It’s a book about Mustachianism done in a Mustachian way.
I do not blame people for earning money out of their work. At some point, I questioned myself if I shouldn’t buy the book as a way to “say thanks” for the interesting blog posts. I would have certainly done it if the price was lower (10-20 for an electronic copy isn’t a big effort).
Then, it has been mentioned that MP is making a nice sum out of his blog too (I read people talking about 5000/month). That took away a good half of my feeling of guilt.
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Why would you have feelings of guilt? MP shares his stories/advice in this format, which is free to follow, out of the idea he had that that’s how he wants it to be. He put together and gave free access to this forum in the same ways. I am grateful he did it that way and could throw a few bucks his way to thank him for it (I’ve thought about buying the book too) but that would be out of appreciation, not guilt and would certainly not be a hidden obligation I would have by using this forum.
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I agree and thought the same about the price. 10-20 for forum members would be a fair deal. Do not forget that, in marketing, if the product is free YOU are the product. Since this forum is free from access as well as post and share experiences, this remunerate the owner, who can write a book (for example). Again, this is not an attack.
While I agree on the basic principle, some things on the internet are not marketing. The internet is a great place to share ideas and many people are willing to pay the hosting costs of a website and/or donate (a ton) of time for a given project without hope that it’ll generate more cashflow than what’s required to cover its own expenses, if even that.
I may be naive but I’m putting FIRE blogs in that category. What the writers are offering (thanks MP!) is an entry door into a different way of seeing the world. One way to handle our relationship with it is to pay it forward: contribute meaningfully, direct people to this site or another, offer a FIRE book (why not MP’s) to people who could benefit from it…
Financial independence is all about that: financial independence. It is about being able to run a website about FIRE without charging for it if one wants to. Putting monetization at the core of the thinking behind every website in existence is taking away its very essence from the FIRE movement.
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The blog posts on mustachianpost and also the forum is for free.
Nobody needs to pay monthly to get into the “inner circle” aka forum or has to be a vip member to read the blog behind a paywall.
My reason to buy the book and gift it to a good friend was to support the guy behind mustachianpost.
We have a great community here – so buy the book or not 
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I bought the book before it was officially released. It is a book about frugality, saving money and investing. The tips presented will definitely save you more than CHF39.
As long as you understood the book you should be happy. I certainly wasn’t expecting Shakespeare.
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I’ve bought the book as a preorder mainly to support MP and the forum. Didn’t start reading yet but I’m not expecting a novel but more something like a similar book I read.
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First of all. Thanks to Marc for writing this book.
In the current state of the market and the world, with insecurities like:
- New strains of COVID, resulting in the vaccines being less effective(even more inefficient than they already are). Prolonging the uncertain situation we’re in, extending semi lockdowns and lockdowns.
- The possibility of more tariffs and barriers being setup between countries thanks to the pandemic, with the end result of product prices raising. If it cost companies more to produce a product than
- Bidens big stimulus packages possibly inflating the “bubble” further, by propelling stock values to higher levels that will be unsustainable and could result in a crash.
One of the basic investment principles of “Free by 40” is to invest in global indexfunds monthly. He also says that you should keep doing the monthly investing at all times, ignoring tough times in the market.
But I wonder, in these uncertain times, have you stopped your monthly investing into global indexfunds for now?(while keeping your current index funds as they are of course)
And are you saving or investing your money in other ways now, just to be on the safe side?
Another open question; do you have any other criticism towards the book? (If you dare 
)
Not criticism, but Marc started his investment strategy on global indexfunds in 2014. Meaning he has been following his strategy during good times. It would have been really interesting if he started his strategy in let’s say 2005 and had suffered through the 2008 crash. Would have been interesting to see have he dealt with it.
Just a reminder again that I’m playing the devils advocate here, so be gentle :).
I invest all my allocation for the 3a on the 4th of January at VIAC with their Global 100 strategy, ignoring what is going up this year because I think that in the long term I will be successful.
For the other part of investing, as I was looking and find a new job orientation, I’m saving some money in order to see if I can manage my expense with low unemployment indemnities and low salary as I will start a lawyer internship in June. But, if I can still save 40-50% of my “salary” I will continue to invest monthly or quaterly.
This is my view and more about the book, it’s because I’ve read it that I accept a bit easier my choice to be less paid now in order to be paid better after the bar exam, no matter if at my current age I should have a decent job. Sometimes life is a bit harsch.
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