Review Excerpt:

How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free: Retirement wisdom that you won't get from your financial advisor by Ernie J. Zelinski (Ten Speed Press).

Zelinksi does not believe the most fulfilling times of a person's life are passed in jobs that are dull, repetitive and far from stimulating. He praises the alternative: What these workers could create for themselves if only they weren't chained to a traditional job. (He bases this attitude on his personal experience: semi-retiring at age 30 with a net worth of less than $30,000.)

While acknowledging the impact finances can play, this author of the best-seller The Joy of Not Working tackles retirement with the glee of someone in the desert who finds a bottle of chilled water. There are several keys to a happy retirement, he says, including:

• Retire sooner rather than later.
• Develop a "correct" relationship with money so it doesn't take a million dollars to let you enjoy retirement.
• Engage in creative and meaningful pursuits to generate a sense of purpose.
• Create and maintain great friendships.
• Follow your own dreams, not someone else's version.

As this book emphasizes, "a happy, wild and free retirement is based not only on a healthy relationship with money and our financial resources, but . . . above all, a happy retirement is based on a healthy relationship with ourselves."

The book is sprinkled with cartoon illustrations and pertinent quotations on work and retirement. Get this book if you look forward to a retirement with "zing."