It’s important to be intentional about what you put in your body. This is obvious with food, but less obvious when it comes to information. Between 24/7 news, blogs, podcasts, social media and friends and family, there is no shortage of content, opinions and people telling you what to do. For that reason, I recommend unplugging every now and then, diving deep into something that interests you, and reading a good book.
When it comes to money management and investing, here is a short-list of my favorite books – spanning personal finance, business and behavioral economics – that have had the biggest impact on how I think.
Personal Finance
- The Simple Path to Wealth: Invest in VTSAX.
- The Psychology of Money: There is no single right answer, just the answer that works for you.
- Rich Dad, Poor Dad: Don’t work for money. Make your money work for you.
- The Millionaire Next Door: Stealth wealth.
- Why Smart People Make Big Money Mistakes: Financial faux pas that cost you $$$.
- The Total Money Makeover: Baby steps.
- I Will Teach You To Be Rich: Spend lavishly on the things you love and cut costs mercilessly on the things you don’t.
Business
- No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention: Treat employees like adults.
- Steve Jobs: Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.
- The Lean Startup: Test, learn, iterate.
- The Ride of a Lifetime: Be decent.
- Principles: Radical transparency.
- Scrum: Do twice as much in half the time.
- To Sell is Human: We’re all in sales.
- Liar’s Poker: Bonds have more fun.
- The Big Short: How it all went down.
- Berkshire Hathaway Letters to Shareholders: Be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful.
Behavioral Economics
- Nudge: Get people to do what you want without limiting their options.
- Outliers: I’d rather be lucky than good.
- Predictably Irrational: We rarely do things that make sense.
- Thinking Fast and Slow: System 1. System 2.
- Freakonomics: Incentives and unintended consequences.
- The Paradox of Choice: More is less.
Happy reading.
