Personal finance books can be a source of inspiration and advice. They can help you improve your financial literacy and your life.
If you’re looking for a great read that can impact how you earn, save, and grow your money, pick up one of these popular personal finance books.
24 of the Best Personal Finance Books
Add these helpful personal finance books to your “to read” list.
1. “The Total Money Makeover” by Dave Ramsey
“The Total Money Makeover” explains how to transform your financial habits, pay off your debts and build a nest egg for the future.
The newest iteration of this classic, long considered one of the best personal finance books, is a workbook edition for you to apply the teachings to your own financial situation.
2. “Your Money or Your Life” by Vicki Robin and Joe Dominguez
This personal finance book, originally published in 1992 but updated in 2018, is an inspiration to many in the FIRE (financially independent/early retirement) community.
Check out “Your Money or Your Life” for a nine-step process to change your relationship with money and maybe help you achieve financial freedom sooner than you thought.
3. “The Millionaire Next Door” by Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko
This popular book unlocks the secrets of how to accumulate wealth in America – which has a lot to do with managing money, not just how much you earn.
Read “The Millionaire Next Door” for tips on how to improve your net worth.
4. “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” by Robert Kiyosaki
Kiyosaki shares the lessons he learned from his father and his best friend’s father in “Rich Dad Poor Dad.”
This personal finance book gives advice on what you should teach your kids about money and investing so you can build generational wealth.
5. “The Automatic Millionaire” by David Bach
If you’re looking for a plan to improve your finances that doesn’t involve a bunch of different steps, The Automatic Millionaire book promises a one-step solution to getting rich.
Updated in 2016, Bach explains how seemingly average American families can build wealth without even making a budget.
6. “The Richest Man in Babylon” by George Samuel Clason
This classic 1926 financial book uses parables set in ancient Babylon to teach readers how to gain financial prosperity.
“The Richest Man in Babylon” shares many gems of personal money management, such as paying yourself first, controlling your spending, and diversifying your portfolio.
7. “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill
In “Think and Grow Rich”, Hill draws on the stories of late 19th century millionaires to explain how to succeed financially. Originally published in 1937, this perennial personal finance bestseller was recently reissued in 2020.
8. “Your Handbook for Hard Times” by Donna Freedman
Your personal financial journey can be marked by ups and downs.
“Your Playbook for Tough Times” helps those struggling financially by offering advice and encouragement to overcome difficulties. Learn how to reduce your expenses, find temporary help and even save money while going through difficult times.
9. “The Complete Tightwad Gazette” by Amy Dacyczyn
Do you want to reduce your expenses?
Dacyczyn’s “The Complete Tightwad Gazette” promotes frugal living. This book is compiled from advice from his newsletter from the 1990s and shares cost-effective solutions for getting by on a small budget.
10. “I’ll Teach You How to Be Rich” by Ramit Sethi
Improve your financial life with this book, which aims to show you the way to wealth. “I’ll Teach You How to Be Rich” was first released in 2009, but an updated version was released in 2019.
This book explains how to get out of debt, automate your finances, and save money while being able to afford what’s important to you. Sethi also runs a website of the same name.
11. “Get Good With Money” by Tiffany Aliche
Aliche is known on the internet by her nickname “The Budgetnista,” but her book “Get Good With Money” isn’t just about budgeting.
This book breaks down 10 steps to becoming financially whole and includes topics like improving your credit score, increasing your income, and getting the right kind of insurance.
12. “Towel Funding” by Tina Hay
If you’re a visual learner who takes in information best when presented in images or infographics, check out Napkin Finance.
This book offers short lessons on a variety of topics, including credit scores, investing, taxes, and cryptocurrency. Each subject is explained via an illustration drawn on what looks like the back of a napkin.
See our review of “Napkin Finance” and our Q&A with Tina Hay.
13. “You’re a badass at making money” by Jen Sincero
You can only reduce your expenses so much. If you’ve cut your budget and you’re still living paycheck to paycheck, your problem is most likely because your income isn’t enough.
Following Sincero’s inspirational bestseller, “You’re a Badass,” “You’re a Badass to Make Money” focuses on how to get rid of limiting beliefs about creating wealth and create an influx of income.
14. “The Psychology of Money” by Morgan Housel
Mastering money is more than just a numbers game. Your emotions, your state of mind and your habits have a great influence on your financial life. It requires having the right mindset about money.
In “The Psychology of Money,” Housel sheds light on how people think about money.
15. “Why didn’t they teach me that in school?” by Cary Siegel
Many of us struggle with personal finance issues because we’ve never had a formal education on the subject.
If you can figure it out, check out “Why didn’t they teach me this in school?” Siegel covers 99 monetary principles that everyone should know.
16. “Broke Millennial Talks Money” by Erin Lowry
Our relationship with others tends to affect our finances – whether it’s shelling out hundreds to be a bridesmaid for your best friend or financially supporting your parents in their old age.
“Broke Millennial Talks Money” aims to help people navigate the sometimes awkward money conversations you’ll have with the people in your life. The book is divided into four parts: talking about money at work, talking about money with friends, talking about money with family, and talking about money with your romantic partner.
See our review of “Broke Millennial Talks Money” and our Q&A with Erin Lowry.
17. “The One-Page Financial Plan” by Carl Richards
Transforming your financial life doesn’t have to be complicated. Learn how to simplify your approach with “The One-Page Financial Plan”.
Richards, Certified Financial Planner and New York Times columnist, shows you how to reduce the complexity of financial topics and create a simple financial plan that focuses on your priorities.
18. “Everyday Millionaires” by Chris Hogan
Have you ever wondered how millionaires build their wealth?
In “Everyday Millionaires,” Hogan shares lessons learned from a study of 10,000 millionaires. This book will help you create a plan to increase your net worth.
19. “Stacked: Your Super Serious Guide to Modern Money Management” by Joe Saul-Sehy and Emily Guy Birken
Don’t be fooled by the name of this book. This “super serious guide” is full of humor and relatability while teaching you how to budget, invest, and understand insurance.
Fans of the Stacking Benjamins podcast will enjoy “Stacked” because it’s co-written by one of the podcast hosts.
20. “Happy Money” by Ken Honda
Money is often a source of stress for many people, but it doesn’t have to be.
“Happy Money” takes a Japanese perspective to teach people how to find peace in their financial lives.
21. “Get a Financial Life” by Beth Kobliner
This book is for people in their 20s and 30s who are struggling to master all the money-related stressors thrown at them.
“Get a Financial Life” covers topics such as managing student loans, paying off credit card debt, buying your first home, and more. This book was first published in 1996, but its fourth updated edition came out in 2017.
22. “My Money My Way” by Kumiko Love
Personal finance is, well, personal. This means that there is no single, one-size-fits-all solution to managing money.
In “My Money My Way,” Love (a certified financial counselor also known as The Budget Mom) helps people achieve financial fulfillment by addressing their emotions around spending and adjusting financial mindsets that hold them back. .
Here’s what Love shared with The Penny Hoarder on the path to achieving financial fulfillment.
23. “Financial Freedom” by Grant Sabatier
Sabatier, creator of Millennial Money, illuminates the path to financial independence in his book “Financial Freedom”.
Having achieved financial independence at age 30, Sabatier teaches others how to figure out how much money they need to quit their 9 to 5 and how to invest and build the habits necessary to achieve that goal.
24. “Optional Labor” by Tanja Hester
If you’re discouraged by the prospect of working for decades to reach retirement, check out “Work Electives.”
Hester focuses on how to retire early without pinching pennies — even if you don’t live in a two-income, kidless household.
Nicole Dow is Senior Writer at The Penny Hoarder.
This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, which helps millions of readers around the world earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, giveaways and more. The Inc. 5000 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the fastest growing private media company in the United States in 2017.