Before index funds or early retirement calculators, Benjamin Franklin quietly lived the principles of Financial Independence.

At 42, he retired from business, lived simply, and devoted his freedom to science, invention, and civic good.

Three centuries later, the modern FIRE movement—Financial Independence, Retire Early—rediscovers the same timeless path.

In The Eternal Dividend, Daniel Fox reveals how Franklin’s life offers a blueprint for freedom, purpose, and prosperity in any century.

Drawing from Poor Richard’s Almanack, Franklin’s letters, and today’s FIRE strategies, this book blends biography, philosophy, and practical guidance to show how money can serve a life of virtue and creativity.

Inside you’ll learn:

• How Franklin’s apprenticeship and printing business became an early model of earning, saving, and scaling to independence
• Why Poor Richard’s Almanack was history’s first personal-finance blog—and what its wit teaches about behavior and mindset
• The compounding secrets behind Franklin’s endowments that grew for 200 years
• How “simple living, high thinking” guards against lifestyle inflation and anxiety
• Why financial freedom is not escape from work, but freedom for meaningful work
• A modern Franklin FIRE Framework for building wealth, cultivating virtue, and designing your post-work life

Whether you’re a student of history, a member of the FIRE community, or simply seeking a saner relationship with money, The Eternal Dividend invites you to reclaim Franklin’s most radical experiment: a life where prosperity, wisdom, and service compound together.