Nailing your personal finances requires more than just understanding your dinero. This list of our top personal finance books includes books for beginners, investing enthusiasts, and money mindset aficionados!
Knowledge is wealth, and today, we’re going in on the knowledge. Here are 10 books for you to propel into your wealth-building journey.
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Top Personal Finance Books For Beginners
These are the books that are going to introduce you to the world of personal finance. We’re starting from barebones, zero knowledge of making money moves. But that’s okay because these books are the perfect introduction for that.
1. I Will Teach You To Be Rich- Ramit Sethi
This is THE book to get excited about your wealth-building journey, as well as the perfect book to make sure you actually start this journey. Sethi describes this book as a no-BS, six week plan to start getting some of your money in order. This book will show you how to crush your debt, set up high yield savings accounts, automate your finances, investment strategies, language to use to negotiate your way out of late fees and to negotiate a raise at work, and it also comes with insights on money and psychology.
2. Broke Millennial: Stop Scraping By And Get Your Financial Life Together- Erin Lowry
This is one of the top personal finance books for twenty and thirty somethings because it LITERALLY starts from the basics and tackles the tricky money situations most personal finance experts don’t even touch in. Lowry talks basics like debt payoff and money management, but she also helps readers understand their relationship with money, how to manage student loans without just breaking down, what to do in a social situation where you can’t afford to pay more than what you actually ate, and how to talk money with your boo. This is for the people who get bored with your typical personal finance advice but want to learn in a fun, engaging way.
3. Clever Girl Finance: Ditch Debt, Save Money, And Build Real Wealth- Bola Sokunbi
Bola Sukunbi is your financially-wiser, older sister. When creating her personal finance content, not only does she draw from her sector expertise, but she also draws from her personal experiences, including her money mistakes and journey to saving $100K. Her book encourages women to talk about money and financial wellness. She covers topics like monitoring your expenses, how to make the most of a modest salary, keeping your credit in check, starting a side hustle, building a nest egg of investments, and transforming your money mindset.
4. Get Good With Money: Ten Simple Steps To Becoming Financially Whole- Tiffany Aliche, The Budgetnista
This book is actually a ten-step plan for finding harmony with your money. Been feeling disconnected to your finances? Feeling like your goals are unattainable? Been feeling lost? This is the book to get you on the right path. Tiffany Aliche (who we had on the podcast for Episode 121) wrote this book based on the steps she used to chart her path toward her own financial rescue and security. Aliche sees finances not as one thing in its entirety, but rather, views finances as one of many things in our lives. This book is packed with short-term actions that lead to long-term goals.
5. Financial Adulting: Everything You Need to be a Financially Confident and Conscious Adult- Ashley Feinstein Gerstley (Fiscal Femme)
No question is left unanswered when it comes to the basics. By the end of this book by Ashley of Fiscal Femme (Episode 130!) you’ll have greater clarity on anything in personal finance that may feel a little too confusing. Not only will you be learning about the basics, but you’ll also beengaged in the content through a racial and feminist justice lens—because let’s be real, we KNOW women and BIPOC folks have had to experience the personal finance arena much differently than others.
Books For Investing Enthusiasts
Once you’ve got some of the financial landscape basics down, it’s time to start talking about growing your wealth. These books will introduce you to some investing basics, as well as best practices. If you are not investing at any point in your life, you are detrimentally harming your future wealthy lifestyle.
6. Broke Millennial Takes On Investing: A Beginner’s Guide To Leveling Up Your Money- Erin Lowry
If you’re here, you’ve probably got some curiosities on where or how or why to start investing. It’s something you’ve heard to start doing, but now you have no idea where to go. This is the book to answer your questions. Lowry tackles questions like, “Should I invest while paying down student loans?” or “How do I invest in a socially responsible way?” all while still delivering some digestible investment basics. In her typical style, Lowry delivers this in a clear, punchy, no-BS approach that is perfect for twenty or thirty somethings.
7. The Simple Path to Wealth: Your road map to financial independence and a rich, free life- J.L. Collins
This book originally started as a letter to his daughter. That should give you an idea of how straightforward this book will be. J.L. Collins has given an overview into all things personal finance and investing, minus the jargon. From talking about debt, to building an FU fund, to breaking down what the stock market is, and understanding the different wealth building and preservation stages of our lives, this book will cover SO much.
Books To Tackle Your Money Mindset
Making dinero moves is not just about the money in your bank account! If you are not in the right headspace—meaning, if you are not in a growth mindset of abundance—your wealth-building journey will be that much more difficult. Read these books if you’ve got the basics down, but still find yourself not fully committing to a formal wealth-building and investing strategy.
8. Your Money Or Your Life- Vicki Robin
Vicki Robin wrote this book to help people take back their life by changing their relationship with money. This is a nine-step program that covers how to get out of debt and develop savings , save money through mindfulness and good habits, declutter your life, invest your savings, and begin creating wealth. This book is a classic for all individuals seeking FI/RE and has been in the market now for more than twenty-five years. This edition is fully revised and is still relevant and timely to today’s communities seeking to change their money habits and build some wealth.
9. You Are A Badass At Making Money: Master The Mindset Of Wealth- Jen Sincero
If you’re a first generation wealth-builder, then you might carry a lot of imposter syndrome. This is the feeling of not truly believing all this wealth is meant for you. Like you don’t belong on this wealth-building journey because these spaces weren’t made for you. Sincero draws from her own experience as she built her belief in herself and her money moves to teach readers how to uncover what’s holding us back, kick our doubts out, tap into our natural abilities and capabilities, and be as wealthy as we dream to be.
10. Psych Yourself Rich: Get the Mindset and Discipline You Need to Build Your Financial Life- Farnoosh Torabi
This book is about building up the mindset, discipline, and spirit that will be needed while on your wealth-building journey. And we get to learn from one of our trusted experts that’s come onto the show, Farnoosh Torabi. Read this to gain an even more holistic view into your money.
11. Wallet Activism: How To Use Every Dollar You Spend, Earn, and Save As A Force for Change
Now, this is a different kind of money mindset than the rest of the books. The kind of mindset Tanja Hester (Episode 138) is talking about here is one that is aligned with your values. Often we think our values and our money have to be in two different camps. Hester is here to put a stop to this way of thinking and guide us towards putting our money where our mouth is.
Visit our bookshop.org shop to get a full list of our recommended reads!
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5 Responses
Thanks for putting together this great list, Janesse! Get Rich, Lucky Bitch by Denise Duffield Thomas is another instrumental book in my get rich arsenal!