Andre Nader, the founder of FAANG FIRE, has built an impressive seven-figure net worth before the age of 40. After 15 years in the tech industry, including nine at Meta, he was laid off in 2023 but leaned into his Substack publication and started one-on-one coaching. Along the way, he shared three books that transformed his money mindset and helped him amass wealth.

Unlock the Secrets to Financial Independence with These Impactful Books

The Simple Path to Wealth by JL Collins

JL Collins' 2016 book is a favorite within the FIRE community. As a former tech employee, Nader appreciated Collins' simple advice of buying stocks via Vanguard's Total Stock Market Index Fund. In the tech world, where work often involves hyper-creativity and complex analysis, it's easy to think that finances should be treated the same way. However, Collins shows that it doesn't have to be complicated. You can rely on the math done by others and keep things simple. Nader himself lost a significant amount of money trading options in his early 20s but was sold on the effective and hands-off strategy of low-cost index fund investing. He has built wealth by primarily investing in Fidelity and Vanguard index funds like VTI and VXUS.

Die With Zero by Bill Perkins

Reading Bill Perkins' unconventional financial guide shifted Nader's spending philosophy. While he was naturally frugal and lived within spreadsheets, Perkins' book forced him to think about experiences in the same way he thinks about finances. One of the frameworks in the book that resonated with him was thinking about life in five-year buckets and maximizing experiences during those timeframes. For example, in the first five years of his daughter's life, he realized that maybe going to Disney World wasn't the best idea. Instead, it could be better to wait until she is five to 10. At 37, he is also considering prioritizing more adventurous activities while he can, as his knees may not be as strong in his 55 to 60 bracket.

Enough by Jack Bogle

When Nader decided to pursue FIRE, he established his "enough number" based on the concept he read in Vanguard founder Jack Bogle's book. This is the amount of money that would allow him to never have to earn another dollar. "Need" is the key factor; you can continue to earn more, but it's not necessary to reach your goals and live the life you want. For Nader, this was a big motivating factor. As of late 2024, his "enough" number is around $5.6 million, which he calculated by considering his family's annual spend in San Francisco and future costs like healthcare and his daughter's education. Having experienced a layoff in 2023, he is hyper-aware that life is unpredictable and expenses and circumstances will continue to change. Therefore, he is constantly reevaluating his numbers and calculating how much "enough" really is.