Some of The Popular Books About Personal Finance
“All your worth: The ultimate lifetime money plan” by E. Warren and A. Warren-Tyagi is described by Time.com as “a solid starting point for those struggling to make ends meet”. One of the main take outs from the book is the so-called Balanced Money Formula, which splits income into three groups: needs, wants and savings. The authors’ ideal money formula consists of spending less than 50% on needs (housing, utilities, insurance, basic groceries & clothing and transportation), at least 20% on savings (debt repayment, emergency savings and retirement accounts) and the rest on wants (everything else). Although some ideas in this book may appear slightly outdated and despite making “wild assumptions” (time.com), this could be a great start for newcomers to the world of personal finance and budgeting.
For some local personal finance inspiration, consider checking out “Living off the smell of an oily rag in New Zealand” by Frank and Muriel Newman. It can, perhaps, be compared to The Tightwad Gazette – a newspaper about frugality that was wildly popular in the 1990s and which was later republished as books. This is the description given on the website: “Presented in a down-to-earth and humorous style, the Newmans show that living off the smell of an oily rag is not about hardship or deprivation – it’s about fun and creativity, and making the most of the abundance we have around us.” And because it was written by Kiwis for Kiwis, this could be a great book to start your frugal journey with!
“Think and grow rich” by Napoleon Hill is often described as “the most important finance book ever written”. Despite the name, it’s a motivational personal development and self-help book (and not a personal finance book as such) – although its principals can be applied in all lines of work, including personal finance. It’s based on more than 20 years of research into the lives of a number of wealthy, successful individuals, the result of which was 13 principles in the form of personal achievement. As mentioned in Wikipedia, “It is noted in the book that an individual with desire, faith and persistence can reach great heights by eliminating negative energy and thoughts and focusing on the greater goals in hand.”
“Rich dad, poor dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money – That the Poor and the Middle Class Do Not!” by Robert Kiyosaki is, perhaps, one of the most commonly mentioned books when it comes to secrets of financial success. It has sold more than 26 million copies to date and earned the author widespread fame as a financial commentator and celebrity followers like Oprah and Donald Trump. According to Amazon, “The book explodes the myth that you need to earn a high income to be rich and explains the difference between working for money and having your money work for you.” One of the criticisms I have come across is that the book encourages readers to invest or start their own business, but it doesn’t really explain how.
“The Total Money Makeover” by Dave Ramsey (radio and TV host, motivational speaker and “America’s favourite finance coach”) contains a few great tips on getting in control of finances. As thesimpledollar.com states, “the plan in a nutshell is to save $1,000 as an emergency fund, pay off all your debts, build up a six month emergency fund, then start saving to buy things never using a loan”.