Finance Books That Don’t Make You Feel Like Crap

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Everyone’s all “get your finances in order. Here’s a list of finance books that will help.” And that’s great, if the books actually speak to you. Some of us need kid gloves when deciding to get our finances in order.

Here’s a list of finance books that don’t make you feel like crap, and may actually motivate you to invest time into your personal finance journey.

Motivational Finance Books

Love Your Life, Not Theirs

I’m a Rachel Cruze stan, and while her Dad’s books helped us stay out of debt, Rachel’s approach to personal finance is more my speed. Love Your Life Not Theirs speaks directly to millennials who want a better financial situation.

I Will Teach You To Be Rich

Ramit Sethi grabbed my attention with his famous email newsletters, but I Will Teach You To Be Rich is where you’ll get the real meat of his personal finance advice. He recently released a new version of the book, with updated statistics and amendments to his simple 6-week program. If you’re short on time, grab this book.

Invested

This book is a bit more advanced, because it covers how to start investing in the stock market. But, Danielle Town shares her story of changing her mindset about money, and how her dad Phil Town (a financial guru) helped her do so. Invested covers the emotional and analytical aspects of personal finance.

The Index Card

Harold Pollack tackles investing in The Index Card, and makes it look and feel as simple as it truly is. The 256 pages felt like a quick read. I suggest reading The Index Card first, then diving into Invested for a magical and motivational one-two punch.

Everyday Millionaires

Chris Hogan, author of Retire Inspired, shares stories of modern-day millionaires. Everyday Millionaires hits the motivational bell because most of these folks had regular 9 to 5 jobs, but share exactly how they used their funds to become multimillionaires. It’s a good reminder of how the amount we make doesn’t matter as much as HOW we use it.

Why Didn’t They Teach Me This In School?

This book pulls at my heart strings because Cary Siegel created it to help his 5 kids transition into adulthood. Why Didn’t They Teach Me This In School? covers all the things our parents didn’t get a chance to teach us, but really wished we knew before leaving the nest. If you’re a parent, this is one of those books to add to those graduation gifts. 

The proper order to read these personal finance books

Now that I’ve given you a finance book list that won’t make you feel like crap, there is an order in which you should read them for the best motivational fuel.

I hinted at the proper order in the disruption of Harold Pollack’s The Index Card, but let’s really take it there and create a feasible personal finance reading schedule.

1. Why Didn’t They Teach Me This In School?
2. Love Your Life, Not Theirs
3. I Will Teach You To Be Rich
4. The Index Card
5. Invested (loved ingesting this one via audiobook!)
6. Everyday Millionaires

I hope this list will help to motivate you when you decide to take on your personal finance goals. It isn’t always about yelling you into creating those budgets and retirement plans. Sometimes all it takes is a little kindness and gentle education.

Have you read any of these personal finance books? Which ones motivated you to the most?

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