15 Books To Make You Wealthy - If You Actually Read Them
Whether you’re about to travel on a plane, lounge about on a beach, take a quiet break in the mountains or just slow down at the end of day – a selection of great books to dig into is a must.
Here’s my list of a few wealthy reads for you to stock up on. Most of these are not new – but for good reason they stand the test of time – and I’m sure your wealth feast will be significantly richer for reading them.
1. The Richest man in Babylon by George Clason
First published in 1926, this is a wealth classic and for me, almost like a wealth bible. My copy has folded corners of pages I love going back to, tabs sticking out of it, and a lot of “houding” – a wonderful afrikaans word – meaning attitude. This little book dispenses financial advice through a collection of parables set in ancient Babylon Through their experiences in business and managing household finance, the characters in the parables learn simple lessons in financial wisdom. Originally, a series of separate informational pamphlets (the old equivalent of a blog I guess) distributed by banks and insurance companies, the pamphlets were bound together in book form, making it easy to dip in and out of.
2. The 4-Hour Work Week by Timothy Ferriss
This book became an overnight success when it was first introduced because of the unconventional “mobile lifestyle” it recommended. The four sections—define, eliminate, automate, and liberate—show you how to streamline your life and your business. I love it because it’s chock-full of information on how to create your rich life now and stop waiting for sometime in the future to live the life you really want. The section on eliminate is also incredibly powerful for awesome ways to get seriously more efficient and effective with your time – freeing yourself up to make your money work harder.
3. Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
Another oldie but goodie. Here are wealthy life secrets that can change your life. Napoleon Hill was called upon by Andrew Carnegie—one of America's billionaires—to interview the most successful businessmen of their time, and find out what took them to the top. Hill discovered 13 common keys to success, all of which can be learned. I have read it over 14 times and I gain a new insight with every read.
4. The Millionaire Next Door by Stanley and Danko.
Like the Richest Man in Babylon this book looks like a porcupine in my library with so many tabs sticking out of it. This book smashes through our society's miss comprehensions of what the rich did to get rich, what the rich do with their money, how they live, how they invest and how they manage their money. The authors interviewed and surveyed a pool of millionaires, attempting to find common connections among them. They discovered that millionaires spend less than they earn. They budget. They let their adult children make it on their own. This book introduces several key concepts, including degrees of wealth accumulation. This is a real eye opener and a must if you find yourself being sucked in by the drivel we are fed by the media, advertisers, marketers and the giant consumerism machine about what it means to be wealthy.
5. Why Smart People Make Big Money Mistakes by Belsky and Gilovich
Money is more about the mind than it is about math! People make financial decisions based not on mathematical ideals, but on emotion and this great book covers just this topic. In this short book, Belsky and Gilovich catalog a plethora of mental mistakes that cause people to spend more than they should, make disastrous investment decisions and basically cook their proverbial golden goose. What might have been a boring topic becomes riveting thanks to plenty of anecdotes and examples.
6. Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki.
An oldie but a goodie. This is a great book to start thinking about your money in a significantly smarter way. You won’t get lots of how-to-do-it information but it certainly will get you questioning your old paradigm and beliefs about what it takes to create and grow wealth. The book explodes the myth that you need to earn a high income to be rich and explains the difference between working for money and having your money work for you.
7. Getting Things Done by David Allen
This book changed my productivity and effectiveness for the better and I continue to go back to it whenever I find myself cluttering up my life and spending time spinning plates. In Getting Things Done David Allen teaches you how to keep a clear head, relax and organise your thoughts while implementing the methods that he has introduced at organisations like Microsoft, Lockheed and the US Department of Justice. Learn the ‘do it, delegate it, defer it, drop it’ principle to empty your in-tray. Handle e-mail, paperwork and unexpected demands in a system of self-management. Plan and progress projects. Reassess goals and stay focused. These principles are equally powerful for how you manage your own wealth systems making your money dates really easy and fun. When I had a team of over 250 people, 8 direct reports and was receiving over 600 emails a day – it was these systems that saved my sanity and made people think I was incredibly clever because I could and still can find any email or piece of information within 10 second. Damn – I’ve now given my secret away.
8. The One Minute Millionaire by Mark Victor Hansen and Robert G Allen.
This is a revolutionary approach to building wealth and a powerful program for self-discovery as well. There are actually two books in one, fiction and nonfiction, designed to address two kinds of learning so that you can fully integrate the material. On the right-hand pages, you will find the fictional story of a woman who has to make a million dollars in ninety days or lose her two children forever. The left-hand pages give the practical, step-by-step nonfiction strategies and techniques. I loved the way this book helped me think in new ways, challenged a lot of my beliefs about how to bring money into my life and what wealth actually meant for me.
9. The Dynamic Laws of Prosperity by Catherine Ponder.
We can’t have a must read list without a bit of woo-woo. Imagine sitting in the lap of your favorite grandparent and learning the secrets to a magnificent, abundant, rich feast of a life. My grandparents were all swirling around in the ether long before I grew up, but whenever I delve into Catherine Ponder’s book I feel like they are all around me – guiding me in a loving gentle way. The secrets she reveals are not secrets at all but universal truths for health, love, success and peace. This is a wonderful tonic and shift from the more structured logical “masculine” financial reads and one I’m sure you will love too.
10. Influence The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini.
Reading this book the first time was a huge relief for me. I’m a salesperson’s dream. I used to have a hard time saying no, all sorts of emotions would emerge, I felt obligated, not wanting to reject a person, and if I have something put into my hand – that’s me – I’m doomed. I used to beat myself up over this for a long time, that is until I discovered this classic book on persuasion. It explained what was going on, how to notice when it was happening and what I could do about it. Boy – what a relief. Not only did it show me I wasn’t just a spineless idiot, when I understood better the powerful forces being used to get my compliance, it provided powerful ways to help protect my money from me! This hasn’t only helped my wealth. I have applied this knowledge in many other areas in my life where I needed a better set of personal boundaries.
11. The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham
Any list on investment books cannot be without the all-time classic The Intelligent Investor.
“Lots of people dream of making a fortune on the stock market, but few of them truly succeed in this difficult task. Benjamin Graham, the father of value investing and mentor to Warren Buffett, offers a practical guide to long term success using the value investment philosophy which he helped to found.”
In The Intelligent Investor, Graham explains three fundamental things:
- How to minimise the risk of irreversible loss of capital in the long term
- How to increase your chances of making money on the stock market over several years
- And how to better control your emotions, something that prevents many investors from reaching their maximum potential
The Intelligent Investor made a huge impression on me and was foundational in my stock market investing.
12. Atomic Habits by James Clear
Majority of people try to change their habits all their lives but fail because they try to change everything at once.
Through Atomic Habits, James Clear explains how to break this pattern, highlighting the importance of tiny changes, marginal gains or even 1% improvements, which he encompasses under the term “Atomic Habits”, to allow us to get rid of our bad behavior, develop good ones and finally become the architect of our life.
I first listened to Atomic Habits as an audiobook, and when I realised just how good it is, I had to get it in physical form so I could tag pages and make notes all over.
13. Awaken the Giant Within by Anthony Robbins
To be successful, you have to succeed in mastering your emotions, body, relationships, belief and finance, in other words your whole life, which is what Anthony Robbins puts forward: capture your dreams.
This book quite literally changed my life and set me on an extraordinary adventure which still continues today.
Without Awaken The Giant Within I may still be working in a cubicle and smoking on a pavement on a grey London winters day…
I share how discovering Awaken The Giant Within and Antony Robbins transformed my life in The Wealth Chef Book.
14. The Psychology of Money by Morgan Hansel
Financial success is not science-based, but a soft skill. How you behave is more important than what you know.
This should be a required read (together with The Wealth Chef Book) to understand the inner game of wealth creation.
I’m not talking about money manifesting or the “Money Doesn’t make You Happy” stuff. I’m talking about understanding how our behavior impacts our wealth creation and what we can do about it. Through great stories Morgan demonstrates that how smart we are and how we earn has little to do with how well we manage money or accumulate wealth.
15. Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World
In a world brimming with information and distraction, compounded by an increasingly competitive market, deep work is a superpower that, if tapped into, can open a whole new realm of possibilities.
I used to say time is our most precious resource. But now I believe our attention is our most valuable resource.
Yes time is the base resource, but if your attention is all over the place, your time being spent will be squandered.
When you know how to direct and focus your attention, you have mastered the greatest resource you have for living and creating your dream life.
But… having command of our attention isn’t so straightforward.
We live in a world with exponentially expanding distractions and learning how to claim back your agency and control of your own attention is one of the most powerful gifts you can give yourself.
Deep Work will give you your time and attention back so you can use both to create the life you really want - instead of lurching from one distraction to another.
That set of great books should keep you out of mischief for a while.
As the inspirational James Altucher says …
“The actions we make today become our biography tomorrow”
Make today and how you choose to spend it count.
P.S. Question?
What books on wealth have made a significant impact on you and would be in your top ten Faves? Please hit reply and let me know.
