Work Optional

Retire Early the Non-Penny-Pinching Way

By: Tanja Hester

Narrated by: Tanja Hester

A practical action guide for financial independence and early retirement from the popular Our Next Life blogger.
In today's work culture, we're expected to hustle around the clock. But what if you could escape the traditional path and get on one that doesn't require working full-time until age 65? What if you could wake up every day without an alarm clock and do the things you love most?

Tanja Hester and her husband Mark left their crazed careerist lifestyle to live their dream life in Lake Tahoe, retiring early from high-stress careers. Now Tanja will help you map out a customized plan for freedom and make it easy to succeed, whether you're good at math and budgeting -- or not!
Work Optional is more than just a financial plan: it's a plan for your whole life -- designed by you, not by an employer or clients. Tanja walks you through envisioning your dream life, accounting for variables such as health care and children, protecting yourself from recessions and future unknowns, and achieving a purpose-filled early retirement, semi-retirement, or career intermission with completely doable, non-penny-pinching steps.

You can live a happier, more meaningful life, free from the daily grind. Regardless of where you are in your career, Work Optionalwill get you there.

Critic reviews

Forbes, "Best Early Retirement Blogs to Read!"
MarketWatch, "Best Books for FIRE!"
Forbes, "Money and Productivity Books You Should Absolutely Read This Summer!"
SavingAdvice.com, "Best Money Books By Finance Podcasters"

"Tanja Hester and her partner... achieved early financial independence, and in these pages she takes you on her journey. Learn why so many are firing their bosses and searching for meaning and purpose beyond cubicles and 24/7 jobs."—Vicki Robin, New York Times bestselling coauthor of Your Money or Your Life

"This isn't just a book about how to retire early. It's a book that proves it's possible to be mindful with your spending, and create a life that aligns with your values and passions-and work can play whatever role you want it to."
—Cait Flanders, bestselling author of The Year of Less

"Hester's story is relatable, refreshing, and a pleasure to read. All too often we chase external measures of success without thinking about what we truly want from life. In Work Optional, Hester gives us a roadmap for a less traveled path: living a more purpose-driven life through financial independence."—Kristin Wong, author of Get Money: Live the Life You Want, Not Just the Life You Can Afford

"Inspirational, grounded, and thought-provoking, Work Optional cracks open preconceived ideas of what it means to work and what it means to live a fulfilling, purpose-driven life. Go on this adventure to learn not only the practical steps of early retirement, but more importantly, to discern what you truly want out of life. With Hester as your guide... you just might find yourself living a life you never imagined possible."—Elizabeth Willard Thames, author of Meet the Frugalwoods: Achieving Financial Independence Through Simple Living

"Ms. Hester get[s] you to think about how you might retire early, forc[ing] you to ponder how you could cut current spending and increase your income, savings and the rates they earn."—The New York Times

"Hester is equal parts analytical and encouraging in Work Optional, which helps the reader tear down any misconceptions about what it means to create a life on your terms. This will undoubtedly be a defining handbook for those looking to diverge from society's expectations of a traditional career path."—Erin Lowry, author of Broke Millennial Takes on Investing

"Tanja Hester turns [the dream of early retirement] into a reality, by guiding you to map out your own plan for living the good life earlier than you might have originally expected."—Bustle

Educational and Motivational

Educational and Motivational. Must read if you’re considering retiring early. Look at this book as a checklist to make the jump.

The best modern & relevant personal finance book!

Finally, a book that is written for modern personal finance. I loved this book because it reinforced my plans and the work I am doing to build a work optional life. It's also great because it's simple; most finance pro's try to make you think wealth building is super complicated so that they can charge you money to manage it for you; this author shows you how simple it all really is and helps you gain confidence to build the life you want. I feel like most of the best personal finance books out there have good lessons but are so outdated it's hard to take them seriously. This book is modern, accurate, inspiring, easy to understand, motivating and real. I'll be gifting this to my niece graduating this Spring for sure.

Amazing resource for financial independence!

This is a book I’ll be coming back to for years to come. It covers all the bases in an accessible way with tons of useful examples and personal exercises to use. I know that as I encounter new steps and questions along my own financial path, I’ll be looking back to different sections of the book as a guide. Highly recommend for anyone interested in financial independence and/or early retirement!

Fantastic Read!

Really enjoyed! It is a nice balance of finance and narrative., a holistic approach to early retirement. The author also does a great job in narrating the text.

Actually learned a few things

I have a finance and accounting background and have generally read and learned about FIRE topics for a while. Nonetheless this book was useful as an organizing framework and o learned a handful of technical things that were great (eg straight line depletion of 401k pre-65yo).