When we are growing up, we rarely hear about what we should do with our money and our personal finances; there is basically no guide except for personal finance books. You have to do your own research, find the best options, make mistakes, and learn. I was there, too, and I wanted to gather the 5 best personal finance books for beginners in one place, which helped me a lot with my journey.
This article will give you the five best personal finance books for beginners that you can search through. Most are the books I read, but some are just classics that everyone must read. Here is a short look at 5 best personal finance books for beginners.
See also: Stock Market Investing: How Do You Make Money From Stocks?
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The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel
Pages: 256
Language: English
Published: September, 2020
Formats Available: Kindle, Audiobook, Hardcover, Paperback
Amazon Review: 4.7/5
Amazon Link: https://amzn.to/3P5rNyr
The Psychology of Money is, by far, one of the best personal finance books I have ever read in my life. It is an extremely powerful and useful personal finance book for beginners. This book focuses on the very basics of money, how you should look at it, and how you should drive your investment decisions. It does not give you any recommendations or options to choose from. Morgan Housel mostly talks about his life, experiences, and what he has done.
At the end of this book, you will learn how you should actually look at money and learn money management. It is a rather new book, which makes it even better for our age. It’s definitely not like some of those crap personal finance books out there that say you should work this many hours, build your business, etc. It shows you the reality.
Pros:
- It’s a new book, so the suggestions and stories match our day.
- Very basic, easy to read, short, and original.
- Definitely a landmark for personal finance books for beginners.
Cons:
- Because Morgan Housel focuses on his experiences, it misses some other investment opportunities, so it shouldn’t be the only book you read.
Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki
Pages: 356
Language: English
Published: April 1997
Formats Available: Kindle, Audiobook, Paperback
Amazon Reviews: 4.7/5
Amazon Link: https://amzn.to/3wLfnFr
Rich Dad, Poor Dad is one of the pinnacle personal finance books out there. It conveys the message of how you should deal with your personal finances and invest your money and time in the best way. The book is about Kiyosaki’s stories from his childhood (I wonder how true the stories are as he conveys his message through stories), which makes it extremely easy to read.
In addition, he also compares those with an excellent personal finance strategy to those without one. That’s why it gives you a great overview of things. However, I do feel like it’s slowly becoming absolute as it is a book almost thirty years old. Also, nowadays, the author doesn’t have the best popularity as he moved to advertising cryptocurrencies, which are not the best investment tools out there.
Pros:
- It is a very detailed book. It covers most parts of wealth building, money management, and personal finance.
- Easy to read as it mostly moves from stories of Robert T. Kiyosaki.
- Even though it is an old book, most stuff still keeps up with today’s world.
Cons:
- For absolute beginners, it might show some bad suggestions because it generally doesn’t focus on wealth building from day one. It suggests that you should do some of the stuff from the beginning when it should be done from the mid-level of personal finance.
- Although the book still keeps up with today’s world, some information should still be researched twice while reading it.
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey
Pages: 556
Language: English
Published: August 1989
Formats Available: Kindle, Audiobook, Hardcover, Paperback
Amazon Reviews: 4.6/5
Amazon Link: https://amzn.to/3Il4U6h
Like Rich Dad Poor Dad, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is one of those essential books to read. However, this book isn’t directly a finance or personal finance book. You can say maybe it’s psychology or something similar, but I believe that good wealth management and personal finance start from within.
In finance, you have to understand the decisions you are making, the effects of any loss you will have, and how you will think under stress. You have to manage everything perfectly, and this book is excellent for this. It uses stories and good examples to cover the seven pinnacles of how to be an effective person that you can use in your investment and personal finance strategy. However, it is an extremely old book, so you must read it carefully as some ideas might not apply in our world.
Pros:
- Teaches you the psychological view of how to behave with your personal finances.
- Backed with stories, interactive, thought-provoking telling, making it easy to read and comprehensible for everyone.
- It starts from the very beginning, you, not the investment tools.
Cons:
- Written in 1989, it is an over three decade old personal finance book. Some ideas and thoughts could be absolute.
- Some find the book a bit long, with 556 pages.
- There are no mentions of investment tools, so you shouldn’t read this to understand what to invest in but how to think when you are investing.
The Millionaire Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of America’s Wealthy by Thomas J. Stanley
Pages: 272
Language: English
Published: November 2010
Formats Available: Kindle, Audiobook, Paperback, Hardcover
Amazon Reviews: 4.6/5
Amazon Link: https://amzn.to/3uUzNvj
The book is about the real stories of millionaires. The author goes to the streets and neighborhoods where the millionaires live, and he interviews them, learns their stories, and how they have become millionaires. The concept is extremely intriguing, and hearing real-life stories, especially of self-made millionaires, teaches you precious lessons.
However, this, again, doesn’t give you direct investment advice. It helps you understand different situations and hear stories that inspire your thought processes.
Pros:
- The book revolves around real stories of successful people, which shows you that this isn’t just a book of thoughts.
- Easy to read as it is mostly like reading an interview or a story.
- Based on actual events and real people, so you get a great overview of how successful millionaires actually became millionaires.
Cons:
- Again, this is not a book where you will see what to invest in. It is a book that teaches how others manage their own personal finance stories. This is a good thing, but if you are looking for a direct suggestion, this book is not for you.
Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol S. Dweck
Pages: 320
Language: English
Published: December, 2007
Formats Available: Kindle, Audiobook, Hardcover, Paperback
Amazon Reviews: 4.6/5
Amazon Link: https://amzn.to/3V5Bn8f
In all the articles that I share on my blog, you will find me blabbering about how money is made in your mind and not in your pocket. This book is one of the best ways to describe how that works. Success, money, relationships, and all other things in life come from your mindset and psychology. Mindset by Carol Dweck is one of the best personal finance books you can read despite it not being a personal finance book.
Carol Dweck is a Stanford psychologist who discovered the power of mindset and how it changes everything when applied correctly. You can change your current situation as long as you believe in it. That is the mantra, I would say.
Pros:
- Psychological insights about success and how to manage your life can affect your finances drastically.
- Kind of a sequel to “Growth Mindset” by the same author, which is also a fantastic book and shows the quality of this one.
- Based on research, studies, and actual numbers.
Cons:
- It is an indirect finance book, meaning you will not find stock advice, how ETFs work, or other financial advice in this book.
- It’s a bit of an older book, so some things that drive success might have changed.
Bonus: Amazon Personal Finance Books Bestsellers
If you’ve already read all these books above or none of them really appealed to you, you don’t have to fear that. There are always many of the best personal finance books that you can search through. Generally, when I need to find something to read, my go-to is checking out personal finance books and bestsellers.
You can find some real gems there, and you can pick one from hundreds of personal finance book bestsellers.
Amazon Link: https://amzn.to/4bRmUTk
Conclusion
The area of personal finance is so vast, and there are so many things to cover; it is a journey that never ends. That’s why you always have to read, listen, and act. You just can’t stop listening and reading. I tried to put the best personal finance books for beginners in this list that I have read and loved. Almost all are extremely popular books that you have probably heard or read, but it never hurts to read them again and again.
All of these have valuable thoughts and show you how you should act if you want to get your things together in your personal finances. Reading these best personal finance books for beginners will help you navigate your journey from day one easily.
FAQ
What are the 5 areas of personal finance?
This question has hundreds of different answers that change from person to person. For some, saving could be the number one priority, but for others, it could be debt repayment. But here are my five areas of personal finance:
- Saving
- Budgeting
- Investing
- Protection
- Performance
What book should I read for finance?
As I mentioned before, there are millions of books on finance that you can read, but only a handful are actually good. If you are a beginner, any of the books I suggested above are a great starting point. If you are looking for a direct finance book, it’s always a good idea to check out the bestsellers that I also mentioned above.
What are the 5 personal finance facts?
- 95% of millennials are saving less than the recommended amount.
- 69% of households have less than $1,000 in emergency savings.
- 34% of all Americans have $0 in savings.
- 66% of millennials have zero retirement savings.
- 72% of households do not have a written financial plan.