I won’t lie—the first book by Babaykin, Retired at 35, didn’t really appeal to me. However, intrigued by the topic and the titles, I bought both of the author’s books at once. Even though I wasn’t too impressed with the first one, I decided to read the second to understand why both books have such high ratings and so many positive reviews.
If the first book was about how to retire at 35, the second delves deeper into the F.I.R.E. movement (Financial Independence, Retire Early) and provides a closer look at the lifestyle of these early retirees.
Indeed, the main impression from the book is that it’s more about the author’s worldview and lifestyle. Personally, I didn’t find much practical value, especially since much of it feels like a verbose rehashing of the first book. There’s nothing particularly new here—just the same stories told in different words.
Moreover, the book lacks clear structure. The blog-like nature is very evident: individual chapters feel like blog posts written at very different times. This approach inevitably leads to repetition. While that’s understandable in a blog, it doesn’t work as well for a book. A book requires some structure—a logical progression through which the author conveys the core idea they set out to share.
In addition to sharing his own experiences, the author introduces us to the experiences of other successful young (and not-so-young) retiree-investors. However, the same issue persists—these aren’t part of a cohesive narrative but rather standalone interviews about various topics. Judging by their format, they seem to have been originally created for a blog.
The first is a lengthy interview with an investor from Ufa, whose investment strategy differs significantly from the author’s approach. Yet the book doesn’t offer any comparisons or analysis as to why this is the case or what might explain the differences.
The rest of the interviews feel more like casual conversations with interesting people, some of which aren’t even about investing at all (like a discussion with a runaway entrepreneur evading Russian justice).
As the book progresses, the impression grows stronger that there was a desire to publish a second book, but not enough material to fill it. So, the author rehashed previous content and added random bits and pieces to bulk up the volume.
Ultimately, the second book didn’t change my opinion: the author has built some hype around the topic and their persona, but the books themselves don’t justify the money spent on them. That said, if you completely disagree with my assessment, you can find the stores where you can purchase the book—and help the author become an even more successful retiree.
My rating: 2/5
