A Millennials’ Guide to Finance

Alexa von Tobel is the chief digital officer at Northwestern Mutual as well as founder and CEO of LearnVest. Her book, Financially Forward, updates the personal finance genre for the digital age. Millennials’ wallets are almost fully digital and cash-free, and that’s the future von Tobel believes we need to plan for. In this guide to financing your digital future, she teaches you how to optimize new trends that are impacting your finances, navigate mobile pay and benefit from cash-free living, keep your accounts ultra-secure, and what to do about the future of digital currency like Bitcoin.

If you’re a cash-strapped 20- or 30-something, it’s easy to get freaked out by finances. But you’re not doomed to spend your life drowning in debt or mystified by money. It’s time to stop scraping by and take control of your money and your life with this savvy and smart guide. Broke Millennial shows step-by-step how to go from flat-broke to financial badass.

The acronym FIRE stands for Financial Independence, Retire Early, and Kristy Shen is a leader in that movement. Now, she’s passing on the torch with a reproducible formula for retiring at any age. Shen will show you how to grow your wealth so you can retire early and live life however you want. She’s not just talking either: she retired with a million dollars at age 31, and she did it without a financial cushion to begin with. She didn’t just get lucky with stock, tech, or hot real estate—her tried-and-true plan for quitting early was the ultimate key.

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.” An invaluable guide to cultivating good financial habits and making your money work for you, Get Good with Money will help you build a solid foundation for your life (and legacy) that’s rich in every way.

The author of Broke Millennial presents a second book in her series, this time offering investing basics for our cash-challenged generation. This one is for anyone who feels they don’t know enough or have enough money to get into the market. Lowry addresses whether or not millennials should invest while paying down student loans, how to invest in a socially responsible way, and how to get investment advice without being rich. This hands-on guide will help new investors confidently begin with an investment strategy.

If you want to figure out how to adult with money but you’re allergic to personal investment books, Bari Tessler’s The Art of Money is the answer. Tessler is a self-described “mamapreneur,” whose warm, holistic approach to finances will calm even the most anxious soul. Through techniques that include storytelling, emotional awareness, somatic check-ins, and down-to-earth financial practices, Tessler shows you how your relationship with money can be an integral, vital part of your life. By the end of it, you might even like thinking about money.

Does fear and insecurity keep you from looking at your bank account? Is your financial anxiety holding you captive? You don’t have to stress about money anymore. YOU can take back control. 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. Kumiko Love’s paradigm-shifting system will teach you how to honor your unique personal values, driving emotions, and particular needs so that you can stop worrying about money and start living a financially fulfilled life.

Grant Sabatier was dubbed “the Millennial Millionaire” by CNBC when he built up a net worth of over $1.25 million by age 29. Five years earlier, he had woken up to find just $2.26 in his bank account. On his way to financial independence, Sabatier learned that most of what we think we know about money, work, and retirement is either incorrect or obsolete. He teaches readers how to make the most of their time so they can achieve financial independence early and live the lives they really want.

People in Japan are masters of minimal living, able to make do with less in all aspects of life. 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 plan how much you would like to save and what you need to do in order to reach your goal. 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.

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, Jen Sincero combines hilarious personal essays with bite-size, aha concepts that unlock earning potential and get real results. This is a life-changing guide to making the kind of money you’ve only ever dreamed of.

What if we told you that Tiffany “The Budgetnista” Aliche hasn’t paid a bill in over a decade and has a credit score over 800? In this audiobook, Tiffany will teach you what took her years to learn. The One Week Budget is for anyone that wants to manage their day-to-day money without the day-to-day hassle.

From the money nerds behind the award-winning Stacking Benjamins podcast, here is a new kind of personal finance book to get your house in order. Learn about everything from side hustles, to hiring a legit financial adviser, to what’s new and exciting—and actually work your time—in financial apps and software. If you’re looking for the same old get-rich-quick clichés, avocado toast shaming, or alphabet soup of incomprehensible financial terms, you won’t find them here. Instead, Saul-Sehy and Birken take you step-by-step along the way to financial success, with their signature blend of shrewd financial information and wacky humor.