Money is a complicated topic, and figuring out how to manage it requires time and effort. But you’re not alone. Take a look at these 10 books on personal finance, and find the best fit (or fits) for you to begin cultivating beneficial financial habits today.
1. Get Good with Money: Ten Simple Steps to Becoming Financially Whole
Blogger, best-selling author and financial educator Tiffany Aliche is no stranger to overcoming financial difficulties. After attaining her own financial security, she set out to help others do the same. In Get Good with Money, Aliche shares a 10-step formula that will help you gain financial security and the financial literacy to build and maintain that wealth.
With steps including taking control of your money through budgeting, investing and setting financial goals, Aliche aims to assist readers in becoming “financially whole”—that is, getting into alignment with each of the 10 financial fundamentals she shares in her book. And with all of the tools you need, including checklists and advice from experts, to make the lessons click, Get Good with Money helps readers cultivate good financial habits that will last a lifetime.
2. Retire Before Mom and Dad: The Simple Numbers Behind A Lifetime of Financial Freedom
Attaining financial freedom is an exciting prospect, but many guides can leave readers feeling confused or overwhelmed, unsure of how to proceed. Author, Forbes deputy editor and founder of the Dough Roller blog, Rob Berger is no stranger to personal finances—or to advising others on them. In Retire Before Mom and Dad, Berger breaks down his easy-to-understand tips to help readers begin their journey toward understanding the world of finances.
With topics including working toward FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early), investing without complications, choosing a retirement account and changing your financial habits, Retire Before Mom and Dad has useful tips to guide every reader toward their own financial freedom.
3. My Money My Way: Taking Back Control of Your Financial Life
In many ways, emotions are incredibly useful to us. They allow us to connect with others and to express ourselves. They allow us to experience the world in ways we otherwise could not. However, they also have the potential to be a hindrance—particularly when they begin to control us, instead of the other way around.
Accredited financial counselor and founder of The Budget Mom, Kumiko Love has faced and overcome her own financial struggles. Now, she shares her knowledge in My Money My Way, allowing readers to overcome—or avoid entirely—their own financial quagmires. With topics including changing your mindset, sustainable budgeting and investing—alongside personal stories from Love and others—My Money My Way provides readers with a guide to attaining financial security without neglecting—or being controlled by—their emotions.
4. Clever Girl Finance: Ditch debt, save money and build real wealth
While understanding finances is becoming an increasingly integral aspect of our daily lives, not all women are given that opportunity. That’s where Clever Girl Finance comes in. Written by Bola Sokunbi, certified financial education instructor and founder of the Clever Girl Finance® company, the book aims to provide women with all of the tools they need to achieve financial success.
Against a backing of Sokunbi’s own financial experiences, the book includes topics like motivating yourself to make a change, getting familiar with credit and planning for emergencies. While you still have to do the work to get there, Clever Girl Finance provides readers with the tools and encouragement they need to get started on their path toward financial understanding and freedom.
5. The Psychology of Money: Timeless lessons on wealth, greed, and happiness
We can read all of the financial guides in the world, follow the tips of experts to the letter and, yet, still make mistakes. No matter how much we may wish otherwise, our financial decisions—like many other aspects of our lives—are controlled by our mental impulses rather than what an expert tells us should happen if we follow their advice.
In The Psychology of Money, author Morgan Housel discusses 18 concepts that can affect your financial success and how to overcome them. With topics including understanding when you have enough, how to save money and creating a margin of error, Housel leads readers through overcoming these pitfalls to find financial success.
6. The Financial Diet: A Total Beginner’s Guide to Getting Good with Money
Financial guides of all kinds serve different purposes to different people, from experienced entrepreneurs looking for expert advice to those just starting on their financial journey. The Financial Diet caters to the latter, focusing on brief overviews of myriad topics and supported by resources, expert tips and easy-to-understand language that will provide a helpful and well-rounded guide for anyone looking to build a foundational understanding of their finances.
What began as a personal blog in 2014 eventually evolved into a financial hub for women, founded by The Financial Diet’s author Chelsea Fagan. The same insights that popularized the site were then collected and condensed into a book. While the book is not a deep dive into the complexities, pitfalls and rewards of the world of finance, it serves as an interesting and enjoyable guide to those taking their first steps toward understanding finances.
7. Financial Freedom: A Proven Path to All the Money You Will Ever Need
Time is the most valuable thing we can possess, but as we become increasingly busy, it seems to be slipping away faster than we can accrue it. And what steals away more of our time than work?
Best-selling author and entrepreneur Grant Sabatier, who gained $1 million in five years, has a solution—reaching financial independence long before you’re ready to retire. You may not want to sit around the house doing nothing, but alongside financial security comes the freedom to choose the kind of life you want—and what you want to do with the time you have.
From understanding just how much money you’ll need to live the life you want, to restructuring your time and how you spend it—including supplementing your income with side hustles—to how and when to invest, Sabatier covers a range of topics to help you find the same success he did.
8. Bad with Money: The Imperfect Art of Getting Your Financial Sh*t Together
Unwillingness to discuss what you’re getting paid with your co-workers—and even with family and friends—is a familiar concept. But how often do you actually talk about money at all, even when just seeking information on things you don’t know?
Author and podcaster Gaby Dunn would argue that you probably talk about it rarely, if ever, and that it is this hesitation that leads to our lack of understanding—a problem that worsens if we aren’t financially successful. After all, if you don’t talk about your problems, how will you—or the people around you—understand where you need assistance?
In Bad with Money, a guide perfect for those in their 20s trying to figure out their finances, Dunn provides advice on understanding and overcoming financial difficulties in a book that will entertain and enlighten many a reader.
9. Just Keep Buying: Proven ways to save money and build your wealth
Perhaps you already have an understanding of investing, but you’re looking for some expert advice. Just Keep Buying by Nick Maggiulli, chief operating officer of Ritholtz Wealth Management and Of Dollars and Data creator, is the guide for you. With data-backed advice for improving the health of your finances, Maggiulli covers tips for both saving and investing your money.
Comprised of over 20 chapters, Just Keep Buying toes the line between detail and comprehensibility, providing an in-depth guide that’s easy to read and apply to your own life. With topics including earning more to save more; when to retire; and why, where and how to invest, Maggiulli provides a detailed map for building wealth, alongside personal stories from his life.
10. Smart Money: The Step-by-Step Personal Finance Plan to Crush Debt
Being in debt is no easy feat and getting motivated to get out of debt even more so. That’s where Smart Money by Naseema McElroy comes in. The founder of Financially Intentional is no stranger to getting out of debt herself, and she’s here to share the same tips that helped her with the world.
From creating a budget to avoiding fees to investing, McElroy has created a guide for readers to help them get out of debt and create strong financial goals for their futures.