Personal finance books for 2017

The very readers who might not be interested or turned off by the subject of personal finance are exactly the readers who stand to gain the most from financial advice. This season, publishers seek to reach those readers by publishing titles that consider money matters through a broader cultural lens, with books focusing on women, mindfulness, millennials, and children.

Handbag cords

According to a figure often quoted in the financial press, women drive 70 to 85% of all consumer purchases. So it’s no surprise that several new books aim to help women manage their money.

Jen Sincero, whose self-help title in 2013, You are a badass, sold 555,000 copies printed by Nielsen BookScan — zero on financial matters with tracking, You’re a badass for making money (Viking, 2017). In the book, she draws on her experiences of scratching and living in a converted garage in her forties. “I believe if my broken ass can make money, anyone can,” she says. His cheeky demeanor is reflected in chapter titles such as “Why You Don’t Roll In Cheddah”. Again. ”In another chapter,“ Allocation, ”she wrote,“ One of the biggest obstacles to making a lot of money is not the lack of good ideas or opportunities or time, or that we being too careless or stupid is that we refuse to give ourselves permission to get rich.

Sincero wants readers to release their guilt, shame, and aversion to money, and she wants them to stop treating money as “such a loaded topic as sex and relationships,” says -she. Or maybe it’s more loaded: “I wrote a book about lesbian sex 10 years ago,” she says, “and I feel like it’s scarier to publish in the world.

Amanda Steinberg, founder of personal finance advice site DailyWorth and savings and investment platform WorthFM, says her goal of Worth it (North Star Way, January 2017) is about teaching women to take charge of their financial lives. Like Sincero, Steinberg writes from experience. Despite years of following traditional advice to increase her income and reduce expenses, in 2008 the combination of a massive and unexpected tax bill and the purchase of an old house put her in debt by $ 100,000.

“Women tend to view budgeting and income as the most important aspects of managing their money,” says Steinberg. “It’s not that these things are irrelevant. But from that point of view, you don’t see the big picture, let alone grasp the depth of thought and technique that goes into producing something of lasting value, because you are caught up in a busy job.

Another title that has the topic of financial empowerment of women is Smart women love money (Regan Arts, Mar 2017) by Alice Finn, Financial and Wealth Management Advisor and Founder of PowerHouse Assets, which promotes itself as “the smart investment for women by women”. Finn believes understanding money is the key to true independence, and her book, according to the publisher, offers “an agenda to bridge the gender gap in investing and to engage women in financial planning. “.

Cents and sensitivity

The concept of mindfulness is ubiquitous these days, even in publications such as cookbooks and coloring books. Then: titles that take a thoughtful and holistic approach to personal finance.

In February 2017, New World Library published Mindfulness of money by Jonathan K. DeYoe, a longtime financial planner and practitioner of Buddhism whose DeYoe Wealth Management oversees more than $ 250 million for foundations and families. Having long thought he had a book in him, DeYoe decided to write it because one of his clients told him he had to do it. This client was The color purple author Alice Walker. “When Alice Walker says you have to write a book, you have to write a book,” DeYoe says. (Walker contributes to the foreword.)

In Mindfulness of money, From Yoe urges readers to keep in mind what makes them happy and to keep it simple: “Less noise, better results,” he says. In other words, don’t get distracted by the news and don’t let other people’s panic affect you: have a financial plan in place and stick to it. “Capitalism and the economy will have zigs and zags,” he says. “The big picture is still intact. “

Leanne Jacobs, a self-proclaimed holistic heritage expert, promotes an attitude of positivity and abundance in Beautiful money (TarcherPerigee, January 2017). Its four-week wealth transformation plan includes exercises to help readers clarify their financial goals and set priorities that reflect their core values.

The Seven Types of Money by Tommy Brown (Zondervan, Mar 2017), pastor and financial strategist, prompts readers to identify with one of the seven Old Testament figures based on personality traits, and shows how these traits affect attitude towards the money. For example, hospitable Abrahams “can blow the budget completely (if they have one)” to “give gifts, throw parties, entertain others, support charities and other hospitable endeavors,” writes. he. Abrahams, suggests Brown, “might consider setting a strict budget for these types of expenses.”

Using literary, cinematic and historical allusions rather than biblical ones, Mihir A. Desai The wisdom of finance (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Jun 2017) highlights the connection between finance and morality: both, according to Desai, have to do with the pursuit and creation of value. Desai, professor of finance at Harvard Business School and professor of law at Harvard Law School, illustrates the concept of risk management, for example, by examining the actions of Pride and Prejudice‘s Elizabeth Bennet and Phineas finn‘s Violet Effingham as they consider who to marry.

David Clark is the co-author of several books with Mary Buffett, including the 2006 Scribner title The Tao of Warren Buffett (70,000 printed copies sold, by BookScan). In Charlie Munger’s Tao (Scribner, January 2017), Clark pays similar attention to Munger, Buffett’s longtime business partner and vice president of Berkshire Hathaway. “His philosophy is one of rational patience,” Clark says of his new subject. This philosophy is exemplified by quotes from Munger such as: “It is in the nature of the stock markets that they fall. So people are suffering. Careful investing and regular savings without expecting miracles is the way to go.

The next generation

Think of Millennials and finance and one of two types may come to mind: the entrepreneur who made a kajillion dollars by imagining a viral app or a homemade condiment, or, more generally, the indebted graduate who is subsidized by parents.

Stephanie Bowen, Editor-in-Chief at TarcherPerigee, has edited two forthcoming books written by and for Millennials, whose titles refer to both ends of this Millennials and finance spectrum: Rich20Something by Daniel DiPiazza (May 2017) and Broken millennial by Erin Lowry (May 2017). The consumer demand for such books is there, says Bowen: “Millennials are looking for books written by people who have been in their shoes and who are coming from where they came from. “

Lowry – who admits on her Broke Millennial website that she’s not, in fact, broke, thanks to a wise choice of college that allowed her to graduate debt-free – discusses the problems of debt in her book. The ever-changing money facing people in their twenties and thirties. Chapters such as “Paying the Rent On Your Rent – Overcoming the Emotional and Financial Battles of Home Life After College” and “Student Loans: How to Handle Them Without Having a Total Panic Attack” address common financial dilemmas. recent graduates. Other chapters cover topics of interest to more financially established readers, such as investing, financial planning, and buying a home.

Rich20Something, Bowen says, approaches the financial problems of the same demographic from a different perspective: DiPiazza, an entrepreneur and marketing strategy consultant, “shows Millennials who are on all nine to five tasks how to identify and monetize their skills and use them to start a great business and build the rich life and career they wish. . “

When today’s oldest Millennials were still young teens, Beth Kobliner Get a financial life (Simon & Schuster, 1996) urged Gen Xs to fix their financial situation. The book has sold over 109,000 printed copies since 2001, by BookScan. In April 2017, Touchstone released a revised and updated fourth edition. A third of the content is new since the last review, with most updates focusing on digitization: navigating robot advisers, making the most of budgeting apps, and protecting against identity theft.

In addition to updating Get a financial life, Kobliner, who now has three children aged 12 to 21, wrote Make your kid a money genius (even if you’re not) (Simon & Schuster, February 2017). “We should really be talking to our kids about money,” she said. “Money seems to be the last taboo.” From the age of three, children can grasp certain economic concepts, such as delayed gratification, “the skill a child needs to wait for that place on the swings,” says Kobliner. “It’s that same skill that keeps kids waiting and saving for this collection of Star Wars figures, rather than spending their money on a smaller item that tempts them along the way.”

Kobliner sees Money genius both a money book and a parent book, and she thinks long term. If parents read Money genius, says Kobliner, then in 20 years their children won’t need Get a financial life.

Caroline Waxler, author of Fill up on sin (Wiley), wrote for Forbes, Fortune, and the the Wall Street newspaper.

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Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly indicated the imprint that publishes Make your kid a money genius (even if you aren’t). The correct imprint is Simon & Schuster.