What is Financial Literacy? How do I educate myself financially? These are questions you might be asking yourself while reading this post. It is important to educate yourself financially as young as you are right now so that you can live a financially free life. According to Annuity, financially literacy means knowing how to manage your money from paying bills, saving, and investing into your future. One of the many ways you can educate yourself to be financially literate is through reading books. Below are some books that I think would be beneficial for you to read to gain that financial free life. Please note, they are not in any particular order.

  1. Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki

You have probably heard of this book. It is an old golden gem which financial principles still apply till today. This book teaches you the power of controlling wealth instead of wealth controlling you. The wisdom in this book is priceless. It is truly a great read and quite beginner friendly as well. It is a book that teaches you how to let money work for you and indeed gain that financial freedom. With a practical story to relate to, you will not just be earning your regular income but amassing wealth through it.

2. I will teach you to be rich by Ramit Sethi

What I love about this book is how practical it is. There are life-changing stories of those earning six figures after implementing strategies from this book. This is a good book to read now because the author emphasizes starting early with these financial strategies is the most effective way to go. It teaches you how to get started on making money and take it one step at a time with a practical six-week program to follow. Now I will say at first glance of reading this book, it is quite brutally honest. However, the author is saying the painful truth which majority will not tell you concerning your finances. With practical tips and working through the helpful worksheets in this book, see yourself earning some extra coins!

3. The Bogleheads’ Guide to Investing by Taylor Larimore, Mel Lindauer, Michael LeBoeuf

If you have looked into how to become wealthy, chances are you have probably heard the advice of investing. So many questions come into your mind of what is investing, how and what should I invest. This book answers these questions and makes investing not as challenging. This book also provides other books and websites you can learn from on the issue of financial investing. This book goes into the nitty-gritty of investing from examining taxes to managing assets. It is a quite more complicated read but if you take your time, you will understand the concepts. Furthermore, there is a glossary of financial terms in the book to provide more depth into your financial understanding.

4. We should all be Millionaires by Rachel Rodgers

This book is targeted towards black women making millions looking at the million-dollar behavior and million-dollar roadmap. However, any one can read the book and gain wonderful life changing insights. Rachel shares her own experience as a lawyer who quit her job to start her remote company from scratch that led to her making millions. From this, she started to share her journey to wealth with others. There are so many ways to become a millionaire which she shares from personal experiences. For example, a teacher, an attorney, and one who was working a 9-5 job who all implemented financial strategies that led them to becoming millionaires in a few years. She lets us into the little secret that attaining wealth is not about money. So, what is it about? Well, you will never know unless you read the book.

5. The Only Budgeting Book You’ll ever need by Tere Stouffer

This book goes into details on how to budget to make the most out of the income you earn. If you have no idea on budgeting and how to go about it, this is a great book to start with. It is not a complicated read but goes into amazing details on how to budget every aspect of your financial life. The book provides template worksheets to use in planning your budget. It really does make budgeting effortless. It is helpful because it takes into consideration how to budget for your future from marriage to family and retirement. So go ahead, give this book a read and learn simple tips in budgeting that could drastically change your financial life.

BONUS: The White Coat Investor: A Doctor’s Guide to Personal Finance and Investing by James M. Dahle, MD

This one is a special bonus for all my fellow pre-meds. Most people say that even though doctors earn a significant amount of money, they are not as financially smart as certain professions. This book will guide you to not only be a great doctor medically but a great doctor financially as well. You will be adequately prepared into earning a proper six figure salary by residency instead of worrying about paying off the dreaded student loans you have acquired from all the years of schooling.

I trust that you will give at least one of these books a read. If you want to be educated financially, read. If you want to be wealthy, read! They are all quite easy to read and will not take you too long. In fact, you could learn so much if you decide to just skim instead of read. It is important to not just read but take action with the principles mentioned.

References

Financial Literacy. Annuity.org. Retrieved from https://www.annuity.org/financial-literacy/