It’s often said that books are the key to knowledge. This is something that I believe and live by. There are literally thousands of finance books out there, but which are the best personal finance books?
I can’t remember who said it, but someone once said “He who controls knowledge controls power”- the richest people on the planet, from Jeff Bezos to Mark Cuban to Warren Buffett, all read, so you should too!
Whilst they may often talk about how it doesn’t need to be personal finance that you need to read about, some is better than none, of course.
There are thousands of famous personal finance books, from Rich Dad Poor Dad to Common Sense on Mutual Funds to 1000 ways to make $1000. These books are good, but there are better ones!
17. Rule #1
Rule #1 is written by a relatively unknown, yet still amazing American investor and hedge fund manager Phil Town.
His book, Rule #1, covers everything to do with rule one investing, based off his own experiences.
In his book, he often quotes legendary investors such as Warren Buffett to reinforce that he knows what he is talking about.
He often tries to simplify concepts that Benjamin Graham came up with in 1949, as well as coming up with his own, such as his infamous 4M’s:
Moat: Town outlines this as the competitive advantage the company has over its competition, whether it’s the brand-loyalty, patented tech/secret, price-orientation, toll or switching (where a product and a company have become inseparable in people’s minds, eg. Coca Cola and Coke!)
Meaning: Town believes that you should not merely know about the business you own, but have a passion for what they do! Eg. Loving planes and owning shares in several airlines and aircraft manufacturers!
Management: Town believes that you should be able to trust the management. He says “Would you be happy if your son/daughter brought the CEO (or any other C suite executive) home and married them?”
Margin of Safety: Town also believes that you can save big if you prepare for a recession and buy into the company then, when the company is way below its intrinsic value!
This is one of the best personal finance books in my opinion, if you want to invest your money (which I often recommend on Finance Friday). This is because it often gives the principles in The Intelligent Investor, but in lay mens terms.
16. Build your Rental Property Empire
Graham Stephan is the author of Build your Rental Property Empire, but he is also a real estate agent and investor himself. His book aims to make it so that you too can build your rental property empire.
Whilst it doesn’t go too in depth about how you can start buying properties, it does talk about the tenant-landlord relationship side of the business.
The book talks about the mindset that tenants often have before, during and after their relationship with a landlord, and how you can profit from it. It also talks about how you can verify what your tenants say before they move in.
This isn’t necessarily one of the best real estate books, however, it is what helped me to start investing in real estate (which I am currently finishing doing!)
However, it is one of the best personal finance books in my opinion, as many do hope to become financially free so they can invest in real estate. Or use real estate to help them get there!
15. I Will Teach You to Be Rich
I Will Teach You to Be Rich is one of the best personal finance books you can read! (It also happens to be one of my favorite ones too!)
I Will Teach You to Be Rich is written by fellow finance blogger, Ramit Sethi, who also writes a site with the same name, which covers many points in the book.
It was published in 2009 and quickly gained a following, even becoming a New York Times bestseller a few months after its release!
I Will Teach You to Be Rich focuses on exactly how you can become rich. To quote Ramit,
No Guilt. No Excuses. No BS. Just a 6-Week Program That Works
It talks about how you can crush your debt, creative ways to save money and how to negotiate for a massive pay rise at work (including a step-by-step guide and script!)
14. Broke Millennial
Broke Millennial is written by a well known finance blogger Erin Lowry. The aim of the book is to help you get your financial life together (or what she calls #GYFLT!)
The book talks about how you can get your money together no matter what your background or current situation is. Whether you are a cash-strapped 20 something year old or a millionaire, it really doesn’t matter!
She also tries to boil complex financial topics into a few short paragraphs or a small worksheet that you can work from!
This is one of the best personal finance books as it has a very 21st Century approach to it. It isn’t focused on being future proof, simply getting to the bottom of helping you sort your finances out!
And clearly others feel the same as she released a new book in April, which is a continuation of her first one!
13. Think and Grow Rich
Think and Grow Rich is Napoleon Hill’s seminal work. Napoleon Hill wrote Think and Grow Rich in 1937, as a continuation of his previous work, The Laws of Success.
In Think and Grow Rich, Hill outlines 14 main principles:
- Thoughts are things
- Desire
- Faith
- Autosuggestion
- Specialized Knowledge
- Imagination
- Organized Planning
- Decision
- Persistence
- Power of the Master Mind
- The Mystery of Sex Transmutation
- The Subconscious Mind
- The Brain
- The Sixth Sense
These were all based on research he’d done on other rich people, including the infamous Andrew Carnegie.
This is one of the best personal finance books in my opinion as it covers everything that rich people do, and how you can mimic that in your own life too!
12. The Millionaire Next Door
The Millionaire Next Door was written in 1998 by Thomas Stanley and William Danko. It has since been revised to include many modern examples, however the principle has remained the same:
Most of the truly wealthy people in America don’t live in Beverly Hills or on Park Avenue, they live next door
The Millionaire Next Door goes over the seven common traits of millionaires and how that makes them successful, including seven streams of income.
The Millionaire Next Door is one of the best personal finance books out there, as it doesn’t merely say “This is what they do” but it then explains how you too can do it!
11. The Total Money Makeover
Dave Ramsey is probably one of the most well known finance gurus and businessmen of the 21st Century- he has used the rise of the internet perfectly to help him catch his audience!
Dave Ramsey has written several other books including: Financial Peace, Smart Money Smart Kids, EntreLeadership and Dave Ramsey’s Complete Guide to Money.
The Total Money Makeover is aimed to help you create a rock solid plan, helping you make a budget and finally eliminating all of your debt!
This is one of the best personal finance books out there, whether you are just getting started, or are a seasoned finance pro!
10. The richest man in Babylon
The richest man in Babylon isn’t your typical personal finance book. First, it isn’t really a “follow this formula and you’ll become rich” sort of thing, rather a narrative set 8,000 years ago in the ancient city of Babylon.
Secondly, it was written in 1926 by George S. Clason, which makes it the oldest personal finance book on this list!
The richest man in Babylon follows a poor scribe called Akrad in Ancient Babylon. Throughout the book, Akrad goes from a poor scribe to the richest man in Babylon.
In the book, Akrad advises “seven cures”, or ways to make money, “five golden laws”, or ways to keep/protect money.
Akrad also preaches many philosophies in investing, including “paying yourself first”, “living within your means”, “investing in what you know”, the importance of “long-term saving”, and “home ownership”.
This is one of the best personal finance books in my opinion simply due to how much of a staple it has become. It has gone from being almost irrelevant, to being in continuous publication for 90 years!
9. The Investor’s Manifesto
Whilst The Investor’s Manifesto is meant as a kind-of spin-off of William Bernstein’s previous work- The Four Pillars of Investing, there is much that The Investor’s Manifesto offers that the previous book cannot!
The Investor’s Manifesto covers much the same topics as The Four Pillars does, but is meant for the more novice investor, and explains the concepts he writes in The Four Pillars in a much simpler style than he does in The Four Pillars.
This is probably one of the best personal finance books if you are just getting into investing. This is because it aims to help you to prepare for when times are good, bad or indifferent, as the full title reads:
The Investor’s Mainfesto: Preparing for Prosperity, Armageddon, and Everything in Between
8. Principles: Life and Work
Ray Dalio is by far the most famous and successful hedge fund manager of his generation. His book, Principles: Life and Work focuses on how you refine a set of skills to create unique results in both your personal life and in your business one.
Whilst it isn’t necessarily a personal finance book, it is aimed at helping you to increase your productivity and minimizing distractions. This can be for both your personal finances and for your business!
This is one of the best personal finance books as it has so much actionable advice that you can take away from it all!
7. The 4-Hour Work Week
The 4-Hour Work Week is probably one of the best personal finance books of all time. And if not one of the most influential personal finance books ever written!
The 4-Hour Work Week was written by Tim Ferriss as a way to help you escape your 9-5 job, live wherever you want and live like the rich, published in 2007.
All of the book was written based on Tim’s own experiences from a three week sabbatical in Europe, outsourcing most of his menial tasks to virtual assistants.
The 4-Hour Work Week is probably one of the best personal finance due to the fact that the book is written in a very punchy style. It also criticizes workers slavish devotion to corporations and how you can escape that fate!
6. How to Stop Worrying and Start Living
Dale Carnegie wrote How to Stop Worrying and Start Living in 1990 to help people finally stop worrying about their finances, and start actually conquering them and starting to live on their own terms!
His tips are stings like:
- Fundamental facts you should know about worry
- A magic formula for solving worry situations
- How to eliminate fifty per cent of your business worries
- Seven ways to cultivate a mental attitude that will bring you peace and happiness
- How to keep from worrying about criticism
- Six ways to prevent fatigue and worry
- Personal tips from those who have conquered worry
This is probably one of my favorite, and one of the best personal finance books ever written as worrying is what prevents so many people from actually becoming financially independent!
5. Secrets of the Millionaire Mind
Secrets of the Millionaire Mind is written T. Harv Eker as a way to tell the world how he was taught by a friend how to become rich. It is simply a matter of changing how you view money.
He talks about how your interactions with money since you were a kid, shape how you see money for the rest of your life.
He says that it is simply a matter of changing those preconceptions and you’ll be able to think, grow and act like the rich do!
This is one of the best books I have ever had the chance to read as I see so many promising young people falling for so many preconceptions about money. This book aims to change that!
4. One Up On Wall Street
The famous Peter Lynch authored One Up On Wall Street in 1988 to help anyone who wants to invest in the stock market.
The book is one of three in a series, following Beating the Street, and Learn to Earn, with the latter being aimed at teenagers. The book follows his legendary investing philosophy which is a continuation of Benjamin Graham’s philosophy.
Perhaps, I’m a little biased with this book, as I bough it when I was 15, but I love this book, and alongside The Intelligent Investor (more on that in a little bit), they are the two books I would recommend to anyone who wants to start investing!
3. The Complete Guide to Property Investment
Whilst The Complete Guide to Property Investment may be aimed at British real estate investors, American and other nationalities will also find what the book says to be quite interesting.
Essentially the book does as it says. It is the ultimate guide to navigating through our changing world of real estate. Buying-to-own is no longer king. Buying-to-let is.
The Complete Guide to Property Investment is one of the best personal finance books as it, combined with Graham Stephan’s book where the two that taught me most of what I know about real estate.
If you are going to buy one, you may as well buy both-trust me, it worth it!
2. The Outsiders
The Outsiders is less one of the best personal finance books, an more one of the best business books around. However, much of what is written in there can be used from a personal finance perspective!
In the book, Thorndike profiles eight CEOs, who he calls “unconventional”.
When reading the book, you can clearly see that it is aimed at business owners, entrepreneurs and so on. However, if you remove the business-like tone, you actually have one of the best personal finance books ever written!
It often talks about how some of these CEOs are acquiring their competitors under market value, and how they’ve gone about this. This is something that you at home can do with your investments portfolio!
This was one of the best business books I have read in a long time, and was easily one of the best personal finance books on this list (even though it wasn’t written with that intention!)
1. The Intelligent Investor
The Intelligent Investor is the de facto book on investing. Many people think that because it was written in 1949, it has little to no relevance in today’s world. Trust me, it certainly does.
The Intelligent Investor is what Benjamin Graham called it in 1949, as it was meant to be the first true investing book. Which it was in many ways.
The book has taught hundreds of investors since, including Irving Kahn, Warren Buffett and Sir John Templeton!
If they can follow his teachings and become some of the best investors of their generation, you can too!
The only problem with the book is that it can be hard to follow at times, although Graham tried to future proof his book by using many graphs and charts to prove his points.
Despite this, The Intelligent Investor is certain the best personal finance book ever written! (In my own opinion of course!) This is due to simply how many followers of his philosophies have become billionaire investors!
Which personal finance book will you read next? Do you think I missed any off? Tell me in the comments!
