Is there such as thing as a “best personal finance book?” I was curious what many of the personal finance bloggers thought of the many personal finance books available so I took a short poll asking over 100 bloggers “what’s the best personal finance book?”
When the results came back 38 bloggers responded and I was a bit surprised by the results.
Of the 38 responders there were 28 different books listed!
I’ve graphed any books that received 2 or more votes. From the graph it’s obvious that there’s no landslide winner, but the most popular book with four votes was Your Money or Your Life.
Any book that received only one vote can be found at the list on the bottom of the page.
The 6 books that received two or more votes were:
Your Money or Your Life
9 Steps to Transforming Your Relationship with Money and Achieving Financial Independence
Vicki Robin and Joe Dominguez
Bloggers who liked this book:
My money blog, Frugal dad, Money under 30 and Free from broke
The Four Hour Workweek
Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich
Timothy Ferris
Bloggers who liked this book:
The financial blogger, Saving to invest and Passive family income.
Total Money Makeover
A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness
Dave Ramsey
Bloggers who liked this book:
Money saving mom, Christian pf and Financially poor.
How to Get Rich
One of the World’s Greatest Entrepreneurs Shares His Secrets
Felix Dennis
Bloggers who liked this book:
Nev blog and Monevator
The Four Pillars of Investing
Lessons for Building a Winning Portfolio
William Bernstein
Bloggers who liked this book:
Oblivious investor and Five cent nickel
The Wealthy Barber
Everyone’s Commonsense Guide to Becoming Financially Independent
David Chilton
Bloggers who liked this book:
Financial Highway and Million dollar journey
Is There Such a Thing as a “Best” Personal Finance Book?
I honestly thought there would be a bit more agreement on a book, but based on the responses it became apparent that there’s really not one personal finance book that can lay claim to the “best.” Since personal finance is such a deep topic that affects people on different levels each book hits each person differently. Just like each financial plan is different, each book is tailored to different audiences.
What’s the best personal finance book for you?
It’s really going to depend on your goals and what you want to get out of the book. If you want a deeper understanding of how money affects your life and motivates you then go for Your Money or Your Life. If you’re interested in growing your own business and want to become more productive, then perhaps you should consider the Four Hour Workweek.
There’s probably not going to be one best book to recommend, but I would say that you should at least read a couple on the list since these bloggers do happen to know what they’re talking about. Each book you read will probably teach you at least one new thing, which is point, especially if that one idea saves or makes you thousands during your lifetime.
It doesn’t matter which book you start with, just start reading and learning more about personal finance.
Honorable Mentions
The rest of the books that were mentioned, but only received one vote included:
Art of the Deal recommended by Maximizing money
Control Your Cash recommended by Len Penzo
The Millionaire Fastlane recommended by Personal dividends
Debt Free U recommended by Cheap scholar
Does this make my assets look fat? recommended by The centsible life
Generation Earn recommended by Lazy man and money
How to Stop Worrying and Start Living recommended by Wealth pilgrim
I Will Teach You to be Rich recommended by Budgets are sexy
Living More With Less recommended by Frugal for Life
Money 911 recommended by The wisdom journal
Never Eat Alone recommended by Studenomics
Rich Dad Poor Dad recommended by Brip blap
The Automatic Millionaire recommended by PT money
The Bible recommended by Debt free adventure
The New Coffeehouse Investor recommended by Bible money matters
The Intelligent Investor recommended by Money smart life
The Millionaire Next Door recommended by Cash money life
The Quiet Millionaire recommended by Moolanomy
The Richest man in Babylon recommended by Bargaineering
The Tightwad Gazette recommended by The frugal girl
The Tipping Point recommended by Almost frugal
You Can Negotiate Anything recommended by Sweating the big stuff
What do you think is the best personal finance book?
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{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
Very interesting to see what books are listed and who recommends them! There are certainly a few I need to catch up on.
Of course, I haven’t read all the aforementioned books. But the book that changed my life is Rich Dad Poor Dad (series). The one that keeps me grounded is The Millionaire Next Door.
I think the road to financial freedom is not about following a given strategy but having a certain mindset. Most of us are hard-wired to think about money in a certain way, but once we begin to think like a millionaire we will become one.
lovely leverage´s last blog ..My Own Retirement Plan Without RRSP
Wow. That is a very interesting survey, Ryan! If anything, the wide variety of books picked by those surveyed just goes to show there’s no shortage of advice out there.
When it comes right down to it, most of these books all give out pretty much the same advice — it all comes down to how you like it delivered to you. The ones listed do it better than most other books that may have been left off the list.
All the best,
Len
Len Penzo dot Com
This is a comprehensive list. I’ve ready many of these books. There’s a few that I need to check out soon. I’m taking a month break from reading. I think I’ve read enough and it’s now time to produce more!
I might grab the Wealthy Barber for my next trip. How to get rich also has a great title.
Lots of good books there, I mentioned the coffeehouse investor above, but the Millionaire Next Door and other books by Thomas J. Stanley are great too. Great look at dome of the books out there!
Pete´s last blog ..Tips For Self-Preparing And Filing Your Income Taxes
Awesome list of books, this would be exactly what I’ve been looking for! Probably similar to many people, one of my 2011 resolutions was to finally get my finances organized and figure out what to do with my money. I’ve still got a long life ahead of me and I want to be sure I’m frugal enough when I’m young to be able to retire young and comfortable.
Thanks again for the list and it will definitely help me out in choosing some reading/guidance material!
Of the picture books, I’ve read 3 of them and the were all super. Great list.
Thanks for putting the time into this - it makes for a fun and interesting read. There are quite a few books on this list I haven’t yet read, so I’ll definitely book mark this for future reference.
Ryan´s last blog ..Will Your Tax Return Be Flagged for an Audit
Great list of books, Ryan. When I first heard of the 4-Hour Workweek book I immediately went to the bookstore to buy it. It’s a great book but the Millionaire Next Door is the book that actually changed my outlook on money.
Hands down, The Millionaire Next Door is the best one. It totally changed how I think about money and how I view other people and their finances.
I’m surprised the list was not much bigger. I’d think 38 people would have 38 different books that they think are best.
Personally, I love me some Tim Ferriss and Dave Ramsey, oddly enough.
Graham Lutz´s last blog ..technorati
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