We’re not born with money knowledge.
Sure, some of us might have a natural fascination with numbers. But at some point we had to actually pick up the personal finance knowledge we use on a daily basis to get ahead.
At MoneyProdigy.com, I’m closing the money education gap, one kid at a time. My hope is to prevent financial catastrophes at the source, before someone misses a mortgage payment.
But what if you never had the chance to get that critical personal finance education back when it could have prevented the financial woes you’re dealing with today?
I want to discuss the 5 money books that I’ve read and that I feel will give you an outstanding foundation for dealing with your own personal financial situations in the most advantageous ways possible.
Heck, read these and you’re on your way to getting your personal finance GED.
Your personal finance books GED study guide:
Money Book #1: The Richest Man in Babylon, George S. Clason
I only paid $0.50 for this book at a used book sale, and can’t believe the amount of personal financial information it opened my eyes to.
And it’s such a short book!
The author has outlined money truths that are as relevant in Ancient Babylon as they were in 1926 when the book was written, and as they are today in the 2000s.
Arkad, from Babylon, is the teacher in this book and he shows us the five laws of gold no one is immune to, as well as the cure for a lean purse. You bet you want to listen up!
Money Book #2: Your Money or Your Life, Vicki Robin + Joe Dominguez
It’s so easy to think about digits without putting much value or thought into them. You know, like how high (or low) your salary is, what your raise was, how much the movies cost you last weekend.
But this book will make you think completely differently about the numbers. It’ll introduce you to the concept of Life Energy, and show you how to make sure you’re using yours for your optimal enjoyment (not someone else’s).
This book opened my eyes to the fact that we don’t trade 40-60-80 hours a week for our salary, rather we trade a certain amount of life energy for our salary.
Money Book #3: Rich Dad, Poor Dad, Robert T. Kiyosaki
While I was completely unimpressed while attending one of this man’s free real estate trainings, his book led to an enormous shift in my mind around money.
I can boil it down to this: if you want to be wealthy one day, then you need to spend your money acquiring assets that will work for you, not liabilities that will work against you.
And guess what? Most of what we buy are liabilities. Eye-opening.
Money Book #4: The 4-Hour Workweek, Tim Ferris
You might wonder why I included this one in the list. Honestly, it made such a profound dent in my thinking about money + work, that I couldn’t keep it off.
Is it likely that you will get your workweek down to just 4 hours from reading this book? Probably not. But you’ll begin to think about possibilities of earning income in a manner you probably never have before. Which means you might make some changes that could alter the rest of your working life.
It’s like a mind-bender exercise for our 9-5 world! Think lifestyle design, mini-retirements, and outsourcing, all things which I have dabbled in since being inspired by this book.
Money Book #5: The Millionaire Next Door, Thomas J. Stanley + William D. Danko
Many people with high incomes think they are wealthy. This book will open your eyes to the fact that that is entirely untrue. You can earn a huge income but if you spend most of it then you aren’t actually wealthy.
This book drives home the fact − besides that the Joneses aren’t exactly who you think they are − that if you want to be wealthy you have to actually accumulate part of your salary.
This is my list. What would you include on a must-read list for a personal finance GED?
