The Top 10 Best Personal Finance Books: Transform Your Financial Life

What was the last time you read a book? An eBook? A blog?

The truth is, many Americans are not reading as they used to. Last year, one in four Americans read a book. But, I believe that reading is exciting. It opens our minds up. It opens our doors to opportunities. It gives us hope.

I tend to believe that experience is the best teacher. But, I prefer learning from the experience of other people who have ‘been there, done that.’

In this article, I will review some of the best personal finance books that have guided me through the years.

Think and Grow Rich | Napoleon Hill

This is one of the best-selling personal finance books of all time. To date, more than 100 million copies have been sold worldwide.

The book was written by Napoleon Hill, a personal finance expert who authored three more books. In this book, he writes his findings after interviewing more than 500 business leaders like Andrew Carnegie, John Rockefeller, Thomas Edison, and Wilbur Wright among others.

This book covers topics on virtually everything you need to do to become successful financially. He gives his readers the thirteen steps one needs to follow to become successful. These steps include having the desire to be rich, the role of faith, the power of auto-suggestion, the role of specialized knowledge, imagination, organized planning, procrastination, and the power of the mastermind among others. He also talks about fear and how to fight fear.

If you feel stuck in your career or if you want a book to power your vision to be rich, I highly recommend the book.

You can download a soft copy here or buy one here.

The Intelligent Investor | Benjamin Graham

This is an ancient book that remains relevant to date. It is also a favorite book among many investors, including Warren Buffet, one of the best investors of all time.

I recommend this book to anyone who has a passion for investing. If you have ever wondered how the stock market works and why Microsoft is worth $640 billion, this book is for you.

In this book, Benjamin talks about everything you need to know about companies and how you should do your analysis when you want to invest in a company.

If you read this book well and follow everything it recommends, the chances are that you will be a good investor and save a lot of money by investing on your own.

The book will help you identify undervalued companies that have the potential of growth in the future.

You can buy the book here.

The Handbook of Fixed Income Securities | Frank Fabozzi

While reading the previous book will give you a good understanding of stocks, this book will give you knowledge on fixed income securities.

Have you watched financial TV and heard the people talking about yields, bunds, treasuries, and muni? If you did not take a business-related course, the chances are that these are jargons to you.

If the world of fixed income interests you (and it should), then this is an ideal book to start with. The book starts with the basics concepts of fixed income securities like corporate bonds. It then goes ahead to explain the processes which investors should use when analyzing and buying bonds.

With this book, you don’t need to go to school or attend those expensive courses on a fixed income. It will give you everything that you need to get started.

Please note: This book has more than 1,400 pages. Its long, but it is worth it.

You can buy the book here.

Rich Dad, Poor Dad | Robert Kiyosaki

This is another common book that has sold more than 30 million copies. The book presents a tale of two fathers who love their son. One father is highly educated while the other one is poorly educated.

The two have different views about life. For example, the highly-educated father encouraged his son to study hard in school and be employed in a good company. The poorly-educated dad, on the other hand, encouraged the son to start making money early in life.

And to a large extent, we are exposed to such forces every day. Perhaps, your lawyer father wanted you to study hard so that you can become a better lawyer than he is. Perhaps a doctor.

But the truth is, in the world today, the level of education you get is not everything. Mark Zuckerberg who runs a $500 billion company does not have a college degree. The same is true with Bill Gates and Steve Jobs who did not have a degree. Or masters. Or a Ph.D.

Key lesson. The rich do not work for money. They let the money work for them.

You can download the book here for free or buy a copy here.

Principles | Ray Dalio

If you don’t read Wall Street Journal or watch Bloomberg and CNBC, Ray Dalio might not ring a bell to you. But he should.

Forty years ago, Ray Dalio started a hedge fund in his bedroom. Today, the fund he started is the biggest hedge fund in the world with more than $150 billion in assets under management. He has been called the Steve Jobs of Investing and the philosopher king of the financial universe.

When you rise from a middle-class citizen to one of the richest Americans, the chances are that you learn a lot. This is especially when you are in the hedge fund industry which is one of the toughest industries in America.

In the book, Ray talks about the principles that have helped him and his fund become very successful while at the same time maintaining his humility.

You can buy the book here.

Money Mavericks | Lars Kroijer

This is not entirely a personal finance book, but it was one of the best books I ever read. Like I mentioned before, experience is usually the best teacher, and you will always be ahead when you use the experience of other people.

This book is based on the true story of Lars Kroijer who was once a hot trader in Wall Street and in The City of London.

In the book, Lars writes about how he moved from a senior position at a Wall Street bank to London where he started his hedge fund. He writes about his struggles of raising money for his fund.

He then writes about how he raised funds and saw his fund perform well. Year after year, he generated excellent returns for his investors.

Then, he made a mistake. He invested in a bad company that wiped out a significant amount of his funds. Then he closed the fund.

Sadly, this is a path followed by many people, either as hedge fund managers or in their personal life. You struggle making money or building a company and then one day, it crashes.

How do you deal with this? How do you move on? How do you cope with the situation? How do you rebuild?

This book will tell you how Kroijer made it.

You can buy it here.

The Total Money Makeover | Dave Ramsey

I love Dave Ramsey. I listen to his podcast every week. But, I don’t always agree with him.

His book, The Total Money Makeover is a classic in the field of personal finance. Want proof? Here it is. More than 8 million copies have been sold.

Dave wrote this book 15 years ago, and its principles are very relevant today. In the book, David talks about his financial problems – that are relevant to other people – and how to get out of them.

He also writes about the need for getting out of debt, including by selling off assets, recognizing the top money myths, and the need for saving for retirement.

I cannot emphasize the final point enough.

As a young person, you are never focused on retirement. Furthermore, who wants to think about the next 40 years? What if you will be dead/

The truth is, the earlier you start saving for your retirement, the better it will be for you. Also, you are not dying. The life expectancy rate in the United States is 78 years. Therefore, if you retire at 60 years, you will have 18 years without a paycheck.

Think about that.

You can buy the book here.

Love Your Life Not Theirs | Cruz Ramsey

Have you bumped into your childhood friend lately? Perhaps he was driving a high-end car and living in a top suburb.

Well, if not, you have seen him on Instagram showing off his car, houses, and a trip he took to Malibu.

How did that make you feel?

The truth is, it is human to feel jealous when you see your friend doing very well. It is right to wonder what you did wrong.

But, you should not let their success become an impediment for you to succeed. In fact, you should use their success as a launching pad for you to succeed.

This is what Cruz talks about in this book. She talks about how you can live a successful life without comparing yourself to other people.

She gives seven principles which are: stop comparison, stay out of debt, make a plan for your money, think before you spend, save like you mean it, give a little, and talk about your money.

You can buy the book here.

The Memo: Five Rules for Your Economic Liberation | John Hope Bryant

I hate rules. And so do you. But, you will love this book.

No matter the situation you find yourself in, I believe you can come out stronger. As the common phrase goes, tough roads lead to beautiful places.

This is the key theme of this book.

John writes about the five principles – tough ones – that will help you become better in your personal finance. The principles are:

• That we live in a free enterprise system.
• Your mindset plays a role in how successful you become.
• Your relationships matter.
• Don’t get a job but aim at creating value.
• The need for spiritual capital.

You can buy the book here.

Unshakeable | Tony Robbins

Tony Robbins is one of the best financial gurus of our time. He has authored best-selling books, hosts a popular podcast, and appears in top conferences.

His unshakeable book is probably my best yet.

The book is a result of him interviewing top entrepreneurs like Warren Buffet, Alan Greenspan, and David Swensen.

In the book, he writes about how to put together a simple and actionable action plan, strategies to invest your money, the core principles of the world’s richest people, the mindset you need to have, and the fastest way to put money back in your pocket.

You can buy the book here.

Notable Mentions

I also recommend these books:

• Why Wall Street Matters by William Cohan.
• Letters of Buffet
• Soar by TD Jakes
• Awaken the Giant Within by Tony Robbins
• The Obstacle is the Way by Ryan Holiday.