The Young Adults Guide to Personal Finance Books

27 handy personal finance books that young adults will appreciate

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Don’t wait until you’re on the career ladder or have your own permanent place of residence to get money savvy. The sooner you learn, the better is the motto with personal finance and these books will give you useful insights into how to successfully manage your money before it’s too late.

#1 I Heart Money by David Campbell Lester

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Only when you improve your relationship with money can you improve your overall finances. Money tactics are just tactics. You have to know why you want money in the first place, why you want those things based on your core values, and how to make a plan to get it all. This is the best financial book for couples, singles, for college students, and will affect your relationship for the better. It is one of the best financial management and personal finance books of all times.

#2 Financial Freedom by Grant Sabatier

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The book Financial Freedom by Grant Sabatier is one of the best finance books I’ve read in a long time. It literally covers everything you can think of about gaining control of your finances and offers a lot of online calculators as well. Instead of just giving you all the same old basics on investing that have already been covered by every finance book under the sun. Instead, this books outlines a path to becoming financially independent, which makes it such a great book for young adults.

#3 Money Matters by Karen Ford

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Money Matters is a sensible, down-to-earth, pragmatic approach to paying down debt and building passive income. This book provides sound teaching and practical guidance for learning how to manage finances and invest in your future. If you are ready to move out of financial bondage and into financial freedom, then Money Matters will provide you with hope and positive direction while building your faith and increasing your ability to walk in generosity.

#4 You Can Do It! by Karen Ford

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Do you desire a greater income stream? Have you wondered how you can create a larger income so you have a lifestyle that allows for freedom?Whether you’re a real estate investor or delving into buying your first property, this book will provide the keys to real estate investing and it will be your go to book again and again.

#5 How To Produce Abundance In Your Life by John Polis

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God’s purpose has never changed with regards to abundance. He is El Shaddai which means more than enough. In other words, abundance. He wants us to be fully supplied and thoroughly furnished so we can be God’s instrument of blessing in the earth. Abundance is God’s means for us to be lavishly blessed with enough left over to lavish on others. It’s a promise far too few of us have dared to believe.

#6 Retire Before Mom and Dad By Rob Berger

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Retire Before Mom and Dad isn’t just for the twenty-somethings looking to do it easier than their parents. Rob Berger, deputy editor of Forbes, wants to change how anyone approaches money. Right off the bat, he fires away at classic money myths we all live by, the Five Lies as he calls them. Through real life stories and simple math, he demonstrates why anyone, regardless of income, has financial freedom within their own power. Berger demystifies some of the best approaches to wealth-building, including investments, savings and the Money Multiplier. This is the book you want to hand your sister starting her first post college job or nephew who needs to get a grip on his finances.

#7 The Little Book of Common Sense Investing by John C. Bogle

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In the The Little Book of Common Sense Investing, John Bogle effectively argues that it’s far too difficult for the average investor to consistently pick individual stock winners and for this reason, investors should invest in the stock market itself by investing in the S&P 500 or Total Stock Market index funds. By investing in these index funds, investors will earn average returns and avoid the concentrated risk of individual stocks.

#8 The Richest Man in Babylon by George Samuel Clason

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“I recommend The Richest Man in Babylon because it contains very easy-to-understand parables. Young adults who read this book will understand the importance of paying themselves first, compound interest, insurance, and more.

In my opinion, it is a perfect read for teenagers who haven’t been taught money management before. This will surely put them on the path to becoming financially literate.”

#9 Your Money or Your Life by Vicki Robin

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Robin’s book has been incredibly influential in the financial independence community. Learn how to take control of your finances and your future.

#10 I Will Teach You to Be Reach by Ramit Sethi

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Sethi’s book made a big impact on my financial journey. Sethi tells readers it’s okay to spend lavishly on what’s most important to you. But, cut aggressively elsewhere and invest for your future. Sethi writes with a style and tone that feels modern and approachable, yet authoritative.

#11 The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey

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I love Ramsey’s writing and the baby step program for its practicality. Ramsey grabs you by the shoulders and shakes the sense in to you. The baby steps, to me, are a can’t fail system — they’re simple, but still account for the details and levels of priority in your financial world.

#12 The Graduates Survival Guide by Anthony ONeal and Rachel Cruze

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This book is essential for every high school student who is planning on going to college. It guides young adults through making smart decisions in regards to paying for college and not taking on huge amounts of debt. The choices that students make in college can have significant impact on the rest of their life so it’s important to start out on the best foot possible.

#13 Millionaire Next Door by William D. Danko

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This book was an absolute gamechanger for me and the way I view my finances. This book should be a staple for schools teaching personal finance. It helped me shape my view of saving money and how to stay humble with your finances regardless of the financial success you achieve.

#14 The One-Page Financial Plan by Carl Richards

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For people who are intimidated by finance need to get a hold of this book. Many young adults feel clueless or hopeless when it comes to their finances. Understandably, young adults want to be reassured when they are dealing with their finances. They are craving more than good advice, they just want the best advice out there. Young adults should do themselves the favor of reading through the chapters of this book to feel more confident when working with their finances. This book does a great job of explaining how the behavior of spending will indicate if a person is financially successful.

#15 The Lean Startup by Eric Ries

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According to FastCompany, 75 percent of venture-backed startups fail. But many don’t realize that those failures are preventable. The Lean Startup is a new approach being adopted across the globe, changing the way companies are built and new products are launched. It can help young entrepreneurs learn how to test their vision, adapt, and adjust before it’s too late. The approach the author uses is scientific in nature and very innovative in manner. I would highly recommend this book to any young adults interested in personal finance or the startup culture.

#16 Your Money Ratios by Farrell J.D. LL.M.

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This is one of the books I buy for the kids of my clients who want to get started and know how to think about savings, investing, insurance and pretty much all things financial.

#17 The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Weiss

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“A must-have book for any aspiring entrepreneur that is starting their personal finance journey. The book focuses more on the mindset of an entrepreneur and how to think of yourself as the business. Part-inspirational and part-factual, the book is about the author’s journey as an entrepreneur and achieving a 4-hour workweek.

I think it’s a foundational finance book for young adults, as it helps them understand business in the 21st century and the importance of eCommerce. The book won’t teach you how to actually work 4 hours per week, but rather how to think differently about business, starting from your own personal expenditures.”

#18 Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki

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Rich Dad Poor Dad is the book in which, Robert T. Kiyosaki talks about his real father (Poor Dad) and his best friend’s father (Rich Dad) and how both of them shaped his mindset about money and investment. He explains the difference between working for money and having money work for you. Robert also explains that to get wealthy, you need to understand which way the money is flowing.

#19 Get a Financial Life by Beth Kobliner

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While I’m far beyond the age cutoff for being considered a young adult, I still feel that almost every adult in any age range could benefit from reading Kobliner’s book. The aspects of managing finances that it discusses such as student loan debt management are obviously more applicable to young adults in or leaving college, but don’t forget plenty of older generations have gone back to college and had to learn how to manage student loan debt as well.

This book can serve as an incredibly helpful guide for many of the financial obstacles that you wish you’d been exposed to in high school such as how to choose the right car payment plans, dealing with health insurance, and many other issues that young adults enter the “real world” with zero clue how to properly tackle. It’s difficult to get young adults to read about personal finance, but this book makes the topic very accessible and easy to read without growing tired with boredom. Even older adults who think they have a strong grasp on finances could benefit from reading it as many approaches to devising sound financial strategies have changed significantly over the years. It may not answer every question in the financial realm that you may have, but it’ll certainly provide the framework for you to easily find out how to answer them.

#20 Rich Dad Poor Dad for Teens by Robert Kioysaki

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Rich dad, poor dad opened up my eyes to the world of entrepreneurship and investing many years ago. So I was ecstatic when I learned that there is a teen version of the book to share with my kids. The book explains in a simpler terms various types of income: passive, earned and portfolio ones. It also introduces teenagers to such concepts as financial statements and cash flow and teaches how to create a basic one. I wish these concepts were taught in our schools so that kids would be more prepared for the real world. My favorite quote from this book is, “Life is filled with ups and downs, pluses and minuses, good days and bad. In the financial world we call these assets and liabilities. One puts money into your pocket and one takes money out.”

#21 Financial Freedom by Chase Lawson

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Financial Freedom provides useful tips for the average American to utilize to take control of their financial lives. It’s written by a 26-year-old who’s personally overcome over $23,000 in credit card debt and now owns a home in Austin, Texas. He breaks down numerous topics that the average American can benefit from and apply right away to their own lives. It’s a great, easy, fun way to learn financial concepts at a younger age to start building wealth for your future.

#22 Money Habitudes for Teens by Syble Solomon

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“This is a deck of cards that helps teens discover their own money personality profile.

Michelle Singletary, financial columnist for the Washington Post, featured Money Habitudes as her financial book selection of the month-the first time she included a non-book for this honor.

There is also a workbook, My Money Habitudes that provides additional information on how we develop our habits and attitudes about money with activities, walks the teen through how to play and interpret the cards and provides suggestions for next steps. They are used in schools and youth programs and can easily be done independently by a teen.”

#23 Why Didn’t They Teach Me This In School by Cary Siegel

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This is a great book for young adults because it tackles some of the issues that demographic is facing for the first time for the most part – how to spend less than you make, understanding credit card debt and why it’s so important to avoid, and how to handle your first auto loan. Yes, a lot of this work contains lessons and tips that may seem like common rules of thumb to most of us, but it’s needed for young adults to actually read this stuff in order for it to sink in.

#24 Get Money by Kristin Wong

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This book is great for young adults because it addresses the fact that for the most part, young folks either don’t like to manage money or don’t realize its importance, which it obviously dispels. What’s neat about this book is that the author gamifies the approach to money management, making it much more attractive to the younger generation. And the way it is written is basically a step-by-step guide for how to handle and overcome all of the financial challenges typically experienced by young people.

#25 I Am Net Worthy – The Financial Master Plan For Millennials by Chris Smith

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Chris Smith began writing books on personal finance after a successful career as a senior financial executive working in the technology sector, and he has a knack for simplifying financial concepts through the use of stories, pictures and analogies. In this comprehensive, easily digested book (293 pages long), readers will learn about a complete set of proven financial principles that anybody can follow, and those principles are thoroughly explained by a diverse group of Millennials that are led by Chris. The team covers topics such as: where to live, buying a car, dealing with student loans (and other forms of debt), investing for the future, and even building a million-dollar retirement nest-egg. In summary, this is an entertaining and informative book that provides an excellent foundation for novices just learning about the economic world in which we live.

#26 Money Bitch! by Nicholle Overkamp & Sarah Blankenship

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A book for women about money and taking control of their own financial lives. Our mission is to help women and their families Own Their Financial future by sharing real- life stories of clients we have worked with in the past and provide relatable situations so that you can start to ask the questions you might not even know you should. We make daunting and dull topics a bit more fun and easy to understand so that you can start taking action on your money goals right away.

Written by Eve O'Rourke

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