I’ve deftly managed to avoid Christmas hype so far in 2007, but that ends this weekend. We’ll pick a tree on Saturday. On Sunday I’ll start my (virtual) shopping. My family exchanges $5 gifts, and it’s always fun trying to see how far I can stretch that five bucks. (Hint: summer garage sales can yield terrific deals.) This year I’m hunting for on-line bargains.
GRS readers are beginning to buzz about the season, too. In the forums, there have been a couple good threads on the subject:
- The price of the gift — “Would you give your own mother a $1.49 gift even it was awesome and you know she’d use it?”
- What I’ve spent on Christmas — Mia chronicles her Christmas shopping with comments from other GRS readers.
I’ve received some Christmas-themed questions, too. Yesterday Jess sent me e-mail looking for advice:
Congrats on getting out of debt! I’ve managed not to get myself in much at all. The constant badgering of my grandfather a few years back irritated me at the time, but I’m glad he did as I managed to avoid getting myself too far in the hole!
That said, my siblings and my girlfriend haven’t had the same opportunity to benefit from that experience, so I’m looking for recommendations on a financial book for young adults as a Christmas gift. They run the gamut from 19-23 years old. I love them all, and would love to bestow financial freedom upon them!
I found Wealth on Minimal Wage via your blog, but it didn’t have great reviews on Amazon, so I may have to pass. Do you have other suggestions for books targeted specifically at the early twenties? Is there one specific, easy-to-read and understand book that you would recommend? Total Money Makeover perhaps?
On one hand, I worry that personal finance books make strange gifts. I’s possible that if Jess gives his girlfriend a copy of Rich Dad’s Cash Flow Quadrant, the relationship may take a turn for the worse.
On the other hand, a personal finance book can be a great choice for the right person. It was because a friend gave me a copy of Your Money or Your Life that I finally turned my finances around. But the key was that I was ready to hear the message. If I had received the same book just five years earlier, it would have gathered dust upon a shelf.
To answer Jess’ question, I searched through my own personal finance books, visited other sites, and explored the reviews at Amazon. Ultimately, I came up with suggestions for several different age groups.
Books for young children
In general, young children don’t understand money and how it works. By engaging them in the actual physical presence of the stuff, it’s possible to get them to grasp an otherwise abstract concept.
- It’s a Habit, Sammy Rabbit! by Sam X. Renick. Encourages children ages 4-8 to begin saving. Learn more at the It’s a Habit web site.
- Alexander, Who Used to Be Rich Last Sunday by Judith Viorst. Fresh from his terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day, Alexander learns about money. Ages 4-8.
- The Money Savvy Pig. While this isn’t a book, it is a great way for kids to learn about saving. High marks from every source I’ve seen.
Books for older children
Pre-teens have begun to learn the value of money. They know it can get them the things they want. This is a great time to introduce them to the way money works — how it’s earned and the dangers of frittering it away.
- Growing Money: A Complete Investing Guide for Kids by Gail Karlitz. Covers banks, bonds, stocks, and financial pages. Why haven’t I read this yet? Ages 9-12.
- The Totally Awesome Money Book for Kids by Arthur and Rose Bochner. Arthur wrote the original version of this book when he was 11. Now, at age 24, he’s teamed up with his 14-year-old sister to revise it. Ages 9-12.
- What Color is Your Piggy Bank? Entrepreneurial Ideas for Self-Starting Kids by Adelia Cellini Linecker. Gets kids out of the house and earning money. Ages 9-12.
Books for teenagers
I don’t have a single money book for teens in my library. I did a deep search on Amazon, but all I could find were investment books.
- The Motley Fool Investment Guide for Teens: 8 Steps to Having More Money Than Your Parents Ever Dreamed Of by The Motley Fools. It’s no secret that if a teenager can develop the discipline to save and invest, she can acquire some kick-ass wealth relatively early in life.
- Street Wise: A Guide for Teen Investors by Janet Bamford. This appears to be a much more serious book, designed for teenagers who are actively interested in the stock market and investing.
- Cash Cache. From the same folks who produce the Money Savvy Pig, the Cash Cache is a “beginning personal finance organizer”. This comes with a 36-page handbook and a series of templates (which you can preview in PDF form).
Books for young adults
Young adults are in for a shock as they enter the real world. Suddenly they’re on their own, without the parental support to which they’re accustomed. I believe (possibly because of my own experience) that this is the most crucial stage in a person’s financial life. Begin accumulating debt, and there are years of struggle ahead. Begin saving and investing, and you can put yourself ahead of the game.
- Debt is Slavery by Michael Mihalik. I raved about this book in August. Of all the personal finance books I’ve read, I think this would have been most useful to me when I graduated from college. It’s not a comprehensive guide to IRAs and stocks and bonds. It’s a short treatise on how to take control of your financial life. (Read my review.)
- The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous, and Broke by Suze Orman. This is a pretty comprehensive introduction to personal finance aimed specifically at young adults. There’s almost too much information.
- Saving for Retirement without Living Like a Pauper or Winning the Lottery by Gail Jarvis. Stresses the importance of investing early so that the power of compound returns can be put to work.
- Get a Financial Life: Personal Finance in Your Twenties and Thirties by Beth Kobliner. This book comes highly recommended.
- You, Inc. – The Art of Selling Yourself by Harry and Christine Beckwith. I picked this book up on a whim and was pleasantly surprised. There’s nothing ground-breaking here. It simply collects scores of anecdotes used to illustrate success maxims. (This is more a success manual than a personal finance book.)
Books for old folks
I’ve begun to think of these books as old friends. I recommend them again and again. Why? Because they work. Their advice helps people get out of debt and take control of their financial situation.
- Your Money or Your Life by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin. A classic, and one of the foundation books for the simplicity movement. The authors play off the concept “time is money” in a very literal sense. They encourage readers to sort out priorities, to cut expenses, and then to seek passive income in pursuit of financial independence. A little New Age-y in spots. An excellent book.
- The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey. In debt? Living paycheck-to-paycheck? This one’s for you. Ramsey’s program is simple and sound. This book includes lots of anecdotes to drive home his points. (The book has a strong religious foundation, but you don’t have to be religious to get useful info from it.)
- The Complete Tightwad Gazette by Amy Dacyczyn. Though I’ve never read this from cover-to-cover — there are nearly 1000 pages! — I often browse this monster to find new ideas for frugal living. If you know somebody who likes to find ways to save, this is a great gift.
- The Bogleheads’ Guide to Investing by Larimore, Lindauer, and LeBoeuf. You want expert investment advice? You can’t beat the info found here. These devotees of Vanguard founder John Bogle are big on slow, sure investments like indexed mutual funds. They tap their decades of experience to teach about diversification, inflation, and asset allocation. It’s not nearly as boring as it sounds. Highly recommended.
I didn’t intend to make this list nearly so long — it’s just that personal finance books have been an influential in my own financial turnaround. The right book matched to the right reader can make a huge difference. Another way to find a book to suit your purposes is to visit the public library. Obviously you can’t give a library book as a gift, but you can browse the selection to find a title that seems appropriate for your intended recipient.
What are your recommendations? Have you ever given a personal finance book as a gift? How was it received? Which books are appropriate for which readers? What about other personal finance gifts? Are there such things?
Update: GRS readers have offered some suggestions. First, Matt Haughey re-iterates that giving an adult a personal finance book as an object lesson can be a bad idea. Don’t give preachy gifts.
Second, several people read Your Money or Your Life in high school or college, and found it excellent. HollyP writes: “I read [YMoYL] in my 20s, and what I found most enlightening about it was the link between money and energy. It really helped me clarify my priorities.”
Finally, here are a few books that readers are recommending:
- The Automatic Millionaire by David Bach. Bach explains how to set your finances on autopilot, making saving and investing hassle-free.
- The Wealthy Barber by David Chilton. Chilton relates common sense personal finance advice in the form of a folksy story. This is a good book (my review), and comes in both U.S. and Canadian versions.
- Debt-Proof Living by Mary Hunt. I’ve never read Mary Hunt before, but I hear she’s great. I have one of her books on hold at the library.
- A Random Walk Down Wall Street by Burton Malkiel. There are three GRS readers hounding me to read this. I actually have The Random Walk Guide to Investing on the kitchen table and plan to read it soon.
There are more reviews and suggestions in the comments. If you’re looking for additional ideas, be sure to read what others had to say.
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These are great suggestions JD, thanks a bunch. I’m considering getting my sister MF investment guide for teens. That looks very interesting. Shes a senior in High school and started working recently so it would be nice if she started saving her money and even investing. If she could save even $300 a month she would have a hefty sum when shes 40. She’ll be thanking me then because teens these days don’t know how far a few hundred bucks a month can amount to with the power of compounding returns.
I’ve always thought books are a great gift that keeps on giving. Thanks again for the list.
Danny
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Great and comprehensive recommendations! I think your introduction is completly right, you can give away whatever you want, the one who recieves the book has to be ready for it, after all he has to read it, and moreover apply what he learned.
sven
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I give David Bach books. They are a quick read and painless for people who do not want to read financial books. Good sound advice and he makes it easy to implement in your life.
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Great recommendations — I’d add “Get Rich Slowly” by Bill Spitz as suitable for young adults or old folks. I’d also be tempted to add a Dave Ramsey book — as with any book, you may not like all of it, but there are real gems in there to take away and use. Thanks for pulling this together — my 8-year-old may get one of your recommendations in her stocking this year!
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The Personal Finance Workbook for Dummies just came out last month, and I picked up a copy. It’s very well done and would make a great gift to young adults, but it may be one of those, “what are you trying to say?” kind of things if you give it to someone you don’t know very well.
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I have to disagree with you about the age division. I read Your Money or Your Life in college and loved it. I think it’s never too early to start on a book like that. Why wait till old age to start becoming free?
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RE: the Get Rich Slowly book – I recently obtained a copy, but haven’t read it yet. I hear great things about it. (I hope that in a couple years, there’ll be a second book with that title out there, and that it, too, will be considered a good gift!)
RE: Your Money or Your Life — That’s awesome, Andrew, that it can be read and appreciated by college-age kids. I was reluctant to include it in that section because it seems so concerned with retirement, etc. But maybe catching a person when she’s young is the best time…
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Real estate is a big component of investing for many people, and a good way to generate long-term income by buying fixer uppers and renting them out. I humbly recommend “Fix em Up Rent em Out: How to Start Your Own House Fix-up and Rental Business in Your Spare Time.”
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Ooohhh, good idea – money books for kids. I think I’m going to take a look at some of these titles for niece and nephew.
Otherwise, I’m not sure I would give a personal finance book as a gift unless I knew the person was interested in learning more or making a change.
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First of all I would like to say that I have enjoyed reading your blog for a while now. I wanted to take a moment to thank you for the valuable information that I have learned from this site. That said, I cannot thank you enough for this list of information for young children and investing. My daughter has had a savings account for around six months, and she gets so excited when she can see that her $200 has gained interest. Since she is seven, I was looking for ways to keep this excitement going. Thank you for this list again, and may God bless you and yours this Christmas season.
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I’m giving “The Boglehead’s Guide to Investing” to all of my groomsmen (I have the 10 copies sitting on my shelf right this moment). They are in the 19-25 range, and I don’t think it will be over anyone’s head – it is a fantastic entry level book.
Also, “Wise Investing Made Simple” is another AMAZING book which breaks down principles into simple anologies and stories. I’m giving that one away this Christmas to some relatives.
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I bought the paperback Smart Couples Finish Rich from Amazon, by David Bach that I’m going to give to my 24 yr. old daughter & her husband. (They have 2 kids already too). But not as a gift. I feel if a couple asks you for advice on how do we manage money or are there books we recommend, then a finance book is okay. But if I were to give this wrapped for them to open in front of all the family, it might serve as an embarrassment to them, giving others the message or implying that they don’t manage their money, (plus their finances are none of my business too). I’m visiting them for 3 weeks and I’m bringing a couple of finance books for me to read, and will just say, oh I found this book I thought you guys might be interested in taking a look at — which they can do while I’m there or after I’m gone. I just don’t want to insult them in any way. A lot of us WISH we could go back to their ages because knowing what we know now, we would not have let all that money slip through our fingers!
I like Bach books because he addresses our behavior first, then gets us motivated to WANT to change it, and is writing style is so easy to understand. Lastly, also from Amazon, I bought a hard back book written by a PhD (I admire them) that I will leave there too for my daughter. It’s called Nice Girls Don’t Get Rich – 75 Avoidable Mistakes Women Make with Money by Lois Frankel. Maybe she’ll take a look at that one too.
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I’d also add “Your Money or Your Life” to the younger adult list. I read that book in my 20s, and what I found most enlightening about it was the link between money and energy. It really helped me clarify my priorities.
What about the Automatic Millionaire for older teens/20s? It is never too early to learn the basics about compound interest.
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Good article, but you have left out one of the better debt reduction books – Debt Proof Living by Mary Hunt. This is a very well written book and, in my opinion, it is a better book than the Dave Ramsey book.
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I DON’T want to start a religious discussion, but I think it is important to note:
Dave Ramsey says over and over in his books, radio show and Financial Peace University lessons that the Bible has over 800 verses[1] related to money or material possessions/riches. Dave is also obviously a Christian, and not afraid to admit it.
My point in bringing this up is that the Bible itself has a great deal of wisdom about money. You don’t have to be Christian to at least appreciate some of the wisdom. Plenty of these verses aren’t specifically religious, such as Proverbs 22:7 – “The borrower is slave to the lender.” Anyone who’s had a collector call them or gone through a foreclosure knows the truth in that Scripture.
That said, as far as financial books as gifts, I would only offer those to people you’ve talked to specifically about money, who have expressed an interest in turning things around. People aren’t going to learn how to change their habits if they’re not ready to change their habits. I know people who are struggling, but they’re not ready for help yet. Pride comes before the fall, but its better to offer the help when it will be appreciated.
[1] I’ve seen other authors on God and money state the number of Scriptures is over 2000.
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I don’t know if I would have been ready to take the advice at the time, but I wish I had read Your Money or Your Life about 10 years ago.
Hard to say if giving one of these books unexpectedly would be well received or not. I think maybe if it was sort of an ‘extra’ gift and you still bought the person something you knew they would want.
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Impressive showing for The Automatic Millionaire. I may need to amend my post to add it to the list. It almost made the cut, but I had to get to bed. (I wrote this post between 10pm and 1am last night, and eventually gave out because I was dead tired.)
@Rick, I have Hunt’s book(s) on my list to read, but haven’t done so yet. She gets high recommendations.
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jtimberman – is there a book (other than the bible) that goes thru various bible scriptures and puts it in current terms? I’m not religious but suspect the bible really does have time tested knowledge.
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As much as I enjoy personal finance, I think I would be mildly disappointed to receive a personal finance book for Christmas.
Think fun gifts!
-Raymond
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just another plug for the Suze Orman book you mentioned, Young, Fabulous and Broke. It was perfect for me in my late twenties when all the other books seemed to focus on investing a bunch of money I didn’t have.
@Raymond: I have always loved getting books for Christmas, especially ones I’ll use over and over again. Know your audience I guess.
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One of my coworkers (who at the time was working on her MBA) asked me a bunch of investing questions a couple months before her graduation so I got her a couple of books on investing (I think they were Wall Street Words and The Lazy Person’s Guide to Investing) for her graduation, which she really did appreciate.
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I hate to go against the grain here, but I think it’s important to consider what your giftee might think of a money/investment book as a gift. Sometimes it sends a weird message and can cause more problems than it intends to solve.
I once dated a woman who had a brother that was a schoolteacher, doing fine on a meager income (he seemed perfectly content). Their mother sold real estate and bought a few apartment buildings, and ended up spending half her time as a landlord. The brother probably made $30k a year, the mom was probably worth $2-3 million with all the real estate holdings. Mom was also obsessed with money and talked about it incessantly, kids were better adjusted (IMO).
So Mom and kids don’t talk more often than once every few weeks and out of the blue, Mom gives schoolteacher son a bunch of money/investing books for xmas one year. Other kids get normal gifts like sweaters and stuff.
The brother was livid. He interpreted the gift as “you need to make more money like your Mom” and called his siblings to hear he was the only one that got money books.
At this point in my life, I make a lot more money than my own brother, but I would never get him a book about money, even though he really could use some help getting out of debt. I’m positive he’d take the gift the same way my old girlfriend’s brother did, since I know my brother slightly resents that his younger brother makes more money.
Anyway, just something to think about — sometimes people think an investment book is a passive-aggressive message that you are not making enough money or managing it wisely. I’d say make absolutely sure your book will be accepted well when you give it instead of it seeming like advice no one asked for.
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What a great list! I wish my family did a gift exchange or a limit on what is spent on gifts. The hunt and the meaning is much more important than how much was spent.
Great post!
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I think Matt is spot-on here. I think there’s an age group for which this sort of thing is appropriate. I think young adulthood is the top end in most cases. Young adults expect to get advice, especially from their parents. For kids and teens, it’s just a part of daily life. But once a person is 25 (or 23 or 21), this sort of thing becomes a little dangerous. You really need to know your audience.
The way my friend gave me Your Money or Your Life was perfect. He knew that I had a problem. He knew that I was looking for help. He took me to lunch, told me about the book, and then had Amazon send me a copy. I knew that he was genuinely trying to help, and very much responding to stuff that I had initiated.
If a friend or family member came to me with money problems, I might mention a book or two and explain why I liked them. In this case, especially if they were receptive, I think it’s a great idea to give them as gifts. But I wouldn’t just buy Total Money Makeover for somebody out of the blue…
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The first book that popped into my head, which I haven’t seen mentioned so far, is The Wealthy Barber by David Chilton. It would be appropriate for college age, or even teenagers. It was the first personal finance book that I can remember reading and it helped me start out on the right track.
I’m Canadian (as is Chilton), but I think there’s a US specific version as well.
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The It’s a Habit, Sammy Rabbit book and the Sammy Mission 1 Celebrate Saving Music CD are FANTASTIC! I recently had the opportunity to use them both for the first time to train first graders on the importance of saving. Not only did the students light up like I’ve never seen before, but I had a blast as well! The book and CD were featured in Kiplinger’s and David Bach also mentioned in an article it’s one of his favorite books for kids as well.
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i skimmed through the automatic millionaire workbook at borders last night.. pretty easy read.. david bach gives you the fundamentals to make it happen
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I’d reccommend to Jess “Getting Loaded” by Peter Bielagus, as that hasn’t been mentioned yet. It’s a great book for 19-23 year old age range – easy to understand, solid advice, and witty too.
http://www.amazon.com/Getting-Loaded-Strategies-Million-YoungEnough/dp/0451205928/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1197048333&sr=8-2
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I wholeheartedly recommend “A Random Walk Down Wall Street”. By Burton Malkiel.
http://www.amazon.com/Random-Walk-Down-Wall-Street/dp/0393330338/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1197048991&sr=8-1
This book is a WONDERFUL place to really flesh out your understanding of how the stock market works.
It DOES go over all the basics, epxlains stocks bonds, funds, etc. As well as the pros and cons of each.
But much more importantly, it goes through some theories of how people invest. People that use charts and statistics to buy. People that try to evaluate the actual value of a stock, and buy that stock when the price is lower than it’s value.
It really helped me understand the different ways and reasons for why people made their buying decisions.
Burton is a big fan of mutual funds, paying as few fees as possible, and not trying to “beat the market” over the long run, since only very few people do. And he believes that the ones that do are merely Lucky. (Statistics support this idea).
I would aim this for a college student or grad to read. It is probably above the head of your average high schooler (but not all of them!)
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I would recommend these 2 books for all humankind:
#1 Financial Peace Revisited by Dave Ramsey. I’m probably one of the few who prefers this one over The Total Money Makeover, but this is the book that Dave Ramsey sold out of the trunk of his car when he was first getting going. This was his original manifesto, and I just find it more powerful than TTMM. Reading this book is like having The North Wind blowing in your face. As a “sidekick” to this book, I would recommend How to Ruin Your Financial Life by Ben Stein.
Also, success books will help you develop skills that DIRECTLY help your personal finances as much as any personal finance book, so …
#2 The Success Principles by Jack Canfield. In this one book, Canfield has recorded all the principles that are basically recommended in the majority of success books, those “universal truths” that all the various success books seem to agree on. As a sidekick to this book, I would recommend Secrets of the Millionaire Mind by T. Harv Eker.
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Thanks again for answering my question! It’s actually inspired me to buy a book for my 3 siblings (instead of just two), my mother and my girlfriends 4-year-old nephew!
And probably one or two for myself.. but only after the season of giving
Edit: After refreshing and reading through the new comments, I’ve decided to modify my amazon shopping cart slightly. I was originally going to give two copies of “Young, Fabulous & Broke” but decided with Alan’s suggestion of “Getting Loaded” for my youngest brother. Maybe I can get them all to let me borrow the books after they’re done with them!
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alan.. getting loaded was one of the first personal finance books i ever read in my life.. and i enjoyed it.. he makes it a little comical as well so it isn’t a drag to read
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I don’t know if I could recommend the Suze Orman book too highly. I read it when I was 21 and it was my first money book, but I found it to be so complicated that I wasn’t motivated to do much of anything afterwards. I think I was looking for a book that related more precisely to my situation (being in college, working part-time, and trying to prepare for student loans after graduation), and while that book had good information, it seemed more geared towards the mid to late twenties age group.
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I have a different recommendation that rarely gets mentioned. I like it because it’s different — it’s meant to read like a fiction tale, but in reality it’s a parable meant to teach us a lesson.
There isn’t a lot of specific market advice, but it is a great way to be introduced to the basic principles that underlay facing up to one’s financial health.
The book? “The Richest Man in Babylon”.
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I also think the Wealthy Barber is good choice, especially for people who hate the topic of money. I grew up in a family of accountants and thought it was a little silly, but I know a couple of people who couldn’t get more than one page into any personal finance book but that one. I also like Personal Finance for Dummies (Tyson) and A Random Walk Down Wall Street (Malkiel). My cousin got Random Walk at about age 10 and loved it, but that may be atypical.
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I am interested in personal finance, but I would be very disappointed to receive a personal finance book as a gift. To me this is akin to receiving a dieting book or another kind of self-help book. It can imply that the giver thinks the receiver needs help.
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You know what would be great? If all the High School English teachers, during the Sr. year, made reading a Finance book a requirement! — One year before college when all the Freshman get bombarded with credit cards in the mail. And then what would also be beneficial is if some college students who were maxed out on credit cards, came to high schools and talked to Seniors about that.
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I highly recommend John T. Reed’s book “Succeeding”. Go to http://www.johntreed.com/succeeding.html
Slightly different from all the mainstream financial books. Worth every penny.
If others have read this book, I’d like to hear your thoughts on it.
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I would definitely add “The Secrets of Money – A Guide for Everyone on Practical Financial Literacy” by Braun Mincher (http://www.braunmincher.com).
It has some great information about some of the simpler aspects of finance and is written in a very straight forward, fun to read way.
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[...] at Get Rich Slowly has a good post on giving personal finance books as gifts, including discussion of whether such books make good gifts and some age-based [...]
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I have actually issued a nationwide “Challenge” to high schools and colleges to make Financial Literacy classes a graduation requirement (just like math, English, science, etc.) — right now, only 7 states have this. I am offering the semester curriculum and a free book to each student if they take me up on it — details are on my website at http://www.BraunMincher.com.
Braun Mincher, Author
The Secrets of Money: A Guide for Everyone on Practical Financial Literacy
http://www.BraunMincher.com
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Sandy, that is a great idea! I wonder how that could be done. HS and college students alike are lacking in financial education, it seems like it’s something we all just have to learn on our own unfortunately. And those lessons are usually learned the hard way.
As for The Wealthy Barber and The Richest Man in Babylon recommendations, to me both were pretty much the same book. If you read one, you probably don’t need to read the other. Both are fictional tales about seemingly poor people (a pauper and a barber) and they live well below their means, but over time they accrue an amazing net worth. Both are indeed solid reads, but I think you only need to read one to learn the lessons taught in the book.
One last book that I like that doesn’t show up on many financial book lists either is Russ Whitney’s “Building Wealth.”
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw/103-7255367-3302208?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=russ+whitney%27s
It’s more of an inspirational book. You probably won’t learn anything new in it, but you’ll read it and get motivated to actually make changes about your financial situation. Sometimes people just need that kick in the ass rather than learning something new, and that’s a good book for that.
I’ll have to read “A Walk Down Wall Street” and Dave Ramsey’s books now, thanks for the recs on those.
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Oh sorry, to follow up on my previous post…I see know that Russ Whitney’s books all start with “Building Wealth”. The one I was referring to is “Rags to Riches in Real Estate.”
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I would give such books as gifts, but not for holiday gifts — unless they were asked for; they’re too open to interpretation as “message gifts”. I would give them as “transition” gifts: graduation, retirement, new job, divorce, marriage, etc., especially if I know the people involved have shared info about financial difficulties. As JD suggested, I would also give a book to a friend who was concerned about finances.
Thanks for sharing all the choices, though — I have my eye on the piggy bank for my , kids, and I added a few books to my library request list.
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You know, with our addiction to money and stuff these days, I think that maybe for kids the most meaningful “money” books they can read are things “Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl” or “Children of the Great Depression” (Russell Freedman, Clarion Books / 2005). Oh, and lots of adults could benefit from these same books too, when it comes appreciating just how rich most of us already are. Yeah, yeah,I know …. Merry Hum Bug,
Stay Cheap!
Jeff Yeager, The Ultimate Cheapskate (AKA The Commander-in-Cheap)
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J.D., I would encourage you to go through my website – I have reviewed almost every PF book there is!
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Just a warning for anyone considering buying Suze Ormans book:
My mom gave it to me last year for Christmas. I was 21 and wanted to learn about credit and mortgages and what not. Anyways, I followed her advice and went to check my credit and FICO scores at the website she suggested, paying 50 dollars to do so. It was about two weeks later I found out a) you can find out your credit score for free and b) cheaper places to get your FICO score, which isn’t that necessary to know esp if you’re young and haven’t really applied for much credit anyways.
Anyways, the link was to some affiliate of hers which really pissed me off because I don’t think she should be trying to make money off broke young people. We bought the book, take it easy Suze.
It just didn’t seem like she knew who the audience she was writing for was: Most of her recommendations take a lot of money (investments, mortgages) and there are too many “fun blurbs” and “check this out on my website” text boxes that are really distracting.
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One of the first personal finance(ish) books I read (when I was 18 or 19) was Where’s Dad Now That I Need Him? It starts off with personal finance topics and goes into other useful subjects that young people will probably find useful. My guess is that anyone who’s not already a personal finance geek won’t want to read 200+ pages of straight personal finance. As for the recommendation for the Richest Man in Babylon… the book has good principles, but it put me to sleep.
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These books for kids sound great: my brother and sister (twins, age 10) receive a fair amount of money as gifts and my mother is pulling her hair out trying to figure out how to teach them about good financial habits; this is especially hard since she herself was not well-educated about money growing up.
I have to disagree with Nicole, above, though I’m sure my disagreement stems from being in a different life circumstance. I just recently got Suze Orman’s book (Young, Fabulous, and Broke) and I really like it. I think it’s a great resource for me, as a single twentysomething in her first career-oriented job, trying to pay off old credit card debt and get things sorted out. Probably half of the things in the book don’t apply to me yet — I’m not in the market to buy a house, for example, nor am I getting married — but I think that I’ll get my $12 worth in the end. If I had been able to blow through the book and finish all the action steps immediately, it wouldn’t have been a very good resource, IMO.
Maybe my edition of the book is more current than the one the person above was reading, but the recommended website for getting my FICO score (which I got) only charged me $15. And I’m pretty sure Orman also mentioned that you can get your credit report for free. She does get a little too hip with the lingo sometimes, but I found the book to be quite clear and not confusing; also the resources on her website ARE pretty helpful. I suppose I like having someone tell me exactly what steps to take, in exactly what order, to get my financial life moving in the right direction.
I’m looking forward to checking out some of these other books!
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That’s great Braun that you have challenged high schools & colleges to make financial literacy a graduation requirement. I see you are offering your book free to them – I just wouldn’t want anyone to benefit financially off the kids. It probably would be better for them to have a long list of books from multiple authors, and let them choose which one appeals to them personally. There is no one right book for all.
Credit card debt isn’t exclusive to young people, in all fairness. I know several college-aged students who actually are worried about their parents’ finances, knowing they might have to become responsible for them later, and it’s a big worry to them. But I really would like to see information getting out to Seniors and college-ages because having to repay student loans is enough pressure, but to be in heavy debt due to charge cards is just too much. I was thinking that Dr. Phil should do a show about this. I know he’s done shows, and so has Oprah, with couples in their 30′s and 40′s, and bring in financial planners for them to set them up on a budget, but to my knowledge neither has done a show about college students in heavy debt. And it has to be a big problem, not just in our country, but other ones too.
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