10 personal finance books you need to read now

By David Fielding on January 9, 2018
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes

It doesn't really matter what personal finance path you take, or book you read, as long as you're moving forward

9 personal finance books you need to read now

This article was originally published January 2016

You don’t need to read dozens of personal finance books, if you want to get smarter about your money. In fact, that might even be bad for your financial health. “One of the things people get crushed by is complexity,” says Bruce Sellery, who just happens to have written one of our favourite money books of all time. As far as he’s concerned, it doesn’t matter which financial vision you live by—simply that you have one. “It doesn’t matter which direction you walk in, or if you take a detour along the way, just so long as you keep placing one foot in front of the other.” And if you like metaphors like those, you know which book to pick.

1. The Wealthy Barber Returns, by David Chilton

The 10-second take: The first time out, Chilton focused on saving more. Round two is about spending less.

Get it here.

2. Moolala, by Bruce Sellery

The 10-second take: Follow the “Moolala Method”: set your goals, develop a plan and stick with it.

Get it here.

3. Money Talks, by Gail Vaz Oxlade

The 10-second take: Ways to bring up money at the dinner table, for folks who were taught not to discuss money at the dinner table.

Get it here.

4. Wealthing Like Rabbits, by Robert Brown

The 10-second take: Saving is fun. And so is reading about it when you weave in zombies, sex and references to Westeros.

Get it here.

5. The Automatic Millionaire, by David Bach

The 10-second take: A five-step plan minus the other four steps: Pay yourself first.

Get it here.

Compare the Best Savings Accounts in Canada* >

6. Stop Over-Thinking Your Money, by Preet Banerjee

The 10-second take: Invest? Sure, but first disaster-proof your life, spend less, eliminate debt, learn to read fine print and delay consumption.

Get it here.

7. Millionaire Teacher, by Andrew Hallam

The 10-second take: Your personal savings rate—not your investment choices—will determine your wealth.

Get it here.

8. A Wealth of Common Sense, by Ben Carlson

The 10-second take: Skip short-term performance benchmarks. Take the long view on your investments.

Get it here.

9. The Opposite of Spoiled, by Ron Leiber

The 10-second take: What you should say when your kids ask, “Are we rich?” (Regardless of what you think the answer is.)

Get it here.

10. The Professional Financial Advisor IV, by John De Goey

The 10-second take: What you need to know about how financial advisors are changing the way they do business as well as their fee structure—and why it’s better for you as a client.

Get it here.

Join the MoneyFit club

Want even more tips to shape up your finances? Join the Money Fit Club to curb spending, boost your earnings, lower your taxes and more!

Learn to tone your money muscles all year long with our interactive calendar and sign up for our weekly newsletter for advice straight to your inbox.

What does the * mean?

Affiliate (monetized) links can sometimes result in a payment to MoneySense (owned by Ratehub Inc.), which helps our website stay free to our users. If a link has an asterisk (*) or is labelled as “Featured,” it is an affiliate link. If a link is labelled as “Sponsored,” it is a paid placement, which may or may not have an affiliate link. Our editorial content will never be influenced by these links. We are committed to looking at all available products in the market. Where a product ranks in our article, and whether or not it’s included in the first place, is never driven by compensation. For more details, read our MoneySense Monetization policy.