The Best Books to Get Your Finances in Order

Countless readers have been helped by the famous “Babylonian parables,” hailed as the greatest of all inspirational works on the subject of thrift, financial planning, and personal wealth. Acclaimed as a modern-day classic, this celebrated bestseller offers an understanding of — and a solution to — your personal financial problems that will guide you through a lifetime.

A ten-step plan for finding peace, safety, and harmony with your money — no matter how big or small your goals and no matter how rocky the market might be — by the inspiring and savvy “Budgetnista.”

Think and Grow Rich has been called the “Granddaddy of All Motivational Literature.” Originally published in 1937, it was the first book to boldly ask, “What makes a winner?” In this updated version, Arthur R. Pell, Ph.D. deftly interweaves anecdotes of how contemporary millionaires and billionaires, such as Bill Gates, Mary Kay Ash, Dave Thomas, and Sir John Templeton, achieved their wealth. Outmoded or arcane terminology and examples are faithfully refreshed to preclude any stumbling blocks to a new generation of readers.

Financial Freedom is a step-by-step path to make more money in less time, so you have more time for the things you love. It challenges the accepted narrative of spending decades working a traditional 9 to 5 job, pinching pennies, and finally earning the right to retirement at age 65, and instead offers readers an alternative: forget everything you’ve ever learned about money so that you can actually live the life you want.

Forget the old concept of retirement and the rest of the deferred-life plan–there is no need to wait and every reason not to, especially in unpredictable economic times. Whether your dream is escaping the rat race, experiencing high-end world travel, or earning a monthly five-figure income with zero management, The 4-Hour Workweek is the blueprint. Live more and work less, now with more than 100 pages of new, cutting-edge content.

Cashing Out is your roadmap to financial freedom despite a broken system. You don’t have to sacrifice your time and mental health to maximize income. Instead, financial experts Julien and Kiersten Saunders show how to design a life that allows you to enjoy the little things now while setting yourself up for future financial security.

What’s the secret to becoming a millionaire? In the newly revised The Automatic Millionaire, expanded and updated, David Bach is sharing that secret. David gives you a totally realistic system, based on timeless principles, with everything you need to know, so you can put the secret to becoming an Automatic Millionaire in place from the comfort of your own home. This powerful little book has the potential to secure your financial future. Do it once–the rest is automatic!

Broke Millennial shows step-by-step how to go from flat-broke to financial badass. Packed with refreshingly simple advice and hilarious true stories, Broke Millennial is the essential roadmap every financially clueless millennial needs to become a money master.

Millennials want to learn how to start investing. The problem is that most have no idea where to begin. In this second book in the Broke Millennial series, Erin Lowry answers those questions and delivers all of the investment basics in one easy-to-digest package. Tackling topics ranging from common terminology to how to handle your anxiety to retirement savings and even how to actually buy and sell a stock, this hands-on guide will help any investment newbie become a confident player in the market on their way to building wealth.

The trio of founders behind the global movement Female Invest brings you an empowering five-step guide with a straight-talking message: you don’t have to be an expert or a millionaire to make money. Simply equip yourself with the easy-to-follow golden rules and tools of three finance gurus to find your confidence and open a whole new world of opportunities.

In Think Like a Breadwinner, financial expert Jennifer Barrett reframes what it really means to be a breadwinner. By dismantling the narrative that women don’t–and shouldn’t–take full financial responsibility to create the lives they want, she reveals not only the importance of women building their own wealth, but also the freedom and power that comes with it. With concrete practical tools, as well as examples from her own journey, Barrett encourages women to reclaim, rejoice in, and aspire to the role of breadwinner like never before.

You Are a Badass at Making Money will launch you past the fears and stumbling blocks that have kept financial success beyond your reach. Drawing on her own transformation — over just a few years — Jen Sincero combines hilarious personal essays with bite-size, aha concepts that unlock earning potential and get real results.

Building on the lessons she’s taught millions as the founder of The Budget Mom, she shares a step-by-step plan for taking control back over your financial life — regardless of your level of income or your credit card balance. My Money My Way will give you the tools to align your emotional health with your financial health — to let go of deprivation and embrace desire.

In The Power of Zero, McKnight provides a concise, step-by-step roadmap on how to get to the 0% tax bracket by the time you retire, effectively eliminating tax rate risk from your retirement picture. Now, in this expanded edition, McKnight has updated the book with a new chapter on the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, showing readers how to navigate the new tax law, and how they can extend the life of their retirement savings by taking advantage of it now. The day of reckoning is fast approaching. Are you ready to do what it takes to experience the power of zero?

Technology has made virtually every aspect of our lives cheaper and more convenient. Shouldn’t it do the same when it comes to managing our finances? Alexa Von Tobel, the author of the bestselling classic Financially Fearless, says that it can. In this straightforward and jargon-free guide, she shows us how to use the simple tools found on any smartphone to put more money back into our wallets.

Through the LearnVest Program, you’ll create your customized 50/20/30 plan. 50/20/30 simply refers to the percentage breakdown of how to spend your take-home pay each month. The 50 gets the essentials out of the way so you don’t have to stress about them. The 20 sets your foundation for the future, then the 30 is left to spend on the things that bring happiness to your life.

From the money nerds behind the award-winning Stacking Benjamins podcast, a new kind of personal finance book to get your house in order. If you’ve ever dreamed of a basic philosophy of money that’ll help you live bigger, be bolder, and laugh harder, you need this book.

People in Japan are masters of minimal living, able to make do with less in all aspects of life, whether it’s de-cluttering personal belongings or savvy seasonal cooking. At the heart of all this is the kakeibo: the budgeting journal used to set savings goals and track spending. The premise is simple: at the beginning of each month, the prompts in this book help you to plan how much you would like to save and what you need to do in order to reach your goal. The kakeibo then gives you space to jot down your weekly spending and reflect on the month just gone. The act of completing your journal ensures that saving is a part of your everyday life, while also giving you the opportunity to reflect and improve every month.

Imparted with wit and grace, The Go-Giver is a classic bestseller that brings to life the old proverb “Give and you shall receive.” Today this timeless story continues to help its readers find fulfillment and greater success in business, in their personal lives and in their communities. This expanded edition includes the text of the original business parable, together with a foreword by Arianna Huffington, a new intro­duction, a discussion guide, and a Q&A with the authors.

For more than twenty-five years, Your Money or Your Life has been considered the go-to book for taking back your life by changing your relationship with money. Its time-tested wisdom applies to people of all ages and covers topics like investing in index funds, managing revenue streams like side hustles and freelancing, tracking your finances online, and having difficult conversations about money.

From the authors of the #1 New York Times bestseller Designing Your Life comes a revised, fully up-to-date edition of Designing Your New Work Life, a timely, urgently needed book that shows us how to transform our new uncharted work life into a meaningful dream job or company. With practical, useful tools, tips, and design ideas that show us how to navigate disruption (global, regional, or personal) and create new possibilities for our COVID work world and beyond.

Douglas helps traders overcome the ingrained mental habits that cost them money.  He takes on the myths of the market and exposes them one-by-one, teaching traders to look beyond random outcomes, to understand the true realities of risk, and to be comfortable with the “probabilities” of market movement that governs all market speculation.

After decades of working as a Wall Street trader, investment adviser, and money expert for CBS News, Jill Schlesinger reveals thirteen costly mistakes you may be making right now with your money. Drawing on personal stories and a hefty dose of humor, Schlesinger argues that even the brightest people can behave like financial dumb-asses because of emotional blind spots. So if you’ve saved for college for your kids before saving for retirement, or you’ve avoided drafting a will, this is the book for you. By following Schlesinger’s rules about retirement, college financing, insurance, real estate, and more, you can save money and avoid countless sleepless nights. It could be the smartest investment you make all year.

As the global economic landscape shifts at an increasing rate, it’s more important than ever that citizens understand the building blocks of the new world economy. In this lively guide, Randy Charles Epping cuts through the jargon to explain the fundamentals, laying bare everything from NGOs and nonprofits to AI and data mining. With a comprehensive glossary and absolutely no graphs, The New World Economy: A Beginner’s Guide is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand what is going on in the world around them. This timely book is a vital resource for today’s chaotic world.

“Adam Smith is a veteran observer and commentator on the events and people of Wall Street …. His thorough knowledge of financial affairs gives his observations a great degree of authenticity. But the joy of reading this book comes from his delightful sense of humor. He is a lively and ingeniously witty writer who never stoops to acerbity. None of the solemn, sacred cows of Wall Street escapes debunking.” —Library Journal

John Schwartz and his wife, Jeanne, are pre-retirement workers of an economic class well above the poverty line, but well below the one percent. Sharing his own alternately harrowing and hilarious stories, John will walk you through his own journey to financial literacy, which he admittedly started a bit late. He covers everything from investments to retirement and insurance to wills (at fifty-eight, he didn’t have one!), medical directives and more.

Retirement today is more complex than ever before. It is most definitely not your par­ents’ retirement. You will have to make deci­sions that weren’t even part of the picture a generation ago. In The Ultimate Retirement Guide for 50+, Suze Orman gives you the no-nonsense advice and practical tools you need to plan wisely for your retirement in today’s ever-changing landscape. You’ll find new rules for downsizing, spending wisely, delaying Social Security benefits, and more, starting where you are right now.