The 10 Best Personal Finance Books Of All Time - Bitter to Richer (2024)

Getting your personal finances in order is hard. It’s complicated. More often than not, you were never even taught – by schools or your parents – what you need to know in order to succeed. Fortunately for all of us, there are tons of great books that can help you bridge the gap and get it all in order. They can be as specific enough to tell you how to succeed with certain kinds of investments, or they can be a general overview of various personal finance topics. Whatever you need to know, there is a personal finance book that can help you learn it. I’ve taken the time to put together a list of 10 of the absolute best personal finance books, and I’m sure there is something for everyone in this list.

1. The Total Money Makeover

One of the most popular books on personal finance, Dave Ramsey’s “The Total Money Makeover” takes a hard look at debt and gives some tough advice on how to get over it. Inside, it includes Ramsey’s 7 baby steps. While some of his personal finance advice has come under fire in recent years, it can be hard to argue with some of the brutally effective methods he teaches. One of my concerns with his advice is the small emergency funds he recommends as well as some of his stances on mutual funds. However, whether you’re a fan or not, it’s a helpful book for anyone struggling with money and looking to get out of debt. Once you’re out of debt, there are several other books on this list that will help you take it up a notch.

2. The Book On Rental Property Investing: How To Create Wealth With Intelligent Buy And Hold Real Estate Investing

It’s no secret that I’m fan of investing in index funds and ETFs. However, real estate is important too, and I can definitely appreciate a successful real estate investor, like the one I interviewed. It’s a bit more of an active investment, but it can have absolutely insane returns if you know what you’re doing. Fortunately, “The Book on Rental Property Investing” helps you learns the basics you need in order to get the ball rolling. Now, some of it you may have to learn through experience (or through a mentor if you are lucky enough to have one), but this book should give you enough information to get started.

3. I Will Teach You To Be Rich

Another popular read, “I Will Teach You to Be Rich” has a track record of turning personal finance zeroes into personal finance heroes. I’m not saying this book will teach you everything you may need or want to know – it probably won’t. However, it has more than enough information to be worth a read, and it has just about everything you need in order to get started on your personal finance journey.

4. The Automatic Millionaire: A Powerful One-Step Plan To Live And Finish Rich

Now, I’m not a fan of everything in this book, but I’m a huge proponent of the core principles. “The Automatic Millionaire” teaches you to use systems and automation to fuel your investments – something everyone should do. So, if you’re interested in learning more about how to automate as much of your wealth building processes as possible…check it out. It will make your life much easier, and make you far more likely to actually stay consistent.

5. Financial Freedom

I think it’s always important to remember the real purpose of money and personal finance. Fortunately, this book is great about focusing on that. “Financial Freedom” does a great job of giving you as many tips and tricks as possible in order to get your finances in order and obtain true financial freedom. In my opinion, it’s certainly worth a read.

6. Rich Dad Poor Dad

This one is hotly debated in the personal finance community. Some people hate it, others love it. Whatever your views on “Rich Dad Poor Dad” are, you’ll have to read it before you can honestly come to a serious decision. Whether you agree with certain parts or don’t, you’ll still find that it can have a huge positive impact on how you think about money – and help you achieve your financial goals in the process.

7. The Psychology Of Money

I talk about this time and time again, especially when I discuss debt. The biggest hurdle people face, and arguably the most important aspect of personal finance (yes, even more than number crunching), is the psychology behind it. Consistency in your execution is a huge part of the battle and “The Psychology of Money” does a splendid job of teaching that to people. So, if you have a hard time making and sticking to habits that are good for your financial health, check this one out.

8. The Intelligent Investor

This isn’t as friendly for beginners as others on this list are. Once you have your fundamentals down and are ready to take your investments to the next level, read this book. Until then, I recommend using Acorns to help you start saving and investing consistently, and it will help teach you a lot of the ins and outs along the way. Once you’re ready to take your investments up a notch, in addition to reading “The Intelligent Investor” I suggest opening an account with M1 Finance or Vanguard.

9. The Simple Path to Wealth

“The Simple Path to Wealth” is, well, a wealth of information. It covers topics from the simple to the complex and should be a must in every personal finance bookshelf. One of the best parts about this book, in my opinion, is that it focuses on advice that you can actually execute on. It isn’t vague theories or basic information – it’s the complete package.

10. The Millionaire Next Door

This one has definitely earned its spot on this list. While it may seem unassuming compared to the recognition some of the others on this list have received, “The Millionaire Next Door” gives a lot of well researched advice that can be completely life changing for many people.

It’s packed with tons of the simple truths of personal finance, which you may not have been taught by your family, or you never took the time to sit down and think about. Whether you’re rich or poor, this book has the ability to change the way you look at money and building wealth.

Conclusion

I hope you liked the list and found at least one or two books you’re interested in reading! Of course, in order to make the best use of all the knowledge you’ll be obtaining you need to actually implement it. It’s all a waste of time if you never use anything you learn or put it into practice. So, good luck, and if you think I missed a good read let us know in the comments.

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