Reading List
Often I find myself losing track of key points that I’ve taken away from books I’ve read. I’m hoping to end that here by logging the worthwhile books that I read and the most important takeaways I got from them. This page is really my own journal, but these are my recommendations for you as well. I’m always open to book recommendations so please feel free to contact me with any books you feel should be added to this list.
What I'm reading:
Craig Curelop
The House Hacking Strategy
Gary Keller with Jay Papasan
The One Thing
What I've read:
Brandon Turner
The Book on Rental Property Investing
Thomas J. Stanley & William D. Danko
The Millionaire Next Door
The Millionaire Next Door taught me the importance of frugality when it comes to money. It focused on a study done by the two authors on millionaires and what they collected goes against how wealthy people are portrayed in American culture. The main thing that I took away from this book is that millionaires are often people that simply don’t spend money on lavish, materialistic things until they have assets that can pay for them. To many people, this would come as a shock since society tells us that rich people purchase rich things. Although rich people do buy rich things, they do so once they’re at a financial point where they have an appropriate amount of money coming in to afford it.
The study referenced in this book is extremely interesting and certainly changed my perspective on how to perceive wealth and how to get there. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in financial freedom and personal finance.
Dale Carnegie
How to Win Friends & Influence People
How to Win Friends & Influence People prepared me well for not only my role in 401k customer service at Fidelity Investments, but also as a project leader in group assignments. Dale Carnegie writes about the desire to be important being a natural human craving and that being able to actively see someone else’s perspective is like relationship magic. I think about these two principles every time I speak with someone else – I cannot thank Dale Carnegie enough for writing this book. My success at Fidelity Investments is partly derived from knowledge I got from this book.
Robert T. Kiyosaki
Rich Dad Poor Dad
Rich Dad Poor Dad is a classic book on financial literacy. I heard about it by listening to the Bigger Pockets podcast where it was referenced on virtually every episode. Robert Kiyosaki’s explanation on how wealthy people handle their money cemented the idea of me wanting to responsibly invest every dollar I make rather than spending it on materialistic things that depreciate immediately after being purchased.
This is certainly one of those books that I’m going to read every year. I believe that this book is the best finance book I’ve read in terms of establishing a financially literate mindset and I would recommend it to anyone that hasn’t already read it.
George S. Clason
The Richest Man in Babylon
The Richest Man in Babylon truly took me by surprise. Once I was able to understand the older style of writing, I started to really appreciate the lessons being told through this story. It touches on seizing opportunities, the importance of resourcefulness, building wealth and how to use your money.
This book ultimately changed my mindset surrounding money. By the end of this story I saw every dollar I earned as a vehicle to work for me and to bring me more money. That simple mindset shift inspired me to continue educating myself on finance and investing.
Benjamin Graham
The Intelligent Investor
The Intelligent Investor was the first investing book that I picked up and it introduced me to the idea of investing in a company based on its value. At the time I read it I knew very little about investing so reading this book gave me a very mature perspective on how to invest. It taught me about the importance of portfolio diversification, how to mitigate risk, where to take financial advice from, and what to look for when analyzing financial statements.
I would recommend this book to anyone interested in investing regardless of where they’re at in their career. Although some of the example scenarios are outdated, the underlying principles taught are what make this book remarkable.