Best Personal Finance Books that can Change Your Life
There’s a myriad of outlets today for information on personal finance, from the internet to television, but not all of it is solid or proven advice, and mostly just scratches the surface. To really get deeper into topics and learning, it’s hard to beat a good book. We’ve compiled a list of the best, by category, depending on your needs and financial situation. These books are perfect for achieving your financial success, or giving to a friend or family member. Let’s get educated!
Best Overall Finance Book
The Total Money Makeover
by Dave Ramsey
As a best-selling author and nationally broadcast radio host, Dave Ramsey is one of the most prominent and influential voices when it comes to personal finance. This book breaks finances down into 7 simple steps, from psychology and philosophy, to budgeting, debt management and wealth building. With real life stories and thought-provoking questions, this makes for an engaging read. This book has a lot of appeal, whether you are a beginner to personal finance, or looking for new ideas. If you want motivation, inspiration, and a step-by-plan, this is the perfect book to start with.
Best Book for Beginners
The Financial Diet
by Chelsea Fagan and Lauren Ver Hage
This book gives a holistic view of personal finance. If you know nothing about finance, there’s no better place to begin. It covers the major topics of budgeting, money saving, emergencies, investing, retirement, and all presented in an easy way to put them into practice. If offers interviews with both experts and non-experts, and even includes downloadable guides for you to follow. What’s great about this book, is not only does it teach personal finance in a simple way, but also branches off into life skills and how they can be applied towards savings. If you’re wanting to learn more about money and life, pick up this book.
Best Book for Budgeting
Your Money or Your Life
by Vicki Robin
This best-selling book covers all the basics, laying out a plan for financial independence. It’s an essential read for learning how to pay off debt, grow your savings, set priorities and values, and lots more. It’s a long book, so there’s plenty of specific advice, starting with overviews and going deeper into topics. Whether you’re looking at advice on budgeting, saving, spending, making decisions, investing, or retirement, this book covers all the fundamentals and takes you to the next level.
Best Book for Money Saving
365 Ways to Live Cheap
by Trent Hamm
We all want to save money, and this book is full of tips and advice on ways to live on less. It provides simple life hacks that are sure to cut costs without decreasing your quality of life. It’s a great book if you only have a few minutes of reading time, or just want new ideas on some money saving tricks. Even better, along with daily money saving tips, it also provides ways to save for the long-term. If you’re looking for areas you can cut back on expenses, you can’t go wrong with this book.
Best Books for Money Habits & Mindset
The Millionaire Next Door
by Thomas J Stanley
This book talks about the fundamentals of personal finance and develops good habits and practices from the very beginning. The author does an excellent job with breaking down habits and how millionaires think, leading them towards achieving that success. A surprising twist I learned from this book is how the majority of millionaires acquired wealth through responsible money management as opposed to the abundant lifestyle we often associate them with.
Psych Yourself Rich
by Farnoosh Torabi
Many of our financial decisions are the result of our emotions. This book goes into the concepts of behavioral finance, discovering your personal weaknesses, and how to take advantage of your strengths to manage your money free of stress. The author teaches how “emotions influence when managing personal finances” and this is a beautiful book demonstrating the relationship between us as humans, our psyche, and our money.
Best Book for Simplifying Finance
The One-Page Financial Plan
by Carl Richards
This book is just what the title says. If you find pouring through your budget with a fine-toothed comb to be too time-consuming or cumbersome, then this book is just what you need. It starts off with a simple five minute exercise, and everything else is based upon that. It takes away the worry and stress over the details of your financial situation, and instead gives practical advice and answers to financial decisions, situations or questions you may have. Highly recommended.
Best Books for Investing
The Little Book of Common Sense Investing
by John C. Bogle
Investing in the stock market can be intimidating. Picking and choosing individual stocks often feels like a game of chance. This book does away with all that, by going into detail about how index funds provide a better rate of return than individual stocks. The author breaks it down into investing concepts, and there’s nuggets of golden information you’ll find throughout the book. You’ll feel more capable of making the right investments once you’ve read this book.
The Simple Path to Wealth
by JL Collins
This book has an abundance of accessible advice on investing. Written in a light and casual style to make investing easy to understand, the author is also not afraid to dive deeper into explanations of more complicated topics. If you are new to investing, or looking for some guidance, this book lays out the groundwork for you and it can’t be simpler.
Best Book for Women
Women & Money
by Suze Orman
A #1 New York Times best seller, and recently updated, this book speaks to every mother, daughter, grandmother, sister, and wife. Designed to inspire and empower women, the author mixes compassion with practical advice to achieve a place of emotional and financial security as quickly as possible. Overcome the obstacles preventing you from living a full and meaningful life.
Best Book for Fathers
Rich Dad Poor Dad
by Robert Kiyosaki
The #1 personal finance book of all time, translated into dozens of languages and sold around the world, is a must have for anyone trying to get a grasp on their finances. It’s written from the author’s own personal story of the financial decisions and mindset of his own father compared to his best friend’s father, and how each of them shaped his thoughts about money and investing. It also provides financial parables, and debunks common myths associated with income, money and investing. This book isn’t about ways to save money, but how to make your money work for you.
Best Book for Mothers
The Money Saving Mom’s Budget
by Crystal Paine
Known for helping busy women everywhere take control of their finances, the author of this book provides effective financial strategies designed for families of all sizes and income levels. It’s a quick and easy read, full of ideas for saving money, budgeting, and getting out of debt. Focused on setting goals, this book gives you the steps in an easy order and provides pre-made worksheets to get you started right away!
Best for Young Adults
You’re So Money
by Farnoosh Torabi
Subtitled “Live Rich, Even When You’re Not”, this book is full of practical and informative ways to live like a king or queen even on a peasant’s salary. It’s a bold new approach towards personal finances, written in an entertaining and often funny way. For a generation that’s all about the “buy now, pay later” attitude, this book teaches how to live that lifestyle without being buried under a pile of debt.
Best Books for Millenials
Why Didn’t They Teach Me This in School?
by Cary Siegel
The subtitle of this book is “99 Personal Money Management Principles to Live By”, so you can tell right away it’s full of substance. This book shares practical principles learned by the author throughout his financial life. He graduated from a top business school with a focus on finances. After graduating, he realized that actual real world money management skills were not taught in schools or colleges, and this book is the result of his experiences, first to share with his own children, and now available for everyone.
Broke Millenial
by Erin Lowry
This personal finance book is a favorite among millennials, as well it should be. It uses language young people can relate to, and goes into all the topics and financial challenges that come along with entering adulthood. Some examples are: checking your credit score, dealing with student debt, buying your first home, living with your parents, and how to deal with friendships and finances. It’s a great book for young people wanting an overview of getting started on the right financial path into adulthood.
Best Book for Children
Money A to Z
by Scott Alan Turner
It’s never too early to start teaching your children about money. Teaching children about the importance of money management can help them develop responsible money habits as they grow older. This is a wonderful children’s book, teaching financial basics about what money is, why it’s important, and lessons on giving and sharing. It features simple concepts and illustrated with fun and adorable pictures throughout that your kids will love.
Best Food for Thought Book
Thinking, Fast and Slow
by Daniel Kahneman
Winner of multiple best book and book of the year awards, this book goes deep into how our decisions affect our personal finance. It focuses on what drives us to make financial decisions every day, whether conscious or unconscious, and what pushes us towards making those decisions. This is a must read for anyone that wants to understand the way we think and make choices.
