The more you read, the more you know.
The more you know, the more you grow so read, read, read.(My 1st class teacher)
Over the years I have read my fair share of personal finance and philosophy books. Some have profoundly changed the way I think about money, some have changed the way I invest and some have helped me to clarify what truly matters (and to make sure my money decisions reflect it).
Even today, despite having a fairly good grasp of finance and money and what I value, I usually still have a money book on the go (yes, I’m one of those people who have three books on the go at any one time!) Why? Because maybe I will learn something new, or maybe my thinking will shift – knowledge is power.
So I decided to share with you a few of those books over the years that have had a profound effect on how I see, use and manage my money. Interestingly, you’ll notice that several of the books aren’t personal finance books at all. But despite this, their teachings have flowed through to my financial life in a remarkable way.
Your Money or Your Life – Vicki Robin and Joe Dominguez
Unlike most personal finance books, Robin and Dominguez focus on uncovering your true values and aligning your life and your finances with these values. The premise is that most people’s money problems derive from a fundamental disconnect with what they actually want from their lives. This isn’t an investment strategy book, but more so one that will get you thinking about how you think about your money, and whether you are
This book completely changed my approach to money. I started to value my money based on the time I had spent earning it, and focusing on how I could use my money most effectively to live my rich life now, rather than being caught up in the endless cycle of ‘more’.
I cannot recommend a personal finance book more than I do this one to shift your thinking towards using money as a tool to living a richly fulfilling life.
Essentialism – The Disciplined Pursuit of Less
This book had me with the first quote:
The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of non-essentials.
Lin Yutang
So so true that if YOU can figure out what is important and essential to YOU, and you focus on those few essentials and make your life decisions accordingly, how you spend your time, your money, your energy will fall in line with your values and you will be on a path to making your greatest possible contribution.
The Five Regrets of the Dying – Bronnie Ware
I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.
I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.
I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.
I wish that I had let myself be happier.
In her book, Bronnie Ware reflects on the time she spent as a palliative care worker and the lessons she learnt from her patients. Time and time again, the same regrets were shared with her. Talk about powerful life lessons.
I read a lot, but this book had me REALLY thinking, reflecting, crying, being kinder, re-prioritising, living it. And this flowed to how I use and see our money. To be honest, I was a mess when I read it. It was so profound for me.
Prepare to be blown away.
(And notice how money doesn’t pay a mention in any of the regrets she talks about – another reminder that money is a tool, not the end game!)
The Seven Stages of Money Maturity – George Kinder
Finding Money Maturity means resolving your inner conflicts around money. It really comes down to discovering a sense of ease around money.
You know it’s going to be an interesting personal finance book when it’s written by a Buddhist teacher come financial planner!
I’m not sure whether it’s the fact that Kinder has travelled a similar path to me, or that he successfully weaves spirituality and money together, but this book both challenged me and lead me along a path to create more content relationship with money.
Check this one out if you are searching for peace, freedom and security in your financial life, and you are intrigued by the idea of looking at money from a different perspective.
Stuffocation – James Wallman
My husband saw me reading this one and said ‘haven’t you read every book there is on less stuff?’
It appears not, dear husband!
I am perhaps a little obsessed with ridding our home of useless stuff and, more importantly, not buying it in the first place. This book had me nodding away every few pages as if I were in a fabulously engaging conversation with Wallman!
In Stuffocation, James Wallman traces our obsession with stuff, interviewing anthropologists, economists and psychologists who link rampant materialism to declining wellbeing. And he introduces us to the innovators who are turning their backs on all-you-can-get consumption, and trading in materialism for “experientialism” – where they find more happiness, live more meaningful lives, and express status more successfully, through experiences rather than stuff.
Check it out if you are curious about living a life of less stuff and more meaning.
The Millionaire Next Door – Thomas Stanley and William Danko
This book is a great reality check on what it takes to accumulate wealth, and how the rich really live! In the 1980’s, Thomas Stanley and William Danko first began studying what they termed “the millionaire next door types”. Far from the general perception of the wealthy as living in affluent suburbs in high value properties, with prestige cars and extravagant tastes, they stumbled on the fact that over half of the millionaires in the US were living in modest houses, in middle class neighbourhoods.
Stanley and Danko outline the seven key (and rather unglamorous!) characteristics of everyday millionaires, which leaves you feeling that wealth really is achievable, just with small steps and discipline over time. I’ve got a longer article to share in a few weeks about these characteristics. There is a lot of great lessons in this one.
Money: Master the Game – Tony Robbins
This book really solidified my thoughts around low cost index funds as an investment option. From there, I began to change our whole investment approach.
The first few chapters are really easy to read and understand, with the idea being that you need to figure out what you actually want, cost it out, come up with a plan and then GET IN THE GAME! But if you are not in to technical talk, Robbins will probably loose you from there! He also plugs various products which don’t necessarily align with the principles he is outlining – that bugs me.
But if you can handle a bit of technical finance talk, and you don’t take all his product recommendations as gospel, there is still real value in this book.
The Barefoot Investor – Scott Pape
I’ve included this one, not so much because I gained a lot from reading it myself, but because this is a really solid, easy to read, Australian specific personal finance book. If I were to recommend one book for someone just starting out their journey to sort out their finances, this would be the one.
Pape gives a really easy to follow, step by step guide to becoming a master of your own money. Have I followed his approach? Not exactly, but it is definitely a solid one that will lead you along the high road to financial stability.
This is just scratching the top of the iceberg with regards to my top reads. But over to you – I’d love to hear what books have had a profound effect on your money management. I’m always after books to add to my ‘to read’ list, so please do share! Xo
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