Money Monday: 5 Books Every Financially Successful Person Must Read

Knowledge is power. This is especially true in the realm of personal finances. Below are five books that anyone who is serious about achieving financial freedom must read. These books will change your perspective on money and teach you how to thrive financially.

The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey

Dave Ramsey’s The Total Money Makeover has sold over four million copies, and for good reason. Based on sound financial principles, this book provides a very simple, but effective, blueprint for achieving financial freedom.

Mr. Ramsey’s main mantra is, “If you will live like no one else, later you can live like no one else.” In essence, he argues that if you are willing to make the sacrifices that most people aren’t willing to make in order to stay out of debt, later on you’ll be able to live a financially free and secure life that people will envy.

The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas Stanley

 

Thomas Stanley crushes the conventional images of a typical millionaire. In fact, he warns that most of us would be hard pressed to identify the millionaires living around us. Contrary to popular opinion, most millionaires don’t drive super expensive vehicles or live in enormous mansions. Instead, they live below their means and use their money in ways that build wealth. The Millionaire Next Door is for anyone who wants to become rich instead of simply act rich.

Happy Money: The Science of Smarter Spending by Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Norton

 

Authors Dunn and Norton use behavioral science to show us how we can spend money in ways that increase our satisfaction. By following their five money principles, the authors guarantee more happiness bang for our buck. Specifically, Dunn and Norton advise us to purchase experiences rather than things, make our purchases treats, find ways to buy time, pay now and consume later, and learn the joy in giving to others.

 

Your Money Or Your Life: 9 Steps to Transforming Your Relationship with Money and Achieving Financial Independence by Vicki Robin, Joe Dominguez, and Monique Tilford

This is perhaps my favorite personal finance book because it asks us to fundamentally re-evaluate our view of money. The authors argue that money is a representation of our time – a visible placeholder for the time we spent earning it.

Every dollar we spend is a trade of our precious time at work for some object. This is time we spent stuck in an intolerable commute to work. Time we spent dealing with impossible bosses and petty co-workers. Time we spent enduring long meetings or dealing with the stress of impossible deadlines.

Understanding this concept puts a whole new perspective on our spending. Instead of dolling out cash for our purchases, we’re actually dolling out our time. And when we recklessly waste money, we’re really wasting our time – a resource that is invaluable. Reading Your Money or Your Life will forever change the way you relate to money.

The 21-Day Financial Fast: Your Path to Financial Peace and Freedom by Michelle Singletary

Washington Post columnist Michelle Singletary guides you through a financial journey in which you put away the credit cards and only purchase essential items for 21 straight days. In the process, you realize exactly how reckless most of us are with our money. Singletary also provides 21 biblically based lessons designed to make you a better steward of your money. Regardless of whether or not you decide to implement a 21 day financial fast, the book is chocked full of advice that will put you on the right money path.

BMWK, what are some of your favorite personal finance books?