I, like many of my peers, did not receive any formal financial education. I was told to invest but I had no idea how. I was told to save but never had enough money to. But I’ve done my own research. I spent so much time learning about investing and educating myself about finances. I made a killing on the stock market at a very tumultuous time. Here are just a few of the books that helped me along the way.
Secrets of Six-Figure Women
This book by Barbara Stanny is a must-read for learning the habits of successful women in the world. With so much of the financial knowledge out there dictated by men, it’s pretty refreshing to see a book like Stanny’s.
Plus, since women statistically make 75 cents or less for every dollar a man makes, we’d better do what we can to step into the annual income that we deserve.
“In Secrets of Six-Figure Women, Barbara Stanny, journalist, motivational speaker, and financial educator, identifies the seven key strategies of female high-earners: A Profit Motive, Audacity, Resilience, Encouragement, Self-Awareness, Non-attachment, and Financial Know-How. Based on extensive research and hundreds of interviews, including more than 150 women whose annual earnings range from $100,000 to $7 million, Barbara Stanny turns each of the six-figure traits into a specific strategy for upping earnings. By rigorously fine-tuning them, readers can, step-by-step, climb the income ladder.”
-Amazon description
And if you like this, you should try another of Stanny’s books, Prince Charming Isn’t Coming. As the title suggests, it’s about deconstructing the myths that women should stay passive and wait for success, because that’s just not how it works. Instead, women need to learn how to be financially intelligent for ourselves.
Broke Millennial
In Broke Millennial: Stop Scraping By and Get Your Financial Life Together, Erin Lowry is going to teach you how to get on top of your money. Due to the financial crisis, many Millennials are in severe financial trouble. They may not even be able to build up a sufficient retirement fund.
With all the money cards seemingly stacked against the current 20-30-year-olds, we need to take some serious action. And that’s what this book is here to help us do. All of us need to read this book is we are feeling financially insecure or scared of money in general. It’s time to improve our relationships with money.
Following this book’s success, Lowry wrote two sequels titled Broke Millennial Takes on Investing and Broke Millennial Talks Money; focusing on the equally foreign subjects of the investment game, and actually discussing money with other people. These are all things we’ve essentially been programmed to avoid, which only sets up for failure. The time to break that cycle is now.
Why Didn’t They Teach Me This in School?
It’s true. Our schools really failed to teach us the ropes on finances. And many of us are out in the world right now flopping around like a fish out of water because we pretty much know nothing about money management.
Thankfully, Cary Siegal is going to demystify the basics that we need to know about money in an accessible 200 pages. Many books about money out there are difficult to understand because they’re for people that have a bit more experience with money. So this book is a great start for getting into the world of sound finances.
“Why do high schools and colleges require students to take courses in English, math and science, yet have absolutely no requirements for students to learn about personal money management?… The author realized that personal money management skills were rarely taught in high schools, colleges and even in MBA programs… The book includes eight important lessons focusing on 99 principles that will quickly and memorably enhance any individual’s money management acumen.”
-Amazon description
Rich Dad Poor Dad
You’ve probably already heard about this revolutionary book by Robert T. Kiyosaki, as it’s the number one best selling finance book of all time. In full, it’s called Rich Dad Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not.
But in case you haven’t heard of it before, it’s a fantastic memoir that explains the things Kiyosaki learned from his real-life “poor” dad and his friend’s “rich” dad. His goal is to expose the myth of needing a high income to become successful, and the differences between “working for your money, and having your money work for you.” If you’re ready to learn the differences between rich and poor spending and mindsets, this is a great read.
And there’s a lot more in the Rich Dad series, including Retire Young Retire Rich, Before You Quit Your Job, Who Took My Money?, Increase Your Financial IQ, Escape From the Rat Race, Guide to Investing, Cashflow Quadrant, and so on. Check out his fascinating catalogue today.
The Total Money Makeover
This book by Dave Ramsey is an excellent read after you’ve finished all of the above recommendations. It’s not going to make you rich quickly, but this book is aimed to help you set the foundations for financial security. Which is very important, because us young people instinctively live paycheck-to-paycheck. That is an awful idea, as you always need another plan when your situation inevitably changes.
Have you ever wanted a meaningful savings account? This book is going to help you build one up, so that you won’t have to worry about your money next time disaster strikes.
Thankfully, there’s so much more knowledge available than what they teach us in schools. For everything you want to properly educate yourself on, there’s a book out there for it. These five books are a great start to learn how to use money professionally. The powers that be would prefer you not know, but forget them. We’re all better than their rigged systems. Read up on the facts, and go out and show them all who’s boss.
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