The Plainspeak / Reading
Reading · 2 min
5 books to become your own financial planner
You do not need to read fifty books on money. If I could keep only five, I could have learned almost everything worth knowing, and skipped a great deal of harmful advice. Here they are, in order.
I have read well over fifty personal-finance books. These five, read in this order, are close to a full personal-finance education, for the price of a single dinner out.
1. Rich Dad Poor Dad, by Robert Kiyosaki
Start here for the mindset. It will change how you see money, assets, liabilities and cash flow. Read it for the frame it gives you, not for its specific tactics.
2. The Psychology of Money, by Morgan Housel
The one line to carry out of it: doing well with money has little to do with how clever you are and a great deal to do with how you behave. Your habits will shape your financial future far more than your intelligence will.
3. The Joys of Compounding, by Gautam Baid
As much a manual for a life as for a portfolio. Compounding is not only about money, it is about knowledge and judgement built patiently over years. In the foreword, Guy Spier calls reading the book itself one more small step in that compounding. He is right.
4. I Will Teach You to Be Rich, by Ramit Sethi
The practical system. It is built on American products and rules, so you translate the specifics to Indian options, but the framework, automate your money and stop feeling guilty about it, travels perfectly.
5. Let's Talk Money, by Monika Halan
The most useful of the five for an Indian reader. It covers the whole ground, from emergency funds to insurance to investing, in plain language and concrete steps. If you want the how, without wading through concepts and psychology first, this is the one to read.
The move
Read these five and you can plan your own money. Together they cost less than the first-year commission on a single mis-sold policy. Set against a lifetime of money decisions, that is the highest-return investment on this whole site.
Quick answers
Which books should I read to plan my own money?
Five, in this order: Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki, The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel, The Joys of Compounding by Gautam Baid, I Will Teach You to Be Rich by Ramit Sethi, and Let's Talk Money by Monika Halan.
Which of these is most useful for an Indian reader?
Let's Talk Money by Monika Halan. It covers emergency funds, insurance and investing for Indian readers in plain language and concrete steps.
Where should I start?
With Rich Dad Poor Dad, for the mindset of assets, liabilities and cash flow. Read it for the frame, not for its specific tactics.
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