JL Collins

JL Collins studied English literature at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He worked from childhood: at eight he sold flyswatters door to door. His adult career ran through advertising, sales, investment work, radio and magazine publishing. His last job was as a magazine publisher.

In June 2011 he started the blog jlcollinsnh.com as a set of letters to his daughter about money. Its Stock Series made him a well-known voice in the financial independence movement. From 2013 to 2022 he ran the Chautauqua retreats, held in countries from Ecuador to Greece.

The Simple Path to Wealth (2016) turns the letters into a book. It argues that most people need only a few rules: avoid debt, spend less than you earn, and put the difference into a low-cost total stock market index fund. Hold through crashes, because nobody can time the market. The goal is "F-you money", enough savings to give you choices. The book has sold more than a million copies. He also wrote How I Lost Money in Real Estate Before It Was Fashionable (2021) and Pathfinders (2023). He is married to Jane.