How I compiled the list of books of best personal finance books:
I read through several personal finance posts that included the best personal finance books. If a blogger suggested the book, I gave that book a thumbs up. The book with the most thumbs up is number one.
Note: Some authors listed the best persoanl finance books according to category. I did not. Some authors restricted themselves by a set of criteria. For example, Christian PF included books only under $1. Other authors had multiple posts with favorite books (like Jim at Bargaineering). I took each mention as one vote. Some authors (like Trent at The Simple Dollar) listed the books in order of favorites. Technically, I should have given more weight to those at the top of the list, but I did not.
I apologize if there are any errors along the way. I tried to be as accurate as possible, but this was a huge list and I suspect someone is probably listed beside the name of a book they dislike. I apologize also if you have a book list I missed. I tried to find as many sources as possible.
Bloggers Who Wrote About the Best Personal Finance Books:
- Jim from Bargaineering. He has three book lists (1) Your Take: Your Favorite Personal Finance book (2) Best Personal Finance Books for your library (3) One Sentence Summaries of 10 prominent personal finance books
- J.D. Roth from Get Rich Slowly. 25 Essential Books about Money Management
- Trent from The Simple Dollar. 26 Personal Finance Books Ranked from Best to Worst
- Raymond from Money Blue Book. Best Personal Finance Books About Money – Reviews
- Best Personal Finance Books. Best Personal Finance books To Help You Lead a Richer Life
- Erik from MoneyCrashers. The Best Personal Finance Books You Need To Read
- “Nickel” from FiveCentNickel. 11 Great Books About Money
- KC Lau from KCLau.com. 10 Best Personal Finance Books in History
- Ramit from I Will Teach You To Be Rich. Amazon Store Selections
- Dough Roller. 7 Personal Finance Books that Can Change Your Life
- Help Your Money. Most Recommended Personal Finance Books
So what is the best personal finance book?
The Best Personal Finance Books
Thomas Stanley and William Danko
Recommended by 11 different bloggers.
NUMBER TWO
The Richest Man in Babylon: The Success Secrets of the Ancients
George Clason
Recommended by 10 different bloggers.
NUMBER THREE
The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness
Dave Ramsey
Recommended by 10 different bloggers
NUMBER FOUR
By Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin
Recommended by 10 different bloggers
NUMBER FIVE
A Random Walk Down Wall Street: The Time-Tested Strategy for Successful Investing (Revised and Updated)
By Burton Malkiel
Recommended by 7 personal finance blogs
NUMBER SIX
The Automatic Millionaire: A Powerful One-Step Plan to Live and Finish Rich
By David Bach
Recommended by 7 personal finance blogs
NUMBER SEVEN
By David Chilton
Recommended by 7 personal finance blogs
NUMBER EIGHT
The Intelligent Investor: A Book of Practical Counsel
By Benjamin Graham
Recommended by six blogs
NUMBER NINE
The Bogleheads’ Guide to Investing
By Lairmore, Lindauer, and LeBoeuf
Recommended by six blogs
NUMBER TEN
The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous & Broke
Recommended by six blogs
——————————————————————–
Best Personal Finance Books Suggested By Four Sources:
11. The Number: What Do You Need for the Rest of Your Life and What Will It Cost?
12. The Only Investment Guide You’ll Ever Need by Andrew Tobias
13. Debt is Slavery: and 9 Other Things I Wish My Dad Had Taught Me About Money by Michael Mihalik
14. Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki and Sharon L. Lechter
15. The Complete Tightwad Gazette by Amy Dacycyn
16. The Four Pillars of Investing: Lessons for Building a Winning Portfolio by William Bernstein
Photo by George Eastman House
The Following Books were recommended by three sources:
17. Smart Couples Finish Rich by David Bach
18. Den of Thieves by James B. Stewart
The Following Books were recommended by two sources:
19. Yes, You Can Achieve Financial Independence by James Stowers
20. Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist
21. Financial Peace Revisited by Dave Ramsey
22. I Will Teach You To Be Rich by Ramit Sethi
23. Stocks for the Long Run : The Definitive Guide to Financial Market Returns and Long-Term Investment Strategies by Jeremy Siegel
24. Jim Cramer’s Real Money: Sane Investing in an Insane World by Jim Cramer
25. The Little Book of Common Sense Investing by John Bogle
26. The 4-Hour Work Week by Tim Ferris
27. Joy of Simple Living by Jeff Davidson
28. Smartest Investment Book You’ll Ever Read by Daniel R. Solin
29. WHAT COLOR IS YOUR PARACHUTE? (A PRACTICAL MANUAL FOR JOB-HUNTERS & CAREER-CHANGERS by Richard Nelson Bolles
30. What Color Is Your Piggy Bank?: Entrepreneurial Ideas for Self-Starting Kids (Millennium Generation Series) by Adelia Cellini Linecker
31. Why Smart People Make Big Money Mistakes & How to Correct Them: Lessons from the New Science of Behavioral Economics by Gary Belsky and Thomas Gilovich
32. Work Less, Live More: The Way to Semi-Retirement by Bob Clyatt
33. You’re Broke Because You Want to Be: How to Stop Getting By and Start Getting Ahead by Larry Winget
Photo by New York Public Library
Consolation Prize for the following books that were recommended by one source:
34. All Your Worth: The Ultimate Lifetime Money Plan by Elizabeth Warren and Amelia Warren Tyagi
35. America’s Cheapest Family by Steve and Annette Economides
36. Quadrant: Rich Dad’s Guide to Financial Freedom by Robert Kiyosaki and Sharon Lechter
37. Complete Financial Guide for Young Couples by Larry Burkett
38. Debt Free Living by Larry Burkett
39. Founders at Work by Jessica Livingston
40. Freakonomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner
41. Generation Debt by Anya Kamenetz
42. Growing Money: A Complete Investing Guide for Kids by Gail Karlitz
43. Guerilla Marketing by Jay Levinson
44. Hard Times: An Oral History of the Great Depression by Studs Terkel
45. How Much is Enough by Arun Abey and Andrew Ford
46. How to Get out of Debt, Stay out of Debt, and Live Prosperously by Jerrold Mundis
47. How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
48. It’s All Too Much: An Easy Plan for Living A Richer Life with Less Stuff by Peter Walsh
49. Living Simply with Children by Marie Sherlock
50. Mad Money by Jim Cramer
51. Make Your Kid a Millionaire by Kevin McKinley
52. Making the Most of Your Money by Jane Bryant Quinn
53. Motley Fool’s Money Guide by Selena Maranjian
54. Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich
55. Poor Richards Almanac by Benjamin Franklin
56. Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely
57. Rule #1 by Phil Town
58. Secrets of the Millionaire Mind by T. Harv Eker
59. The 9 Steps to Financial Freedom by Suze Orman
60. The Incredible Money Making Machine by Don Lancaster
61. The Little Book of Bull Moves in Bear Markets by Peter Schiff
62. The Little Book That Makes You Rich by Louis Navellier
63. The Millionaire Mind by Thomas Stanley
64. One Up on Wall Street by Peter Lynch and John Rothchild
65. The Paradox of Choice by Barry Schwartz
66. The Truth About Money by Ric Edelman
67. The Undercover Economist by Tim Harford
68. Think and Grow Rich by Napolean Hill
69. Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson
70. Why Smart People Do Stupid Things with Money: Overcoming Financial Dysfunction by Bert Whitehead
71. Yes, You Can Get a Financial Life by Ben Stein and Phil DeMuth
72. You Call the Shots by Cameron Johnson
73. Debt-Proof Living by Mary Hunt
74. Die Broke by Stephen Pollan and Mark Levin
75. Born to Buy by Juliet Schor
76. The Subprime Solution by Robert Shiller
77. Women and Money by Suze Orman
78. The Road to Wealth by Suze Orman
79. The Best Investment Advice I Ever Received by Liz Claman
80. The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Mortgages by Jamie Sutton
81. The Coffeehouse Investor by Bill Schultheis
82. Beating the Street by Peter Lynch
83. Raising Money Smart Kids by Kiplingers Personal Finance
84. The Intelligent Asset Allocator by Richard Ferri
85. All About Asset Allocation by Richard Ferri
86. Covered Calls and Naked Puts by Ron Groenke
87. Girl, Get your Money Straight by Flinda Bridgforth
88. The Book of Investing Wisdom by Peter Krass
If you want to see which books each blogger recommended you can view the entire list here. (I suggest you download the document for a cleaner view in Excel).
Do you have a favorite that is not on this list? Which book do you think is the best personal finance book?
Craig, thanks for doing this work! I’ve picked up a few I want to add to my reading list. There are some in the top tier I had never heard about, so it will be good to read a few new authors to make my library a little more well rounded. I’m currently reading How to Debt Proof Your Marriage by Mary Hunt. I’m surprised it’s not on the list given some of the good content around couples working together in managing their finances. I’ll let you know when I’m done with the review!
.-= Jason @ One Money Design´s last blog ..Personal Finance Software: The Features You Can’t Live Without =-.
@Jason I was also surprised by some of the results. I have read How to Debt Proof Your Marriage and I thought it had some good ideas.
I take the list with me anytime I am in a second hand store so I can use it to find great books for cheap.
If I were to add a book or two (apart from books I will suggest on my Christian list tomorrow) I would add Your Money and Your Brain
and Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth.
Craig – great idea rounding up all these into one list! Its great to see the sum of what everyone thought!
.-= ChristianPF´s last blog ..Timebanking: What is it? =-.
The Word on Finances
Your Finances in Changing Times
Using your money Wisely
All by Larry Burkett. Older books, but still useful. Especially “The Word on Finances”. Topical scriptures and commentary, over 400 pages.
Nice post, I always enjoy reading a reading list. You have some good books there. I would put Rich Dad & Think and Grow Rich a tad higher and The Bogleheads’ Guide to Investing wayyyy lower.
The best canadian personal finance book that I have come across is “Wake Up or Die Poor”. There is also a companion site that helps people set up their budgets. Thanks for the great titles Craig. Bets
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