This is a sponsored review of Retire At 21 by Michael Dunlop that is based fully on my own opinion and is not biased in any way by my relationship with Michael.

Truth is I have a love-hate feeling with Retire At 21 (dot) com. On one side, I hate myself for the fact that I’m yet to retire at 30+ while on the brighter side, reading all those success stories gives me a sense of hope.

Hope that success (read: early retirement) can be found in places I’d not have otherwise thought it’s possible years ago - the internet.

If I could turn back the clock and back to the past, I’d have gone into blogging at the age of 15 and possibly be writing this review on one of the Caribbean beaches right now.

The Young Entrepreneur

His first taste of making money online was selling everything and anything he could get hold of on eBay and make thousands of pounds whilst his peers were struggling to make 5 pounds per week from paper rounds and odd jobs around the home.

If you think entrepreneurship isn’t in his blood, you are in for a big surprise.

At age 5 Michael was asked by his mother “what do you want to do when you grow up?”, his reply … “I want to own a shop”. Shocked by this answer, his mother replied “Like a toy shop?”, and was amazed when Michael proclaimed that in fact, he wanted a large superstore like Tesco (UK) or Walmart (America).

michael dunlop

Despite his tender age, Michael has shown an entrepreneurial spirit that is unparalleled among his peers. He set his goal and he set it high.

So it wouldn’t come as surprise to me that he plans to retire at the age of 25 with a $10 millions in his bank based on his interview with a Brazil newspaper.

My goal is to make $10 million before I am 25…You have to aim high with your goals, it helps keep you focused and motivated.

Though it isn’t enough to own a large superstore like Tesco, it’s sinfully enough to change his lifestyle forever to the envy of his peers who will still be slogging away at Starbucks.

The Blog

Retire At 21.com is the playground of a young and successful entrepreneur, Michael Dunlop whose site showcases the best “resources aimed at younger bloggers like me”.

The idea of Retire at 21 was “originally going to be an ebook for college entrepreneur’s to earn money online but turned into a full site on how young entrepreneurs make money online“.

young entrepreneur

Despite his early success of ebay marketing and other online projects, the turning point was when he attended Yanik Silver’s Underground Seminar that taught him how to crack the code of making money online and the rest is history.

Flying class first (warning: those pictures will make you jealous!)  to the 4th session of Yanik Silvers Internet Marketing Seminar was the testament of the kind of success he has achieved thus far.

The Design

The aesthetic value of one’s blog is a matter of individual taste and preference. It’s always a case of ‘One man’s trash another man’s treasure’ but keep in mind that I’m not saying his site is a total garbage but I sincerely and honestly believe that Michael could do a much better job with his site design, taking into consideration of his proficiency in the area of web designing.

If this sounds to a bit too harsh, I couldn’t help but be more transparent in my review. A great content and awesome library of resources on entrepreneurship certainly deserve a better packaging if you ask me. With that being said and putting my two cents in, the only qualm I have is the fact that I couldn’t easily find the archive of his posts on the main page.

Put simply, site navigation could be optimized to create better overall user experience. Probably this is one area Michael might take into a consideration on his 5th makeover.

The Content

It took me a good 3 days to devour every piece of what he has written and if there is one word to describe it, it’s simply “inspirational”.

I admit I wish I could have compiled and written those success stories of young entrepreneurs myself but it’s one territory I’d wouldn’t think of crossing it. Simply for the obvious reason that he has done it better than anyone else I’ve came across thus far.

Here’s a snapshot of those inspiring and motivating stories for your weekend perusal

  1. Top Young Bloggers Under 21
  2. The Amazing Story Of The $10 Million Teen
  3. A 7-Year-Old Political Blogger who caught the attention of Barack Obama
  4. Donny Ouyang - 16 Year Old Teen Entrepreneur
  5. Thilak Raj Rao - Founder of Tech-Buzz.net

If those ain’t not enough to stir your interest, how about these interviews with the cream of the crop in the blogosphere

  1. Darren Rowse of Problogger
  2. Pete Cashmore of Mashable.com
  3. Aaron Wall of SEOBook.com
  4. Rand Fishkin, CEO of SEOmoz
  5. Graham Langdon of EntreCard

Last but certainly not the least, my personal favorite goes to one of the articles - Top 50 Young Entrepreneurs Under 30 that has made it Digg front page and get my two thumbs up. Indeed a well-deserved one, Michael.

Constructive Criticism

Apart from what I’ve touched earlier above, there aren’t much faults I could nitpick at the time of this writing. However if there is one thing I’m still struggling to comprehend is the fact that Michael isn’t getting as many comments on his blog that he deserves.

Is he not building enough connection or simply too busy with other priorities that have taken too much of his time? I figure which successful person has enough time for himself anyway?

Final Thought

Michael isn’t one of those average kids you see on the neighborhood using their creativity to draw the art of graffiti on the walls. Despite being young, dyslexic and dropped out of college, he’s cleverly turned those disadvantages into creating a blog that inspires other youngsters to make good use of their precious time to make money online and “conquer the world“.

The fact that he dreams a big dream and goes to great lengths to teach aspiring young entrepreneurs the “possibility of retiring at 21″ certainly deserves my greatest respect and possibly yours as well.

In the world of retirement, 21 is the new 60 - Michael Dunlop

Well I can’t say much about you but being a grown-up myself, Retire At 21.com is one of those sites I’ll look forward to reading when my personal motivation is at it lowest.

Don’t take my words for it. Click over to Michael’s site and come back and tell me what ya think about it.

It doesn’t matter if you are already past the golden age of 21, every success first begins in mind and then in reality - regardless of your age.

Sponsored Link