The Book

Robert R. Brown is a freelance writer who lives in Ajax, Ontario with his wife, Belinda, and his children, Jennifer, Jessica, and Christopher. When Rob was twenty-six years old, a friend gave him a copy of David Chilton’s iconic bestseller The Wealthy Barber. It was a life-changing moment. Rob read it cover to cover over the course of a weekend, stopping for nothing but copious amounts of coffee and a few slices of cold pizza. It wasn’t long before Rob was reading every personal finance book he could get his hands on. Some were excellent. Some were not. Unfortunately, many of them, regardless of the quality of their message, were not exactly fun to read. In fact, they were boring. Really boring. Sometimes excruciatingly boring. Make-you-want-to-shove-an-icepick-in-your-eye-kind-of-boring.

Then, some years later, on a Saturday morning in February, Rob was in his kitchen reading the newspaper when he came across an article in the financial section that suggested many Canadians were not saving enough money for their retirements. Rob sighed and moved on to the sports section, where he found an article on the Toronto Maple Leafs’ increasingly unlikely bid to make the playoffs. Rob found that amusing. (He has a “unique” sense of humour.) He shared his amusement with Belinda, suggesting that the paper should save some money and just reprint those articles next February because, unfailingly, both events happened every year.

Later the same day, Rob was vegetating in front of his TV, watching a Discovery Channel program (he’s a bit of a nerd too) about the destructive impact of the non-native rabbit population in Australia. Astounded by how fast the rabbit population had grown down under, Rob offered up another observation to his wife: “That’s how they should teach people about compound interest, by using compounding copulating rabbits as an example, instead of boring people to death with charts and graphs.” Belinda responded, “You should do it. You’ve always said you want to write a book. You should write a book that uses analogies and fun examples to introduce people to personal finance.”

That night, Rob started jotting down some of those ideas on post-it notes. Two years later, Wealthing Like Rabbits was finished.

Wealthing Like Rabbits is a personal finance book unlike any other. Rob uses rabbits, pancakes, sex, Forrest Gump, cigars, Spock, pork pie hats, castles, Bridget Jones, and a guy named Buddy to teach people about their money and how to handle it responsibly. Written in a fun, easy-to-read style, (and yes, it is a financial planning book!) Wealthing Like Rabbits delivers valuable, commonsense financial advice that will help anyone who wants to learn about and take charge of their money!

Testimonials

“I started reading Wealthing Like Rabbits to see if it would be a good book to help my kids, who are in their late teens and early twenties, to learn about money management. Money management is something I don’t think kids these days are grasping and it seems “okay” for them to incur school debt and/or misuse their credit cards. Even if we personally tell them NO, it’s not okay, we are just their parents, what do we know? They need a finance book geared to their generation, and this book delivers just that. After I read Wealthing Like Rabbits and passed it on to my daughter, she read the book and talked about things she was going to change in her lifestyle to make her financial future more promising and, more importantly, she was excited about it. She told a bunch of her friends who were also eager to learn more about this book. Obviously there was a connection, and Rob has found it. Wealthing Like Rabbits is well written, easy to understand, and very witty—a pleasure to read.”

Dyane Taylor from Pickering, Ontario


“Congratulations on your book Robert R. Brown! Outstanding accomplishment! You make the world of personal finance for generation X & Y entertaining and less intimidating!”

Kim Majetic from Milton, Ontario


“Great book! This book makes learning about personal finance fun and entertaining. Should be required reading for all teens and 20 something’s but, don’t worry, once they start reading they won’t want to put it down.”

Janine Kemp from Waubaushene, Ontario


Wealthing Like Rabbits takes fun, everyday pop culture and turns it into a valuable life lesson! It’s a personal finance book that you won’t be able to put it down!”

Julie Meadows from Oakville, Ontario


“I thoroughly enjoyed Wealthing Like Rabbits. Rob Brown has taken the sometimes dull and dry subject of personal finance and put a very unique spin on it to make it accessible and fun. I know this book is aimed at young people just starting out on their financial journey, but it contains great information for readers of all ages. Read this book, you will be better off for it.”

Nancy Danter from Oakville, Ontario


Wealthing Like Rabbits is a common sense guide to successful financial planning. Rob’s clever and engaging narrative serves up some practical, easy to implement guidelines to live comfortably and save money. Read it and benefit immediately!”

Doug Pepper from Guelph, Ontario

Excerpts from the Book

Interested in what kind of stuff is covered in Wealthing Like Rabbits? Check out what the book has to say on some of the most important personal finance topics:


On RRSPs . . .

One of the reasons that retirement planning needs to be on the top of your financial to-do list is because it’s one of the easiest parts of a financial plan to implement. If you have an income, you can take the first step to a comfortable financial future in just a couple of hours. A properly set up retirement plan is not only easy to establish but once it is done, it is also virtually maintenance-free. A couple of hours every year will get the job done, no problem.

Wealthing Like Rabbits, Chapter 2:  Rabbits, Zombies, and RRSPs


On Debt and Borrowing . . .

The first step to handling our credit cards better is for everyone to fully accept that when we use our credit cards we are not paying, we are borrowing. You know that and I know that. So why do so many of us behave like we are oblivious to this fact? It’s like we have this great big disconnect in our heads, somewhere deep within our brains, that stops us from understanding that all a credit card does, all it really can do, is postpone the inevitable, the inevitable being that we have to pay back the money we borrowed.

Wealthing Like Rabbits, Chapter 7:  Debt and Disease—Part I


If you earn enough Air Miles to visit Europe shopping at a liquor store, you’ve got bigger problems than your credit card debt to deal with.

Wealthing Like Rabbits, Chapter 7:  Debt and Disease—Part I


On Renovations . . .

When considering whether or not to do a renovation, you might think that the first question you need to ask yourself is “how am I going to pay for this?” That’s a good question and we’ll touch on it later, but the question you really need to ask yourself is “why am I doing this?

Wealthing Like Rabbits, Chapter 9:  The Opportunity (Cost)
of Spending Decisions


On Balance. . .

It’s not like any of this is rocket science. People with money in the bank are generally happier than those in debt. People who are content with what they have are usually happier than those tormented by what they don’t. People who enjoy a lifestyle of balanced frugality are happier than those chasing a mirage of wealth. And people who are comfortable in their own shoes, financial or otherwise, are almost certainly happier than those wearing shoes that don’t fit.

Wealthing Like Rabbits, Chapter 10:  The Balancing Act

Rob’s Recommended Reading

  • The Wealthy Barber and The Wealthy Barber Returns by David Chilton
  • Stop Over-Thinking Your Money! by Preet Banerjee
  • Findependence Day by Jonathan Chevreau
  • Money Rules by Gail Vaz Oxlade
  • The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko
  • How Not To Move In With Your Parents: A Young Persons Complete Guide To Financial Empowerment by Rob Carrick
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