Personal finance is an arena many of us often plan and replan to get in order, but end up failing. There is always this unforeseen expenditure that comes up. Or that one-time splurge that leads to a long-term disaster in your budget book! And does investing in the financial market still give you jitters and nightmares?
There is no harm in taking a little help from these timeless classic books that have helped millions of people get their finances in order and their minds at peace with respect to money management.
10 Best personal finance books of all times
Books are a treasure trove of wisdom that advises without passing any judgment. Thus, if you feel too shy to talk about your finances, a little help from these books will go a long way in getting you finance-ready and in a wealth-creation mode.
10 of the best personal finance books created by us after extensive research are:
1. Your money your life
This book by authors Vicki Robin and Joe Dominguez is not just about giving financial advice but targeting the root cause of all financial insecurities- the endless desire for material possessions. The book forces you to ask hard-hitting questions about how much of your life energy you are ready to trade off for money.
Thus, the book highlights the concept of ‘life energy’ and tries to impress upon the readers that while being rich or poor is relative, time is an asset constant for everyone and hence is the most important factor to be taken into consideration while making significant life decisions.
Thus, if you are willing to focus more on being happy in life than merely being rich, then this book gives you sound financial advice on how to repurpose your budget with your new guiding values.
2. Rich Dad Poor Dad
Based partially on his own life, Robert Kiyosaki, in this timeless classic, elaborates on the two ways of handling money. One of his educated dads taught him, and one of his best friend’s school dropout friends taught him. Ironically, the school dropout left his son a business empire while the degree holder left a pile of debt.
The key giveaway of this book is tips like it is better to manage risk than to avoid it and that we should aim to learn and not just earn.
While parts of this book continue to remain controversial even today, they have worked for people for decades and have yielded results where others have failed!
3. Broke Millennial
Broke Millennial by Erin Lowry is targeted at the millennials, who are faced with an extremely challenging financial environment as compared to the generations before them. Thus, without the wisdom that is handed down by lived experience, they are riddled with student loans, housing issues and an ever-mounting credit card debt.
Thus we have young adults moving in with parents and too broke to get into serious relationships.
This book thus multidimensionally explores the financial scenario for millennials today along with the psychological and social impacts it generates. It then ventures to give advice and strategies to navigate this confusing quagmire of money and relationships that many of them are stuck in!
4. I will teach you to be rich
Ramit Sethi lays down a six-week comprehensive plan to turn your financial situation around, so there is no room left for guessing! It provides a comprehensive, practical and step-by-step guide based on what he believes to be the 4 foundations of personal finance: banking, saving, investing, and budgeting.
Thus, if you’re a young entrepreneur aiming for wealth creation or just a confused millennial trying to find your way through the mess of personal finance, then this is a starter book for you to get the ball rolling.
5. The Total Money Makeover
If you have been googling personal finance, you are sure to come across the giant in the arena: Dave Ramsey. His podcasts have inspired thousands of people struggling through personal finance, and so have his books.
The Total Money Makeover is a child of Dave’s years of experience in guiding people through the maze of finance and financial independence, and several of these personal anecdotes have found their way into the book. With his baby steps to retirement planning and his strong anti-credit card stance, the book is all there with all Ramsey has to say to help you dream of debt-free financial independence.
6. You are so Money: Live Rich when you are not
Personal finance does not always have to be serious and boring! It can surely tickle your funny bone now and then, especially when you are reading Farnoosh Torabi.
You also don’t always have to be stingy to get your financial profile in order! So Farnoosh encourages you to splurge on things that you love, but only if you severely cut back on things that you don’t care much about. So, prioritizing is the key to living rich and dying rich!
It thus advocates a daring approach to personal finance, yet gives sensible tips to manage your money. Avoiding unnecessary jargon, this is a starter book for those who find personal finance dry and boring.
7. Rich Woman: A Book on Investing for Women
Well, talk about feminist finance! Rich Woman by Kim Kiyosaki is specially tailored to cater to the financial needs of women and help them gain financial independence and wealth creation. It gives a unique perspective on how women should approach the art of investing. Yes, aim for the sky and break the glass ceiling with this book!
8. Retire before Mom and Dad
This book by Rob Berger is especially meant for those who are worried about their retirement plans. If you are unsure of how and how much to keep aside before you can imagine a relaxed post-retirement scenario, you need to religiously go through this book.
Also, if you are aiming for a side wealth creation, this book helps you with some sound financial advice on both how to secure your wealth and create more out of it.
9. The Automatic Millionaire
David Bach’s book gives you strategies that you can immediately put into action, but which in turn will have a long-term impact. The book explains how we can automate our finances and fasten our wealth creation. Hence, it asks you to create an ecosystem of wealth creation systems and see how your money works for you, and not the other way around.
10. The Simple Path to Wealth
The book starts with a series of letters the author, JL Collins, wrote to his daughter to pass on the wisdom about financial matters that he had gained over the years. It provides simple but effective techniques on how to manage your finances, aim at wealth creation and plan an early retirement. It provides practical investment ideas that are easy to understand and implement, and the book often adopts a conversational tone.
Wrapping up,
These books are sure to make you comfortable about getting curious and asking the right questions about personal finance. And if you hunger for more information, or simply are not just an avid fan of reading, try these best money and finance podcasts!
If you have a time paucity and find it hard to pick up a book, you can listen to this on your way back from work or while completing your daily chores. Financial wisdom is just a click away!
