I followed-up with reader Ashutosh, the winner of the Early Retirement Extreme book that also happened to be the first ever book giveaway on Capital Advisor, what his key takeaways from the book were. Here’s Ashutosh’s response in an easy to read Q & A format —

First of all let me apologize for the delay in response. I can give a million excuses, but the bottom-line is, it was plain laziness period. I have read the ERE-book almost full, the last few chapters still remain, however I think I am in a position now to answer your questions.

[Once you win a book giveaway on Capital Advisor, I make it a point to keep prodding you until you actually read the book!]

Q: What are your top-5 key takeaways from the ERE-book?

• Start Early — Most of us only begin to realize the importance of investing when we cross thirty.

• Forget Timing, Think Compounding — Don’t set a mental block like “I will start investing the day I can save Rs 20,000 per month.” The amount doesn’t matter, it’s all about timing and compounding.

• Salary & Saving are Not Linked — Very few of us really are able to differentiate between the two. Common misnomer is higher the salary the better it is. Seldom do people realize that if you are earning more and spending even more, you are surely headed towards a debt trap.

• Control Your Lifestyle Expenses — It’s very important to keep such expenses under control. Most of us automatically assume that bigger designation implies that we ought to be eating at certain star rated hotels / hanging out at certain “hep” places.

• Do Your Goal Setting — Goal setting quantifies the amount of money, the time frame required and also the method to reach there.

Q: What is your overall assessment of the ERE-book?

ERE gives a very different perspective on retirement planning. A book written by a non-finance person, based on his first hand experience on the journey towards financial freedom. The feeling of “been there-done that” comes out very clearly throughout the book. This is something that lacks in most other books, even the ones written by financial planning experts.

Thanks, Ashutosh.

I now request you to pass the book on to someone you know who can benefit from it.