Disclosed is a rule assembly having a housing, a reel rotatably mounted in the housing, an elongated blade arranged to be wound on the reel and to be extendable through an opening in the housing, and an end hook member having a mounting portion attached to the elongated blade and a hook portion. The end hook member is capable of limited movement relative to the blade between an extended position and a retracted position. The rule assembly has a magnet assembly removably attachable to the elongated blade. The magnet assembly has a mounting portion and a magnet. The mounting portion is configured to removably fix the magnet assembly relative to the blade such that a forward surface of the magnet is removably fixed at a position that is aligned with or approximately aligned with a forward surface of the hook portion with the end hook member in its retracted position.