Mastering your finances will allow you to reach financial freedom by budgeting, investing, and paying off looming debt. Without personal finance skills, you’ll spend your life living paycheck to paycheck to pay your bills, missing out on doing the things you love. Without financial freedom, you’ll live out an unfulfilling life of never-ending work.
You can always use a personal finance course to help learn how to manage your finances. Another one of the best ways to master your finances, though, is to read about how the rich have done it and how you can do it.
Best Personal Finance Books
Personal finance books teach you how to budget within your income, keep more of your hard-earned cash, and alter your mindset about money to earn it in abundance. Whether you’re looking to start investing, recession-proof your finances, pay off debt, or start a retirement fund, personal finance books will teach you how to do so. Below are the top 8 books that guide you through the process of financial independence. After all, anyone and everyone benefits from maximizing their earnings.
1. I Will Teach You to Be Rich by Ramit Sethi
Author Ramit Sethi is the creator of both blog and book: I Will Teach You to Be Rich. Sethi is one of the most well-known finance gurus of the 21st century and a New York Times best-seller.
This book helps you earn more, save more, and live an affluent lifestyle. According to Spend Me Not, 58% of Americans have less than $1,000 in their savings. Thankfully, Sethi guides you in creating income streams that allow you to make money on autopilot and introduces you to the joy of being able to spend guilt-free on the things you enjoy. In this step-by-step process toward taking control of your finances, Sethi emphasizes that since anybody can become rich, all readers can take these actionable steps.
Ultimately, I Will Teach You to Be Rich will teach you how to take responsibility for your finances, eliminate your harmful habits, and take control of your money.
2. The Automatic Millionaire by David Bach
In Bach’s 4th book about the secrets of acquiring wealth, he begins with a compelling story about a low-income American couple that goes from less than $55,000 per year to over $1 million in savings, debt-free. He dives deep into the reasons that you cannot get rich with only a budget, and the importance of setting up an automatic plan to pay for your lifestyle. He explains how this automatic payment plan sets you up for the future, pays for the present, and puts you on the path of financial independence.
Later, Bach analyzes the mindset of getting rich, and why willpower in regards to spending will always have more impact than creating a flimsy budget. His main claim: being interested in money is more important than making money.
All in all, The Automatic Millionaire is the go-to book for securing your financial future. David Bach gives you all the tools you need, from websites to phone numbers, to create your effective financial system.
3. The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey
Dave Ramsey’s all-time bestselling book explains how to deal with a mountain of debt and enact a proven plan for financial fitness. The first step? Stop normalizing debt and take control of your finances. Since 2013, the average credit card debt among Americans has increased by 18.5%, according to The Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
While debt increases, Ramsey will teach you how you can eliminate debt forever by implementing small habits. He even includes a 7-step plan on building your financial future and believing that you deserve financial freedom.
He debunks the myths about money and debt in our modern society and explains why they’ve been holding us back from becoming rich. He’ll teach you how to set up an emergency fund, invest for your retirement, and take control of debt to reach true financial independence.
4. The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham
The Intelligent Investor is the #1 book for value investing. Warren Buffet said it’s the most important book ever written about investing, and that the strategies remain applicable today. In this, Benjamin Graham speaks about the importance of investing in personal finances.
He teaches the reader how to analyze long-term evolution and management principles of a company before investing, and proves what many had previously believed to be false in regards to investing. For instance, he claimed that investment returns were not based on intelligence or luck, but by how much you bought a company relative to its actual value.
Overall, many experts believe that this is the only book you’ll ever need to read about investing, and while it goes deep into multiple helpful strategies, it’s also an excellent place for beginners to learn about how to invest. It will allow you to take control of your finances, and only invest when you believe it is a good time.
5. Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki
Robert Kiyosaki’s definition of wealth: how long can you survive on your remaining savings? Robert is a motivational speaker and financial commentator with a net worth of about $80 million. He was not raised into wealth; rather, he paved the path to wealth on his own.
In Rich Dad Poor Dad, Kiyosaki refers to his dad as the poor dad. He claims that his dad was a very hard worker, but didn’t know how to teach him to get rich, so he told him to secure a job and study hard. His friend, Mike’s dad, was the rich dad, who would mentor both him and his friend about acquiring wealth.
This book delves into the ways that the rich keep getting richer. Kiyosaki explains that the primary cause of financial struggle is not knowing the difference between assets and liabilities. Therefore, many acquire assets, thinking that they are liabilities. On the other hand, the rich have assets that generate more than enough to cover their expenses. Later, he explains how to buy assets that give you passive income to earn money without trading in your time.
He’ll teach you how to invest while managing your risk, how to minimize liabilities, and how to avoid debt along the way. With this book, you’ll learn how to use your logic over emotion when spending, and prevent the lethal combination of fear and greed that keeps the poor in a cycle of paying bills and continuously working.
6. The Millionaire Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of America’s Wealthy by Thomas J. Stanley
The Millionaire Next Door is a fitting title because this book explains the simple spending and saving habits of the rich that most ignore. Stanley explains how these habits lead to more cash in the bank and how you can implement them into your own life. He also explains the effectiveness of good money habits and teaches you how to avoid critical mistakes on your way to financial independence.
This book is not only action-oriented but also thought-oriented, as it explains how millionaires think about money differently. Further, Stanley debunks the myths about the rich. While rich people appear to live the most extravagant lifestyles and spend the most, it’s doing the opposite that got them to be rich in the first place.
After reading this book, you’ll be determined to manage your finances, budget wisely, and invest in things you know. Financial freedom is more important than a wealthy status, and a healthy bank account is key to a healthy life.
7. Get a Financial Life: Personal Finance in Your Twenties and Thirties by Beth Kobliner
Get a Financial Life is the 4th edition of the New York Times best-seller and guide for younger adults in a world where personal finance is of growing importance. Now more than ever, people in their 20s and 30s require financial guidance since the modern-day education system lacks such instruction. According to a study done by The National Endowment for Financial Education, only 24% of millennials possess basic financial literacy. Thanks to Kobliner, you now have the perfect book to read right out of high school and college to set you up for financial success.
This book covers it all: from choosing the right bank and insurance to making diverse investments, you’ll be able to plan for specific future financial goals and earn a steady income along the way.
8. The Simple Path to Wealth by J L Collins
This encouraging book is the savior for widespread misinformation about money management and investing. Anyone who knows that money is essential would rather spend time with friends and family, traveling, or living out their passion. The Simple Path shows the reader that investing doesn’t have to be complicated, and goes into the many ways that the average person can invest at any age. It includes tips about how to control spending, how to save up, how to manage debt, and how to invest wisely for long-term financial success.
Final Thoughts: Best Personal Finance Books
When it comes to personal finance, there is no target audience, anyone and everyone will benefit from money management skills. By conquering your finances, you’ll be able to live without having to worry about paying off debt or working as much as you can.
Reading up about personal finance with one of these best personal finance books is a valuable investment of time, and will pay off greatly in the long-term.
