planning Network’s Sheryl Garrett, plus the first two chapters.
Details here.
We have the fireworks; we have the balloons!
Tonight is the official launch party for the new U.S. edition of Findependence Day. The two main ingredients of the cover are fireworks and balloons, and here they are ready to be unleashed. It also happens to be the actual day I turn 60. I’m billing this as the world’s first Findependence Day party. Since we coined the term, we’re entitled to make that claim, right?
Does this mean I’m now financially independent enough not to show up to work on Monday at MoneySense magazine? In theory, yes, since in Canada you can collect the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) as early as age 60. In practice, however, it will be business as usual. But as I say in the book, the key point about Findependence is that you may choose to keep working, but because you want to, not because you perceive you must.
With many North American baby boomers turning 60 and 65 in the coming months and years, I expect there to be many Findependence Day parties — at least if the term catches on and the US edition of the book gets any traction. Here’s how you can help: please use your social media to spread the word, especially if you have American friends you think would benefit from the book if they just knew it existed.
And exist it does, as you can find elsewhere on this site. The paperback and hardcover editions are now available at Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble and Trafford. An e-book edition selling for $3.99 will be released in a few weeks. And of course, the first or “Canadian” edition is also available directly from me by clicking on the Buy Canadian edition button.
