The 7 Best Personal Finance Books I've Read Over the Last 5 Years
At 32, I just hit $175,000 net worth.
I know, it’s taboo to talk about money, but f that. I also know that $175k is nothing crazy. Still, I’m insanely happy where I’m at considering I basically started over at 27 after quitting my job (like a dumbass) and wiping out the $40,000 I previously had to my name.
After that fiasco, I wanted to learn from my mistakes and do better than before, so I read a few personal finance books and got my act together.
Since then (~5 years ago), I’ve dabbled in the personal finance niche when finding books that intrigued me.
These are the 7 best, from the couple of dozen that I’ve read, that had the greatest impact on my finances and relationship with money. I promise these books will serve you better than any formal education you can find.
(No affiliate links — I just genuinely wanted to share.)
1. I Will Teach You to Be Rich by Ramit Sethi
Ramit’s book was my first foray into the field. It taught me the basics and helped me to establish conscious spending habits while automating bills, savings, and investments. Perfect for anyone looking to begin their journey to financial freedom.
2. MONEY Master the Game by Tony Robbins
Love or hate Tony, the book was damn good. It went more in-depth into financial planning for the future than most of the other ones I had read at the time. Easy read with great practical advice. You will immediately want to increase the % that goes into your IRA each paycheck.
3. Broke Millenial by Erin Lowry
A more recent read of mine (just to keep me sharp) on the basics of personal finance. It was super relatable as a younger person building a relationship with money. The best thing about this book though was that it helped me to have better, more honest conversations around money and taught me its importance in romantic relationships.
4. Atomic Habits by James Clear
Habits are hard no matter how you look at ’em, but James lays them out better than anyone out there. Though this book is not technically “personal finance”, it was a huge help for me in strengthing my foundational habits around spending and saving money. If you want to start cultivating better habits, this is the book for you.
5. Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki
I hated myself for liking this book and including it here, but it really had some damn good ideologies around money and how to become “rich”. I guess that’s why it’s been a staple for more than 20 years.
6. The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham
This year (2021) was the year I dove DEEP into investing. After getting swept up in the GameStop saga, I started going hard investing in stocks and crypto. After some lackluster results, this book and a little wisdom from Mark Cuban on Twitter changed my philosophy and strategy around investing for the better.
7. The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel
Last but not least, this was hands-down my favorite book about money. Morgan talks about it from a psychological perspective, going into detail about how we all do stupid shit with money (as I am certainly guilty myself). Basically, if you can master your emotions and safeguard yourself from making (too many) stupid decisions, you can become rich.
P.S. Wanted to include a book about crypto but haven’t found one I’ve absolutely loved that covered it. Most of my knowledge has been from podcasts, blogs, articles, and Nat Eliason.