getrichslowly.org— A great collection of essential books on personal finance topics. This person really separated the wheat from the chaff.
Mar 7, 2007View in Crawl 4
Rich Dad, Poor Dad was one of the first personal finance books/audiobooks I picked up and at first, it was fascinating. In hindsight and with more experience and knowledge under my belt, I can see it for what it is: a good guide to get inspired and think about money, but not a great guide to getting it and keeping it. What it does is narrow down some basic concepts: being rich is not how much stuff you have, being poor is spending more than you make, the rich get richer by making money from the things they buy, using credit to their benefit, etc. These are basic concepts that most people just don't think about because they're too busy trying to stay afloat and because our educational system does very little to emphasize personal finance.There are significantly better books and authors, ones who didn't apparently make up a fictional setting in which to share their advice. The best thing RDPD does is make you take an objective look at what you have, what you want, and how you can get there. The best advice: Spend less. Save more. Invest what you save. Pay less taxes. That can seem like impossible advice when you're struggling to make ends meet at the end of every month, but it is a philosophy that can start small and grow gradually. Saving $20 a month doesn't seem like much, but if you can make a point to do it regularly, your mindset changes about money in general.
I do find it interesting that the investment books are mostly tilted towards publicly listed securities and passive investing. Not books where investing is closer to running a business. The debate about real estate reflects the bias. Investing in RE can be very profitable even if we completely exclude speculation. It does tend to be more hands on.As to speculation? Is it not true that all investments where you expect to buy low and sell higher could be called speculation? If we did not have such a view of the future what would be the point of investing? I suspect some see investing in RE as speculation as they think the people investing are taking risks that are not prudent. Such a view can be more based on a lack of understanding as to how to successfully invest in RE than it is from a flawed execution by the investor.In the spirit for full disclosure I have been investing in RE and almost nothing else since 1983. Multiple states and countries.
I've had a chance to leaf through Intelligent Investor, and I stand by my statement that it's too technical for most people. Could they understand it? Certainly. Is it an excellent book? Most probably. Will I read it in the near future? Absolutely. But it's not geared at the average person. It's geared toward investment professionals and serious amateurs.
@SanTeaI totally agree with you that Millionaire was stretched out to a book to make 2 simple points, but the 2 points are unique, important, and astonishing, which is why I liked the book. But its true, its quite redundant.Within 5 years of reading that book I quadrupuled my annual income and cut my work hours in half by switching from employment to self-employment doing the *exact same job*.No lie.My #1 takeaway from that book is that self-employment is so much more lucrative then employment that statistically it actually carries *less* risk then being employed - i.e. on average you will statistically make $x00,000 less/yr by working for someone else.It makes stockbrokers on Wall St who pay $70,000/yr on housing, 2 hours commuting/day in a suit, and 70/hr work weeks to make $250,000 look like complete morons compared to some dude in the burbs who is making $500k/yr off a well-placed gas station he doesnt even work in.
diggumjonezMar 8, 2007
Rich Dad, Poor Dad was one of the first personal finance books/audiobooks I picked up and at first, it was fascinating. In hindsight and with more experience and knowledge under my belt, I can see it for what it is: a good guide to get inspired and think about money, but not a great guide to getting it and keeping it. What it does is narrow down some basic concepts: being rich is not how much stuff you have, being poor is spending more than you make, the rich get richer by making money from the things they buy, using credit to their benefit, etc. These are basic concepts that most people just don't think about because they're too busy trying to stay afloat and because our educational system does very little to emphasize personal finance.There are significantly better books and authors, ones who didn't apparently make up a fictional setting in which to share their advice. The best thing RDPD does is make you take an objective look at what you have, what you want, and how you can get there. The best advice: Spend less. Save more. Invest what you save. Pay less taxes. That can seem like impossible advice when you're struggling to make ends meet at the end of every month, but it is a philosophy that can start small and grow gradually. Saving $20 a month doesn't seem like much, but if you can make a point to do it regularly, your mindset changes about money in general.
barbarinoMar 8, 2007
Saw Dave Ramsey on 60 Minutes, he woke me up!
ascott9Mar 8, 2007
Some digger's might appreciate this. I fixed Dave Ramsey's daughters computer. Spyware it was.
chelseapeMar 8, 2007
I do find it interesting that the investment books are mostly tilted towards publicly listed securities and passive investing. Not books where investing is closer to running a business. The debate about real estate reflects the bias. Investing in RE can be very profitable even if we completely exclude speculation. It does tend to be more hands on.As to speculation? Is it not true that all investments where you expect to buy low and sell higher could be called speculation? If we did not have such a view of the future what would be the point of investing? I suspect some see investing in RE as speculation as they think the people investing are taking risks that are not prudent. Such a view can be more based on a lack of understanding as to how to successfully invest in RE than it is from a flawed execution by the investor.In the spirit for full disclosure I have been investing in RE and almost nothing else since 1983. Multiple states and countries.
Closed AccountMar 8, 2007
@ImThe1Do you want to do trial and error with your money or your health?
jdrothMar 9, 2007
I've had a chance to leaf through Intelligent Investor, and I stand by my statement that it's too technical for most people. Could they understand it? Certainly. Is it an excellent book? Most probably. Will I read it in the near future? Absolutely. But it's not geared at the average person. It's geared toward investment professionals and serious amateurs.
haltingpointMar 9, 2007
If that is the case then why do you use referral links? And why do you not disclose your financial incentive?
debtblitzkriegMar 9, 2007
I've blogged on this post at http : // debtblitzkrieg.com/2007/03/09/building-a-personal-finance-library-25-of-the-best-books-about-money/
brundlefly76Mar 10, 2007
@SanTeaI totally agree with you that Millionaire was stretched out to a book to make 2 simple points, but the 2 points are unique, important, and astonishing, which is why I liked the book. But its true, its quite redundant.Within 5 years of reading that book I quadrupuled my annual income and cut my work hours in half by switching from employment to self-employment doing the *exact same job*.No lie.My #1 takeaway from that book is that self-employment is so much more lucrative then employment that statistically it actually carries *less* risk then being employed - i.e. on average you will statistically make $x00,000 less/yr by working for someone else.It makes stockbrokers on Wall St who pay $70,000/yr on housing, 2 hours commuting/day in a suit, and 70/hr work weeks to make $250,000 look like complete morons compared to some dude in the burbs who is making $500k/yr off a well-placed gas station he doesnt even work in.
jojada95Jun 6, 2007
some people have problems with Rich Dad Poor Dad because there was some controversy about it being fact or fiction. but after you read it, its a good book. Mark - Training Home Inspection Service - <a class="user" href="http://AccurateInspections.com">http://AccurateInspections.com</a>
xronikJul 18, 2007
this is great list. THX
nkthenFeb 26, 2008
Great set of recommendations!<a class="user" href="http://www.easypersonalfinance.com">http://www.easypersonalfinance.com</a>