Personal Finance Books that Can Change Your Life

MSN Money lists their five personal finance books that can change your life. Here are the books and a few comments from them:

• Gotcha Capitalism: How Hidden Fees Rip You Off Every Day-and What You Can Do About It - If you buy one money book this year, this should be it. "Companies under pressure to keep advertised prices low have seized on trickery to pump profits up," Sullivan writes. The good news is that he also outlines ways to fight back while making a compelling case that American consumers have been left essentially unprotected for far too long.

• Get Satisfied: How Twenty People Like You Found the Satisfaction of Enough - If you think simple living means retreating to a hut on a mountainside, you're in for a pleasant surprise. The 20 people whose stories are included in "Get Satisfied" for the most part live in regular houses in urban or suburban neighborhoods across the country.

• Living Rich by Spending Smart: How to Get More of What You Really Want - I thought I knew just about every way to trim a budget, but Karp, who writes the "Spending Smart" column that runs in Tribune newspapers nationwide, presented some ideas and strategies I hadn't considered.

• It's Not About the Money: Unlock Your Money Type to Achieve Spiritual and Financial Abundance - The first chapter alone is worth the price of the book. Titled "You Will Never Have Enough," the chapter discusses the Buddhist tradition of the wanting mind: the reason we endlessly, and fruitlessly, pursue happiness through purchases.

• Your Complete Retirement Planning Road Map: A Comprehensive Action Plan for Securing IRAs, 401(k)s, and Other Retirement Plans for Yourself and Your Family - The book reproduces the questionnaires and checklists that Slott uses with his own clients to help manage a variety of retirement accounts. Slott pays particular attention to two essential issues often ignored or downplayed by other advisers: choosing beneficiaries and managing distributions.

My take on these:

1. I have read only one of these (#4), so I'm just going by MSN Money's description in making my judgments.

2. I think the first three sound interesting. I'll be tracking down the publishers to see if they'll send me a copy to review.

3. #4 was a waste of time for me. Too much "zen money" thoughts and not enough practical suggestions for me.

4. Number 5 seems like a yawner.

5. I'm not sure any of these are "life changers." Some may be good, but are they really that good? Here's my list of books that I think really can change people's lives for the better:

• The Millionaire Next Door - Whether or not you agree with the research in this book (some don't), the conclusions are valid. I've build my financial life and wealth on the principles in this book and it's worked very well for me. For more details on key thoughts from the book, see my category on the Millionaire Next Door.

• The Richest Man in Babylon - Good, basic, effective money principles. At $6.99, it's a steal for anyone concerned with managing their own personal finances. I also have a category devoted to this book.

• The Bogleheads' Guide to Investing - The best book on investing I've ever read.

• The Automatic Millionaire : A Powerful One-Step Plan to Live and Finish Rich - Simple, effective strategies for making yourself wealthy.

• Career Intensity: Business Strategy for Workplace Warriors and Entrepreneurs - Probably the best book I've ever read on managing your career. It's more for professionals, but if the principles are taken to heart, I think anyone can learn how to best manage their greatest financial asset by reading this book.

To me, this list of books can REALLY change lives. How can I say this? They've changed my life -- for the better. For the much, much better.

How about you? What books would you add to this list?

Comments

[Anonymous]

The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey did it for me!

[Mr. Stupid]

Ditto on "Millionaire Next Door". It doesn't get a lot of respect these days, but it's message have had a lasting impression on me.

I'll have to check out some of the other books you mention. I haven't read any of them.

[Miranda]

I find that there is often a lot to be learned, even in books that don't get a lot of respect (like the Millionaire Next Door).

This is a great list!

[Silva]

Financial Peace from Dave Ramsey...

[Curt at PennyJobs.com]

You guys have to read Peter Schiff's book, "Crash Proof"

Peter has predicted the economic hardship more accurately then any other economist in the world in this book. Everything from the housing crash to the credit crunch.

[Bill]

The Only Investment Guide You Will Ever Need is the one that changed me. It's full of common sense tips, delivered in a very entertaining way. I'd been using Managing Your Money (still the best personal finance software I have ever used, even though it was in DOS!!!), co-created by the author, Andy Tobias, prior to reading the book.

I've been a BIG fan ever since! By far, the best book on personal finance and investing I've read to date. It's been updated several times since the first publication (and very well at that). I did like the Automatic Millionaire, too. It's a very good book, especially for those of us (me!) who are not active with their finances (I have automated nearly everything).

[Hannah]

The book Living Rich by Spending Smart is a really good one. I read it a couple of months ago and I was very impressed, I would definitely recommend it.

[Maria]

The most enlightning book I've ever read was "Your Money Or Your Life" By Joe Dominguez. It really started my husband and I going down the path to financial freedom together. We were polar opposites about money. I was the thrifty one, and he was very casual about spending and really had no burning desire to save or spend less. We butted heads a few times over goals and saving for the future. After we read this book together we decided on what was important, and now make decisions about money as a couple not as individuals. We now weigh most purchases based on time spent working to pay for them. You'd be surprised what is does to your perspective.

[Param]

IMHO, the first book one should read before investing a single penny is "The Intelligent Investor" by Benjamin Graham. After reading the first few chapters, one can figure out if they want to go the Bogle way (Low Cost All Market Stock/Bond Index Fund) or Buffet way (Value Investing based on fundamental research). It is important to realise that getting market return is easier than it looks & getting above market return is tougher than it looks & an investor should decide which way suits them the most...

[Ken Clark - CollegeSavings.About.com]

Richest Man in Babylon... Classic...

Glad to see someone else recommending it.

People need to read books like these before they ever pick up a book about how to pick great stocks!

[Josh]

Great suggestions, and I am going to check several of these out. My all time best is Burton Malkiel's Random Walk Guide to Investing. I have read it a half dozen times and recommended it to many--beautiful in its simplicity. I have also read Malkiel's original book A Random Walk Down Wall Street. But the Random Walk Guide is more practical and to the point. He is perhaps the original Boglehead.

[kyle]

I think the Wealthy Barber does a good job of explaining the hows and whys of saving and investing at a very high level which is easy for everyone to understand. I haven't yet had a chance to take a look at The Richest Man in Babylon, but I certainly intend to read that personal finance book after reading this post

[Eden]

Interesting. I haven't read any of the 5 from MSN Money, but I have read all of *your* 5, except for Career Intensity. I'm putting that at the top of my reading list.