Money Books for Newbies

[JDARNELL]

I am trying to pull together some good reads for my recent college grad son. He has been adulting since May, in a career development ladder program, and is learning to live within his means. His first appraisal was excellent and it seems he is standing out at work. Today we sat down and did a recap of his financial progress so far.

0. No debt- Check
1. Emergency fund- Check
2. HSA account set up with contributions to max out in 2024- Check.
3. Roth 401K contributions set 1% above the employer 100% match- Check.
4. Budgeting trial and error continues.

He is really doing well overall.

He has asked me for some initial finance/money books to begin increasing his knowledge. I don't want to get two technical and biased based on my experience so would like to know what you all recommend for him to start reading.

JDARNELL

 

[disneysteve]

The Millionaire Next Door. I think mindset is even more important than technical knowledge when starting out. If you live below your means from the start you’ll be golden.

 

[Onda]

I second this: The Millionaire Next Door.

 

[mountaintosea]

Your Money or Your Life


by Vicki Robin and Joe Dominguez

 

[FLSUnFIRE]

The Simple Path to Wealth -J.R. Collins

 

[FLSUnFIRE]

Not specific to finance but I think Atomic Habits is another good one that can help set the stage for success in life in many domains.

 

[kgtest]

I am trying to pull together some good reads for my recent college grad son. He has been adulting since May, in a career development ladder program, and is learning to live within his means. His first appraisal was excellent and it seems he is standing out at work. Today we sat down and did a recap of his financial progress so far.

0. No debt- Check
1. Emergency fund- Check
2. HSA account set up with contributions to max out in 2024- Check.
3. Roth 401K contributions set 1% above the employer 100% match- Check.
4. Budgeting trial and error continues.

He is really doing well overall.

He has asked me for some initial finance/money books to begin increasing his knowledge. I don't want to get two technical and biased based on my experience so would like to know what you all recommend for him to start reading.

JDARNELL

Lol, budgeting is always a fun one. I've been adulting looong before your son and still have issues nailing it all down hehehe.

If there was a book called "Meet the girl, and finally move out of mom and dad's basement" than that would have been the book that I would have needed to read when I was 20.

Someone clued me into 401k savings at some point, I think it was a friend who maybe put my budgeting skill (or lack thereof) in check one day when he mentioned "I hope you are saving some for later!". I really wasn't.

I would tell him the first 100k takes a while, so does the first 1MM, but the SECOND Million will come much easier!

I read a book about investing in residential real estate and that really helped me. I wish I knew the author, I bet my dad still has it stored somewhere so I will ask him.

Mostly your son will probably learn from you! The ole monkey see, monkey do! Even as large children they still have that natural instinct.

I read Enough. And Stay the Course, and Napoleon Hill's Think and Grow Rich.

I read a few business books in college that REALLY helped me get where I am today. They were very specific to forming my own business, which in my opinion has made the single largest impact to my wealth building strategy.

 

[tulak]

I Will Teach You To Be Rich.

I haven’t read it, but DS, who is young and financially savvy, recommended it. I bought a copy for DD based on his recommendation.

The title is a bit much, but I’ve been told the content is good. He covers more than investing and promotes keeping it simple.

In the past, I’ve recommended Millionaire Teacher, but that is mostly focused around saving/investing.

 

[Al18]

The Millionaire Next Door is pretty old. I recommend the updated version released 2018 The Next Millionaire Next Door

 

[JDARNELL]

Lol, budgeting is always a fun one. I've been adulting looong before your son and still have issues nailing it all down hehehe.

If there was a book called "Meet the girl, and finally move out of mom and dad's basement" than that would have been the book that I would have needed to read when I was 20.

Someone clued me into 401k savings at some point, I think it was a friend who maybe put my budgeting skill (or lack thereof) in check one day when he mentioned "I hope you are saving some for later!". I really wasn't.

I would tell him the first 100k takes a while, so does the first 1MM, but the SECOND Million will come much easier!

I read a book about investing in residential real estate and that really helped me. I wish I knew the author, I bet my dad still has it stored somewhere so I will ask him.

Mostly your son will probably learn from you! The ole monkey see, monkey do! Even as large children they still have that natural instinct.

I read Enough. And Stay the Course, and Napoleon Hill's Think and Grow Rich.

I read a few business books in college that REALLY helped me get where I am today. They were very specific to forming my own business, which in my opinion has made the single largest impact to my wealth building strategy.

Budgeting is still something that I loath but do. I try and change my mindset and call it a spend plan.

Just think of the money one would make about meeting a girl at 20 and moving out of the basement.

In HS I had him read

1. The millionaire next door
2. Total Money Make Over
3. The richest man in Babylon

I should probably have him plow this ground again. Also I have these recommendations so far.

Your money or your life
The Simple Path to wealth
I will teach you to be Rich

Today as we were setting up his HSA he struggled to understand a little even though a month ago we went through it and watch you tube explanations. I just need to keep hitting the points, the why, etc while he is reading as he goes.

 

[Walt34]

The books I found most helpful are these:

The Millionaire Teacher by Andrew Hallam

How a Second Grader Beats Wall Street by Allan S. Roth

If you don’t read anything else read these two. They are easy reading.

I also have read these:

Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely – I found this very interesting! For example, people will almost always say that coffee served from a silver service into fine china cups tastes better than coffee served from a glass pot into a styrofoam cup even though the coffee was brewed in the same pot! Although a bit more sophisticated in marketing, this is how Starbucks makes their money. And lots of it!

The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko. This is a classic and although the numbers are somewhat dated the principles most definitely are not.

The Four Pillars of Investing by William J. Bernstein

Why Smart People Make Big Money Mistakes by Gary Belsky & Thomas Gilovich

Your Money & Your Brain by Jason Zweig

The Investor’s Manifesto - Preparing for Prosperity, Armageddon, and Everything in Between by William J. Bernstein

A Random Walk Down Wall Street by Burton G. Malkiel – Updated frequently, this is a classic and a must-read.

And if you really want to get deep into behavior issues with money– Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman, the only psychologist to win a Nobel Prize in Economics. I found it fascinating. It’s also a rather thick book. It is less about money than it is about why people make decisions the way they do.

 

[frayne]

A simple book that explains the beauty of indexing is Bogle's The Little Book of Common Sense Investing and The Four Pillars of Investing by Bernstein is also a good read on the subject.

 

[scfr]

William Bernstein's excellent short booklet "If You Can: How Millennials Can Get Rich Slowly" is available for download free at http://https://www.etf.com/docs/IfYouCan.pdf
Near the end of each section he notes additional reading "homework" which includes some of the titles already mentioned in this thread.