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Anyone who knows me knows that I LOVE to read. I am the quintessential bookworm. I read on the train, in bed, while riding my skateboard, while doing push-ups, basically I read any and everywhere I get the chance. I love reading about personal finance and learning about what works for people, what doesn’t, and money success stories. Nothing makes me happier than a person that’s turned their personal finances around other than a person that is crushing their financial goals!
buy Clomiphene pct online Here are my top 3, MUST READ, personal finance books:
1.) Datteln The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness by Dave Ramsey.
In my humble opinion, this book is the holy grail of personal finance for beginners.If you are looking for an easy, step-by-step guide with a no-nonsense approach to get you on track with your finances then this book is for you. Of course there are people who aren’t fans of the “Dave Ramsey approach,” but I encourage you to give the book a try and figure that out for yourself.
Traditionally, Ramsey likes to attack the root of your financial problem, which he believes isn’t about finances at all. He exposes and makes you explore your beliefs and behavior towards money. Essentially, this is where we find most problems. In this book, Ramsey lays out his famous “7 Baby Steps” technique:
Step 1- Save $1000 (mini emergency fund)
Step 2 – Pay down debt (aka the debt snowball, check out the free Make Real Cents budget sheet to get started)
Step 3- Build up an actual emergency fund (3-6 months of expenses)
Step 4- Maximize retirement savings or start saving for a home (baby step 4b)
Step 5- College funding for your kids
Step 6 – Pay off your mortgage
Step 7 – Continue to build your wealth so you can help others.
Millions of people have successfully followed these steps which have ultimately led them to financial independence. If you are looking for an easy to follow game plan on how to get your personal finances in order, then this is the book for you! Regardless of where you are on your financial journey, you can learn a thing or two from his approach and this book.
2.) The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko
The thing I like most about this book is that it’s extremely inspiring! In this book Stanley and Danko collected data via surveys, conducted countless interviews, and organized focus groups from over 1,000 Millionaire households in America. Essentially, using the data they collected, their book is created around the commonalities they found amongst the millionaire households and their results were quite interesting. Here are just a few things they learned and elaborated on in the book:
- The stereotypical millionaire is nothing like what we see on TV. Generally they are just the opposite, they are quite frugal. They drive older cars (rarely ever buy a car brand new), they don’t purchase flashy expensive suits (they go for off the rack stuff), and most of the millionaires they interviewed did not have crazy high GPAs or SAT scores.
- They take time planning their investments and put heavy emphasis on having clearly defined financial goals. They actually spend hours each month, looking into their investments, their financial house, and recalibrating their financial goals.
- One key to becoming and being a millionaire is curbing your spending. The authors stress the importance of saving more, consuming less, and living below your means. Through their research, the authors found that a majority of the millionaires they interviewed were pretty frugal. Essentially they came to the conclusion that people become millionaires by budgeting, practicing self-control, and controlling expenses.
- There are A LOT of people with high incomes, but low net worth, meaning their income looks great on paper but they have no real assets to show for it because they blow there money on trivial things (fancy clothes, depreciating cars, etc).
The only drawback with this book is that it is fairly dated, written in the mid-90s, its fair to say a lot has changed. Aged data doesn’t, however, take away from the principles outlined in this book and your ability to apply them to your current lifestyle.
3.) Early Retirement Extremeby Jacob Lund Fisker
Now if you really, really, really want to geek out with numbers and a few diagrams then this is your book. I like to think of this book as the more in-depth version of “The Millionaire Next Door” because not only does Fisker provide data, he digs deep into the psychological aspect of why we do what we do. He candidly analyzes human behavior and picks apart the false premises we’ve been sold as a society as it relates to wealth and happiness.
The following is just a small excerpt taken from his book:
“We have come to a point where spending money is one of the few recognizable signs of success. For instance, spending half an hour in a traffic jam getting from A to B in an expensive car is considered more successful than spending half an hour in a traffic jam getting from A to B in a cheap car”.
This book mainly focuses on human behavior, how to put together a game plan that will allow you to retire earlier, and how to implement strategies that will help you to stop living paycheck to paycheck.
This book however, is not for everyone. In the later chapters of the book, he starts to harp on minimalism and frugality. So if you aren’t into the minimalist lifestyle, this book may not be for you however I can’t stress this enough- IT’S SUPER INTERESTING. He raises points that will get your thoughts flowing and analyzes behavior from a different perspective I have never seen before. As with all of these books, you can always find a gem or two that will work for you and your personal situation; none of your reading will be in vain. Take from it what makes sense to you and leave the rest alone!
Bonus Book – No Excuses! The power of self-discipline by Brian Tracy
This is not a personal finance book however it can help you with your habits around money. This book is a quick, easy read, and a great reminder of what you’ve got to do if you have fallen off track. No more excuses, no more putting it off for tomorrow, no more feeling sorry for yourself. This book will give you a good kick in the a$$ and will inspire you to get back to whatever you gave up on. From personal self-discipline to business, this book serves as a great reminder of what you are capable of and why you’ve got to stop hiding behind the excuses you’ve been feeding yourself which allow you to not get anything done.
Go out and get your hands on one of these books TODAY! If finances are too tight, check out your local library and obtain the knowledge for free 🙂
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