Once upon a time, there was a young woman who felt aimless and like she could never get ahead. She worked a full-time job and was earning a little extra on the side, but found herself struggling to pay her bills each month. She didn’t socialize or enjoy her life much because she had no money to do so. She was afraid that this would always be her life and she’d never be able to accomplish the things she wanted to.
She knew she didn’t want to struggle with money anymore, but had no idea how to change her situation. She started listening to podcasts about money and all of them mentioned a particular book that changed the trajectory of their lives and helped guide them to becoming rich. She grabbed a copy of that book and her mindset was changed forever.
My Favorite Personal Finance Books
Growing up, I didn’t get a meaningful financial education. I remember hearing that I should save my money, but I was never taught how to save my money or how to use my income to become financially stable. I never learned about retirement accounts or ways to make my money work for me.
My life probably wouldn’t have been easier if I knew then what I know now about money, but I’d be in a very different financial position if I had started investing sooner. But as the saying goes, “The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago. The second best time is right now.” Starting at any point is better than never starting at all.
I started learning how to transform my finances by reading books. Without the books I’m sharing today I wouldn’t have started to think about money and its purpose differently. If you want to learn how to save money, start to invest and build wealth, and ultimately change your money mindset forever, you should pick up a copy.
Rich Dad Poor Dad
Ignoring what the author may or may not be up to nowadays, this is the first book that opened my eyes to what money could do.
There is a reason why this book is so popular. If you didn’t grow up in a rich or wealthy family it shares life-changing information. I hadn’t been taught about real estate as an investment, considering how to optimize how I pay my taxes, or how to build lasting wealth in general growing up so everything discussed in this book was revelatory.
The book revolves around two main characters: the author’s own father, an educated but poor man (poor dad), and his childhood friend’s father who, despite being less educated, became a wealthy man (rich dad). This book isn’t going to teach you how to get rich quick or give you any step-by-step path to wealth, but it is the first book that showed me what money could do for me if I learned how to keep my expenses low and delay my gratification.
The Millionaire Next Door
I know you’ve seen the luxury lifestyles of influencers and their tropical vacations an designer bags galore leading you to beilve that they are rich. Some of them may truly have that money and buying a Cartier Love Bracelet to them is like buying a latte on the way to work for you in terms of networth, but for many others it’s all a show.
This book showed me something my dad always told me–rich people shop at Walmart too. Well, this book often used JC Penney as a reference, but you catch my drift. The book points out that wealth in America often doesn’t look like you think it stereotypically would. Through the research from it’s authors, it shows that the richest people often don’t lead extravagant lifestyles, but they instead live like they average people next door to you. It clearly articulates that wealth accumulation isn’t about earning more, but about living unassumingly, and spending and investing wisely.
I love this book because it shares the secrets of wealth from the millionaires hiding in plain sight (aka ‘next door’) rather than from celebrities or business tycoons. It made wealth seem attainable for me, even if I didn’t found the next unicorn company.
The Psychology of Money
This book explores how we think about and behave around money. It discusses things that drive our financial decisions and trip-up even the most seasoned investors. By recognizing the link between our thoughts and financial outcomes, we can transform our relationship with money, cultivating wealth not just in the bank, but in our lives overall.
It’s not a single narrative, but many narrative examples that help us explore why we do what we do with out money, even when we know better. Having read this book before the markets took a nose dive due to Covid skittishness, I knew it was better to stay the course and keep my money in the market, possibly even buying more stocks and ETFs and waiting for the market to go back up. The loss (or gain) isn’t real until you take your money out. Looking at my portfolios now, I’m glad I stayed the course. Time in the market is far better than timing the market.
These three books aren’t the only ones I’ve ever read about money, but the are the most influential. I’ve also read You Are A Bad Ass at Making Money, The Simple Path to Wealth, and Think and Grow Rich and I will read many more.
When it comes to making radical changes in life, money is always an area to work on. When used correctly, money is a powerful tool that can provide financial freedom, build wealth, and solve problems that money can solve thus minimizing some stress. If you’re looking to change your financial life, these books are a great place to start.
