1. The Total Money Makeover- Dave Ramsey
Radio talk-show host and bestselling author (Financial Peace) Dave Ramsey has seen it all. The man himself has suffered a financial crisis. He went on from being rich to a struggler and back to being rich again. He was worth $4 million in his mid-twenties, and then went bankrupt. Today he runs a personal-finance empire. So you can definitely bet your time and money on this book.
"Winning at money is 80 percent behavior and 20 percent heading knowledge,” says Dave. Ramsey's principles are simple and straightforward. Pay cash. Pay off debts from smallest to largest. Create an emergency fund. He provides easy-to-understand answers to many seemingly complex questions about budgeting, retirement funds, saving for college education, and more.
2. Think and Grow Rich- Napoleon Hill
This personal development book is much more than the title suggests. Besides offering help on how to achieve monetary wealth, the philosophy taught in the book can be applied in all lines of work and accomplish almost anything in this world. Written by Napoleon Hill 70 years ago, Think and Grow Rich is still one of the best-selling paperback business books.
3. Rich Dad Poor Dad- Robert T. Kiyosaki
The book tells an interesting story of Robert Kiyosaki (the narrator and author) who has two fathers: his biological father – the poor dad - and the other, the father of his childhood best friend– the rich dad who was also a school dropout. The author compares the principles and financial practices of both the fathers throughout the book and shows how his real father, the poor and but highly educated man struggles compared to his rich dad in terms of asset building and entrepreneurial zeal who believed that "the poor and the middle class work for money," but "the rich have money work for them.”
A bit long, the book nonetheless teaches financial lessons, never learnt in school and investing in income-generating assets compared to working 9-5 to grow rich.
4. The Only Investment Guide You'll Ever Need- Andrew Tobias
Published two decades ago, Tobias' The Only Investment Guide You'll Ever Need provides beginning investors commonsense guidance.
The book shares knowledge on stocks, tax planning, retirement, and just about everything else in the financial world. Revised in 1995, the guide also talks about online trading and its effects. Tobias believes that individuals can shape their own financial futures by sticking to the basics. "By and large, you should manage your own money, via no-load mutual funds, No one is going to care about it as much as you." he says.
5. Crush It!: Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion- Gary Vaynerchuk
Gary Vaynerchuk, a self-trained wine and social media expert offers tips on how to use the power of the social networking sites to turn your passions into real businesses. This book shares his experience and advice for using Twitter, Facebook to make serious cash out of a passion and how to create your personal brand. Gary himself has learned it the hard way by utilizing traditional advertising techniques initially to grow his family's wine business. He later leveraged social media tools such as Twitter and Facebook to promote his video blog about wine and turned his business into a national industry leader.
6. The richest man in Babylon- George Samuel Clason
A great book, written in a very simple language gives out the secrets on how to build wealth and sustain it.
7. Millionaire Teacher: The Nine Rules of Wealth You Should Have Learned in School- Andrew Hallam
Andrew Hallam, a schoolteacher writes an incredible book on how everyone can build a million-dollar portfolio like he did very early before the retirement age. Being an educator, his tone in the book is humorous and clear.He advises on how to build wealth by avoiding the conventional investment products advertised by most financial advisors. The writer is a big fan of Warren Buffett’s investment philosophy and recommends the same to the readers.
Hallam also shares his knowledge on how the stock and bond markets really work. He suggests how dedicating just 60 minutes a year on your investments and never reading about investment news can still make you a financial expert.
8. Secrets of the Millionaire Mind- T. Harv Eker
Secrets of the Millionaire Mindtell you the difference between wanting success and achieving it. It answers the age old question about why some people seem to get rich easily, while others suffer financial struggle? Could it be intelligence, skills, contacts, luck, jobs, or investments? The answer is: None of the above.
The writer says that we all have a personal money blueprint ingrained in our subconscious minds which determine our financial lives. Part I of the book offers advice on how to "revise" your blueprint and grow your success. Part II lists seventeen "Wealth Files," which bring out the differences on how rich people think and act differently than poor and middle-class people. Each File provides steps for increasing your income.
9. I Will Teach You To Be Rich- Ramit Sethi
Sethi know his audience. I Will Teach You To Be Rich, Ramit Sethi's 6-week personal finance program for 20-to-35-year-olds. The information is targeted with advise on banking, saving, budgeting, investing and personal entrepreneurship.
Personal finance bloggers are usually focused on frugality but Sethi encourages on making money, whether through asking for a raise, investing or starting a business of one’s own.
A cool book on personal finance delivered with a nonjudgmental style makes readers actually follow what Sethi says.
10. The intelligent investor- Benjamin Graham, Jason Zweig
Published in 1949, the book provides information on Value investing. As old as the book may be, the advice is still applicable to today’s market. From deciding the ratio of stocks- bonds to deciding how much you should pay for an issue, it's all in there.
By Pooja Thakkar
