Top 10 Wealth Building Books
Published on January 23, 2008 - 34 Comments
Get rich quick is a myth - building wealth is something that needs strategy and time. Get rich quick schemes tend to prey on people with the desire, but not the willingness to truly achieve financial security. This is a list of books that will truly help you to attain great wealth - but the right way… slowly.
10. How to Get Out of Debt…
The first book on this list is designed to get you started on the road to wealth - by eradicating your debt. As long as you are burdened by debt, you can’t build your wealth. Once the debt is gone, all of the money you have available can be put towards your financial growth. Remember, you are also paying interest on your debt - once you pay it off, that money can start earning YOU interest.
9. Frugal Living for Dummies
The rich don’t get rich by spending money - they get rich by living frugally. Speaking from my own experience of living frugally, I was able to remove all of my debt and save enough money to put a deposit on a house - all in one year. Not only did I become financially free, I had a much more enjoyable and healthy life. By not going out every night I saved enough time and money to join a gym. I started cooking my own meals and learnt a lot about using and re-using food. It was tough at first, but in the end I was competing against my previous week to see how much I could save - it became a game that I loved.
8. Your Money or your Life
According to one reviewer: “This book was instrumental in my re-imagining of what money is and what it means to my life. As a result of reading this book, I now have a very healthy money-outlook, and can easily make choices that would have been quite difficult before.” In addition, all readers of this site will love this book because it puts its principles forward in a nine-step method - think of it as a top 9 list!
7. The Automatic Millionaire
This book is a straightforward march through common-sense personal financial planning that suggests readers “automate” their contributions to retirement and investment vehicles. The author, in fact, calls his model the “tortoise approach” to becoming wealthy by retirement age. Remember - there is no true get rich quick scheme.
6. Start Small Profit Big
I have to say that real estate is my favorite wealth building tool. In fact, as the property markets around the world are beginning to slump, we are about to hit a perfect time for buying - remember, when everyone is selling - buy, when everyone is buying - sell. Get this book now to prepare yourself for the great investment opportunity which is on its way.
5. Rich Dad Poor Dad
I suspect that most of you will have guessed that this book would be on the list - and it does deserve its place here. The author (Robert Kiyosaki) has used his principles in his own life and been greatly rewarded financially for it. He speaks from experience and manages to do so in an easy to understand way. I enjoyed this book immensely when I read it for the first time and it really changed my way of looking at money and wealth building.
4. One Up On Wall Street
This book is great. Not only does Peter Lynch give a run down of how he invests, but he uses a sensible approach while investing. He examines how to analyze a company, its operations, its financial statements and various other important factors when making an investment decision. The author (Peter Lynch) has also written another great book which is aimed at teenagers: Learn to Earn.
3. The Richest Man in Babylon
How are the sophisticated doing financially? By sophisticated, I mean the affluent, high income earners who spend most of what they make…Richest Man in Bablyon is timeless like Think and Grow Rich but written in a style like the very popular Rich Dad, Poor Dad series. An easy read. Informative and entertaining.
2. The Millionaire Next Door
I thoroughly enjoyed this book - the authors, Thomas Stanley and William Danko, have a very easy to read casual style. One reviewer on amazon sums the book up brilliantly: “Every now and then very, very special book comes along with a “aha” and this is such a book. Many people are spending their way through high incomes—keeping up with the “JONE’S” high profile lifestyle’s encumbered with high debt and zero savings. I worked for a millonaire one time who said “Money buys clothes, clothes don’t buy anything!” He advised us to buy our “toys” clothes, cars, vacations etc. off profits of profits and never spend principal!” That is the basic premise of this book - build profits, then enjoy them - but don’t spend principal.
1. Think and Grow Rich
First published in 1937, this is the end product of two decades of research conducted by Napoleon Hill. His research started when Andrew Carnegie (the steel tycoon who was then the richest man on earth) gave him the assignment of organizing a Philosophy of Personal Achievement. Hill, who was a poor journalist, armed with just an introductory letter from Carnegie, set out to interview over five hundred successful people including Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, John D. Rockefeller, George Eastman, William Wrigley Jr. and Charles M. Schwab. Hill then revealed the priceless wisdom of his research in the form of the thirteen steps to success found in this book. If you only buy one book on this list - this is the one.
Afterword
I would like to say that this is not just a random list of books - using the advice and techniques in them I changed my life and found myself living in a fantastic apartment driving a luxury car (bought second hand of course) and having a wonderful social life. Unfortunately that did all change when I moved to London to become a student, but I can vouch for the books above - if you really do want to build wealth, these will help you to do that! If you have any recommendations of your own, tell us about it in the comments.
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1. Bondles - January 23rd, 2008 at 4:46 am
Of course, building enormous wealth is much easier if your income is large to begin with, and to that end, I’d add that no businessman’s education is complete without Sun Tsu’s [i]Art of War[/i] and Dale Carnegie’s [i]How to Win Friends and Influence People[/i].
2. jfrater - January 23rd, 2008 at 4:56 am
Bondles: I don’t agree - look at Warren Buffet - he started with nothing! It is all about how you use the money - not how much you have
3. dangorironhide - January 23rd, 2008 at 5:15 am
www.maoneysavingexpert.com This is a site my mum uses occaisionally, it’s got loads of good stuff about saving money on it, and they guys got a book out as well. I think it’s pretty popular over here, but I could be wrong.
4. dangorironhide - January 23rd, 2008 at 5:19 am
www.moneysavingexpert.com Damn typos
5. Bill Gate’s Penis - January 23rd, 2008 at 5:22 am
FYI Im not doing to bad for myself down here… you know Bill’s got alot time on his hands since he steped down at microsoft.
6. Lezhog - January 23rd, 2008 at 6:42 am
This is a great list, but I totally disagree with this book of “Frugal Living for Dummys.” Yes, frugal living is a start to spending less money, opening new uses for it, BUT spending less will NOT make anyone wealthy. Wealth is really a measure of how long you can live without working for the cash and being supplied by passive income. This statement I totally disagree on as well:
“The rich don’t get rich by spending money - they get rich by living frugally. ”
Why aren’t the wealthy and rich living in small houses and driving average cars then? The rich and wealthy understand they need to create assets first, such as real estate, businesses, receivables, etc. They build assets so they can have the sailboats, the enormous houses, and the fancy cars.
7. jfrater - January 23rd, 2008 at 6:50 am
Lezhog: read “The millionaire next door” from the list above - it clearly illustrates the fact that the rich DON’T live the lifestyle you describe - some do - yes, but they are the ones that lived frugally at first and are now buying with the profit. Frugalism is about not spending your capital on consumer goods - or at least minimizing consumption of those goods. If you spend every penny on expensive goods, you can’t save the money needed to start building your passive income. Again, the Million Next Door is full of examples of the very wealthy people that actually ARE living in small houses and driving average cars. You just don’t know they are rich because they don’t live the lifestyle we all consider that rich people live - it is a myth that the rich live lives of grandeur and opulence.
8. Mystern - January 23rd, 2008 at 6:59 am
I agree with Lezhog completely. One addition I might add to the list though is “Secrets of the Millionaire Mind” by T. Harv Eker. Amazing book that teaches you to build wealth from what you have rather than trying to get more. You can buy it at Amazon
9. JOE ROSSON - January 23rd, 2008 at 8:07 am
My question is…has anybody on this forum read the books listed and became wealthy?Or does anybody here know anybody that has used the said books and got wealthy?
10. jfrater - January 23rd, 2008 at 8:24 am
Joe: as I said in the afterword, I have read the majority of the books and I was well on the well within a year - my wealth building was cut short by my move to the UK to become a student though.
11. SocialButterfly - January 23rd, 2008 at 8:36 am
Great list J! I work in a small company that helps underprivileged people get back on their feet and 3 books on this list are in our students list of reccomended reading. Rich Dad Poor Dad, Think and Grow Rich and How to Get out of Debt.
None of our students have become millionaires(yet!) but quite a few of them have gone from extreme poverty to the so called “middle class”.
12. Kelsi - January 23rd, 2008 at 8:44 am
I wish I could work 40 hour weeks still…I miss making money. But college will bring me ever MORE money at the end of my 40 hour weeks, so I can’t complain for now. I’ll just have to read these to figure out how to maximize it. =)
13. Lezhog - January 23rd, 2008 at 8:46 am
jfrater: (In response to your #8 post)
I agree with your statement, but I believe you misunderstood my post. My understanding of the difference between “rich” and “wealth” is this:
Rich: Net worth $1,000,000
Wealth: Earning more than your expenses through passive income.
Yes, some rich people do live in “average” houses and drive “average” cars. This does not mean they are wealthy though. A person slaving away at work everyday for $20,000 per year and only spending expenses of $4000 per year will be saving $16,000 per year. $16,000 is a lot of money to be accumulating in the bank! If you take away his/her job after a year, they will only have the $16,000 to live on, lasting them the wealth of four years(if they hypothetically never re-entered the work world). A wealthy person, invested in assets vs. a career/job, could make $5,000 per month, and since there is no job needed, his WEALTH is infinite if he/she had the same expenses as the first person. Yes, living frugally is a START to becoming rich, but NO ONE will ever become rich or wealthy by spending less IN THE LONG RUN.
14. Lezhog - January 23rd, 2008 at 8:51 am
Kelsi:
Please read, “Rich Dad Poor Dad.” It will completely change your outlook about working 40 hours per week. Compliment “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” with the book, “The Richest Man in Babylon” as reference to some of the Rich Dad principals. I’m also in college, and do want a high-paying job, but I only want it to be able to build passive income through assets. This list is a great start into the mindset of being and becoming rich.
15. jfrater - January 23rd, 2008 at 8:54 am
Lezhog: I see your point, though I still think frugalism will help a person to have sufficient money to invest in order to build the wealth they can live off (without a job).
16. albert0 - January 23rd, 2008 at 10:03 am
The thing is in the UK, you are payed and given a free house by the goverment when you are unemployed, to the extent where if you find a job it will be cut, so that in the end you are better off not being geting a job. You don’t get much, but you end up with more than enough to survive on. In certain areas you get SKY tv, courtesy of the goverment!!! That is the best way to make money. No work, spend taxpayers money!!!!!!!!!
17. johnathan - January 23rd, 2008 at 10:08 am
Dude amazon is like a fucking library that has every book made!! Not even ebay is mentioned once.
18. Blogball - January 23rd, 2008 at 10:13 am
I should probably read one of these get wealthy books but I’m always suspicions if the author became rich in the real world or did he or she get rich by selling this how to get rich book.
Remember that Steve Martin routine on how to become a millionaire?
“OK first …….. you get a million dollars”
19. Dave - January 23rd, 2008 at 11:18 am
No James Dobson on the list? He is the king of getting out of debt through frugal living.
20. BrotherMan - January 23rd, 2008 at 11:25 am
There is a guy that I listen to on Saturdays and Sundays sometimes on our local radio station. His name is Dave Ramsey and from listening to him talk to people who call in and do his Total Money Makeover Plan and other suggestions it sounds very much like what some of these authors have done.
Some of the people who call in are totally debt free and they explain how they got that way and he lets them shout “I’M DEBT FREEEEEEEEE!” at the end of their phone call and he then plays that clip of Mel Gibson screaming “FREEEEDOOOOOMMM!” from the end of Brave Heart. Pretty cool.
Check him out if you get a chance. His website is http://www.daveramsey.com/
21. TMo - January 23rd, 2008 at 1:30 pm
Nice list! I’ll get back to you all in a year…
22. Jman - January 23rd, 2008 at 3:19 pm
I would think twice about following any advice gathered from Rich Dad Poor Dad.
http://www.johntreed.com/Kiyosaki.html
23. Kelsi - January 23rd, 2008 at 6:47 pm
Johnathan: Amazon is amazing, I know! Not only do they have like, every book EVER and most CD’s, and my favorite candy pretty much ever (Hi Chew, oooomg, its more addicting than any drug I have ever tried), but every time you make a purchase from Amazon using one of the links here, some of the money goes to the site! Pretty awesome, huh?
24. 20Fan20 - January 23rd, 2008 at 11:13 pm
I read your money or your life. This was a great book. The biggest change my wife and I made was to start living within our means. It allowed us to stop debt accumulation and we were able to pay everything off. Of course now that I returned to school….
I think that is the key part to frugal living. It can be a part of living within your means.
Before I quit I ran a Borders. The funniest customers were the ones who wanted one of these books but didn’t want to pay that much! Look if you believe this book with make you rich, 19.99 aint gonna kill you!
25. jfrater - January 23rd, 2008 at 11:25 pm
Jman: I just finished reading that site - frankly the author (John Reed) appears to me to be simply envious of how well Kiyosaki has done - he offers no real evidence against Kiyosaki, just his personal opinion. He dishonestly refers people to a law suit as evidence against Kiyosaki but the lawsuit did not involve kiyosaki except to the point that the people being prosecuted for dealing without a license decided to go in to real estate after reading his book - the real problem was Gatten. In his first sentence, Reed suggests people buy his book instead of Kiyosaki’s - frankly, if his book is written as badly as his site, I would not recommend it to anyone.
26. sue - January 24th, 2008 at 12:10 am
Nice list.But I may not be fortunate enough to find the books listed here,yet I still want some financial advice.I’ve just finished college,got a decent job,but I want to do something that allows me to get money aside from my salary so that I can continue paying rent,with a bit more ease.coz right now I’m counting every penny.Any ideas or advice? Anyone?
27. kiwiboi - January 24th, 2008 at 1:31 am
I have read Kiyosaki’s book Rich Dad Poor Dad, and have read various of his other writings. In fact, I have read many hundreds of similarly-themed books/articles over the years.
My view is that Kiyosaki seems shallow and bogus.
For anybody wanting to learn the fundamentals of building wealth, I would strongly recommend only one book (though there will,of course, be other books out there with a similarly valuable message). The book is written with a strong Australian/New Zealand bias, but its messages/lessons are universal.
It’s title is “Making Money Made Simple”. It’s listed on Amazon and the author has a website here : http://www.noelwhittaker.com.au/ie/books.html
The book is a true gem.
On the other hand, for those of you who want to understand one of the fundamental catalysts for building wealth, all you need to do is educate yourself on the “magic” of compounding interest.
28. PhineusQButterfat - January 24th, 2008 at 10:18 am
If you Google the author of “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” you will find his claims regarding his childhood are highly suspect. Also, the content in the book, which I did read, struck me very much as similar programs that will supposedly result in financial advantage and freedom. It always seems to lead somewhere but if you examine the actual content you will find it is 90% filler and 10% common sense advice.
29. Gator - January 24th, 2008 at 10:37 am
In the Afterward the author states that he used these books to get a luxury apartment, fancy car, etc….
But the whole point of the #2 book on his list is that REAL millionaires forgo the trappings of frivolous luxuries. From memory, some examples include:
-Most millionaires buy their suits at JC Penny
-Most millionaires wear Timex watches
-Most millionaires buy used, quality automobiles (I THINK the #1 car on the list was Buick)
-Most millionaires give generously to charity
*shrugs
30. Cec - January 25th, 2008 at 5:18 am
I could be wealthy. If I could just make enough money to get out of debt!
31. Yarr - January 25th, 2008 at 4:49 pm
Sue- Depends on what time you have on your hands. When I was a teenager, I worked in a bicycle shop as a mechanic. For several years as an adult, I got a part time job at a sporting goods store building bikes at Christmastime. They paid like $7 per bike, and at my best I could build 3 in an hour. (That’s $21 an hour, 3-4 hours on Saturday and Sunday) The past couple years I haven’t had the time, but it used to be a lifesaver.
For those of you who think the advice in any of these books is wrong or whatever, I would suggest READING them first.
A few years ago I just got tired of paying bills and working at a job I hated just to pay them. I stopped going out and pretty much ate ramen for several months and put every single penny I could squeeze into paying off credit cards. Then I put all the money I was paying on the cards onto my car and had it paid off in 3 months. THEN, I put all the money I was paying on that into savings, and within a couple months I had enough that I could afford to quit my shitty job and comfortably look for a new one. I got drunk a lot too. Oh yeah!
So, since I had the TIME to go on interviews and search the net and be available for whatever, I got to find a kick-ass job that paid, get this- twice what my old one did!
Now I make a bunch, live on a lot less than that, pay only my mortgage and utilities, and might, maybe, hopefully retire a full 10 years or more early because all the money that used to go to credit cards is now going into Roth and mutual funds. (compounding 12% avg)
I did all this without reading any of the books listed, but the principle is the same.
So, you guys have fun paying Visa for a cup of coffee you had 10 years ago. I’m going to relax!
32. endomental - January 27th, 2008 at 9:06 am
There’s a lot of good books out there, and not every book works for everyone. My recommendation is to check them out of the library, find one that works for you, and maybe buy that one to have as a handy reference. Or just go back to the library when you need a refresher.
33. Tempyra - August 4th, 2008 at 7:32 am
Thank you Random List button! I need this list