Reading books about personal finance is a great way to learn more about how to improve your financial situation.
I love reading and furthering my understanding of the world.
In the first 6 months of 2017, I read 29 books. By the end of 2017, I had read over forty.
I’ve talked about personal finance podcasts, videos, and personal finance blogs to consume to further your understanding, but really, there’s nothing like a good book.
Today, I present to you 12 personal finance books to read to further your financial education.
12 Personal Finance Books to Read
There are so many great personal finance books to read out there. I’ve picked 12 which I believe are superb, very informative, and helpful:
1. The Simple Path to Wealth
2. Think and Grow Rich
3. The Millionaire Next Door
4. The Richest Man in Babylon
5. Rich Dad, Poor Dad
6. Your Money or Your Life
7. How to Think About Money
8. The Bogleheads’ Guide to Investing
9. The Automatic Millionaire
10. Money: Master the Game
11. How to Win Friends and Influence People
12. The Slight Edge
I’ve provided a brief summary of each of these below:
The Simple Path to Wealth, by JL Collins
Money is the single most powerful tool we have for navigating this complex world we’ve created. Understanding it is critical.
The Simple Path to Wealth demystifies all of the common misunderstandings and misconceptions many people have about personal finance and investing.
Reading The Simple Path to Wealth will help you become one of the 1% of people who understand personal finance – and get you on the way to becoming one of the few people to achieve financial freedom.
Think and Grow Rich, by Napoleon Hill
In Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill draws on stories of Andrew Carnegie, Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, and other millionaires of his generation to illustrate his principles of success.
Think and Grow Rich will teach you the secrets that could bring you a fortune.
Think and Grow Rich will show you not only what to do but how to do it. Once you learn and apply the simple, basic techniques revealed here, you will have mastered the secret of true and lasting success.
The Millionaire Next Door, by Thomas J. Stanley and William Danko
Can you spot the millionaire next door?
Who are the rich in this country? What do they do? Where do they shop? What do they drive? How do they invest? How did they get rich?
Can I ever become one of them?
Get the answers in The Millionaire Next Door, the never-before-told story about wealth in America. You’ll be surprised at what you find out.
The Richest Man in Babylon, by George Clason
Countless readers have been helped by the famous “Babylonian parables,” hailed as the greatest of all inspirational works on the subject of thrift, financial planning, and personal wealth.
In language as simple as that found in the Bible, these fascinating and informative stories set you on a sure path to prosperity and its accompanying joys.
The Richest Man in Babylon holds the secrets to keeping your money – and making more. May they prove for you a sure key to gratifying financial progress.
Rich Dad, Poor Dad, by Robert Kiyosaki
Rich Dad, Poor Dad tells the story of Robert Kiyosaki and his two dads – his real father and the father of his best friend, whom he calls his rich dad.
He shares the ways in which both men shaped his thoughts about money and investing.
The book, Rich Dad, Poor Dad, explores the myth that you need to earn a high income to be rich and explains the difference between working for money and having your money work for you.
Your Money or Your Life, by Vicki Robin and Joe Dominguez
In Your Money or Your Life, Vicki Robin shows readers how we frequently trade our money, and therefore, our time, for worthless things that ultimately won’t fulfill us.
“The premise of it is that you exchange your time for money. When you start thinking about how many hours of your life it took to save up the money to buy something, you really start thinking twice about your purchases.”
With this book, you’ll learn how to:
* Get out of debt and develop savings
* Save money through mindfulness and good habits, not strict budgeting
* Declutter your life and live well on less
* Invest your savings and begin creating wealth
How to Think about Money, by Jonathan Clements
How to Think about Money, which was named 2017’s adult book of the year by the Institute for Financial Literacy, is built around five key ideas:
* Money can buy happiness, but we need to spend with great care.
* Most of us will enjoy an extraordinarily long life–and that has profound financial implications.
* We are hardwired for financial failure, so sensible money management takes great mental strength.
* We need to bring order to our financial life–by focusing on our paycheck, or lack thereof.
* If we want to add to our wealth, we should strive to minimize the distractions.
The Bogleheads’ Guide to Investing, by Mel Lindauer, Taylor Larimore, and Michael LeBoeuf
Investing can be simple, but it’s certainly not simplistic.
Over the course of twenty years, the followers of John C. Bogle have evolved from a loose association of investors to a major force with the largest and most active non-commercial financial forum on the Internet.
The Bogleheads’ Guide to Investing brings that communication to you with comprehensive guidance to the investment prowess on display at Bogleheads.org.
You’ll learn how to craft your own investment strategy using the Bogle-proven methods that have worked for thousands of investors.
The Automatic Millionaire, by David Bach
The Automatic Millionaire starts with the powerful story of an average American couple; he’s a low-level manager, she’s a beautician. Their joint income has never exceeded $55,000 a year, and yet, they somehow manage to own two homes debt-free, put two kids through college and retire at 55 with more than $1 million in savings.
Through their story you’ll learn the surprising fact that you cannot get rich with a budget! You have to have a plan to pay yourself first that is totally automatic; a plan that will automatically secure your future while still allowing you to pay for the present.
Money: Master the Game, by Tony Robbins
Money: Master the Game by Tony Robbins is a how to guide on how to achieve financial freedom. Money is about learning how we as investors can become financially free.
Tony Robbins has been a life coach for more than twenty-years, and he wrote this book for people who want to improve their financial situation. Coming from a relatively poor family, he has been able to build a strong following as a life coach and has influenced many people.
In Money, you will learn Tony Robbins’ 7 simple steps to financial freedom.
How to Win Friends and Influence People, by Dale Carnegie
For more than sixty years, the rock-solid time-tested advice in How to Win Friends and Influence People has carried thousands of people up the ladder of success in their business and personal lives.
You will learn:
* Three fundamental techniques in handling people
* Six ways to make people like you
* Twelve ways to win people to you way of thinking
* Nine ways to change people without arousing resentment
Your level of success will rarely exceed your level of personal development – improving yourself and your personal skills will help grow your income and allow you to invest and save more.
The Slight Edge, by Jeff Olson
The Slight Edge is a way of thinking, a way of processing information that enables you to make the daily choices that will lead you to the success and happiness you desire.
Learn why some people make dream after dream come true, while others just continue dreaming and spend their lives building someone else’s dreams.
The Slight Edge is not just another self-help motivation tool of methods you must learn in order to travel the path to success. The Slight Edge shows you how to create powerful results from the simple daily activities of your life, by using tools that are already within you.
While The Slight Edge is a personal development book, it ties in very nicely with personal finance. You aren’t going to save $1,000,000 in one year. But, over 20-30 years of diligent saving, you can easily become a millionaire.
Personal Finance Books The Mastermind Within Community Members Are Reading
One of the great things about having readers is being able to ask them about their strategies for financial success. A number of people contributed to the question of which personal finance books they are reading to further their financial education.
Grant, a blogger and friend of mine likes The Millionaire Next Door!
My favorite personal finance book is a little outdated, but ‘The Millionaire Next Door‘ was very eye opening. I also liked ‘The Science of Getting Rich‘.
Dom, a blogger from Gen Y Finance Guy, loves The Slight Edge:
The Slight Edge. It really covers personal finance and overall personal development all in one.
I completely agree with you Dom! ‘The Slight Edge’ had the biggest impact on me of any book I read this year. Thank you for contributing!
Conclusion
Learning personal finance early in life will alter your perspective forever. The book recommendations above will get you to your financial goals and beyond.
Whether you’re looking to learn about investing, or want to understand the philosophical properties of money, there’s a book in this list for you.
You could experience financial success beyond your wildest dreams! Being financially free is a great feeling, will you get there?
