Reaching financial freedom with books is actually an extremely effective tool that I recommend you start doubling down on. You’ve probably heard the saying that if you want to live a top shelf life, you need to stand on the books you’ve read. My goal with this article is to point you in the right direction so you know the type of books, as well as the frequency of reading specific books, should be for you.
Overview
I’m sure most of you reading this have never heavily considered reading 70+ books a year. That’s nothing to worry about, what’s important is you start somewhere. Maybe you are already reading and reaching financial freedom with books is surprisingly close with the right approach. Now in terms of what type of book, my favorites, and how often you should read, keep on keepin’ on!
What genre of books can help you achieve financial freedom?
While i’d love to say any and all genre’s the most profound impact you’ll find is lurking in the personal development, business, and finance sections. Now with that in mind, I’ve read enough books to know what genres are recycled and what are fresh and new material worth giving a read. These are my reasons why you should read these specific genres.
Personal Development
This is a genre of books that are more aiming at the character traits that it takes to be successful. While there might be some business advice in these, this is to mainly give you a tool to build your habits in a way to then find success no matter where you are in life.
Business/Personal Finance
I’m coupling these together since they are quite similar in a few ways. They give you the principles necessary to start honing in on your skills with money management and finally start getting ahead. The issue with this genre is so many different authors have different opinions and life experiences so knowing which route to follow can be challenging. I’ve read plenty in this section and I’d say it comes down to your risk tolerance but I’d like to throw some logic in real quick to give you the best plan of attack moving forward.
Most of these books are either recommending the traditional plan of you max out all retirement accounts or investing in stocks because it’s the most passive. While a portion of that is true, it can actually hurt you in the long run because of lost opportunities with your investments.
Real quick, let’s say I put 25,000 a year into my retirement accounts including stocks. I’m not able to touch that money penalty-free until I’m 65 so my only option without incurring any fees is to simply wait. I’m not planning on doing that simply because I could die at any point between now and then. Might as well take care of present you and future you right?
My recommendation is to focus on real estate investing but more so into house hacking, and commercial investments. More on that later.
How many books should you read a year?
Some people say you need to read 50+ books a year, nope. I read 72 books last year and don’t remember much from them. It’s much more important to focus on the critical few, read and re-read them, internalizing the points made than to try to read as many books as possible.
While there may be spurts where you want to speed read through 10 in a month and others where you read 2 books in 3 months. What’s important is extracting the most important information that you found, putting it somewhere online or on paper for you to review further. That’s really one of the only ways you can ensure effective reading.
Reviewing the highlights of the books you read is just as, if not more important than the book itself. You’re creating connections in your brain and problem-solving something you’re experiencing. Reaching financial freedom with books is easier especially when you are consistently reviewing the books.
**This post contains affiliate links and a I receive a small commission on purchases made at no extra charge to you .**
That said, it’s a great practice to try to read at least a book a month. If you start using audible, you can listen to books while doing household chores, commuting, at the gym, walking, etc. That’s a big way to read more books since you just have to listen. Use this link to get a $0 One Month Trial and see if you like audiobooks.
Recommended books
I’ve included some books which I hope will help you reach financial freedom faster;
I Will Teach You To Be Rich talks about automating your path towards financial freedom. While a lot of his methods I agree with, there are certain things in this book and others like it that I don’t. But the main concepts are great on how to automate your bank accounts, investments and money in general to achieve a fully automated financial lifestyle that grows while you sleep.
Rich Dad Poor Dad By Robert Kiyosaki was the first finance book I ever read and it changed the course of my life. I hope it does the same for you. This is THE book for any employee looking for a mindset shift on living your life, your way. Engaging and entertaining stories throughout the book to keep the reader locked in.
The Compound Effect Darren Hardy covers a simple but extremely beneficial concept which can change your life just by utilizing the easy takeaway. If I took 2 people side by side, same physical activity per day, but one ate a cookie of 200 calories and one didn’t. Over the course of a week, no real change, 2 months, still nothing noticeable. But after 6 months the cookie eater would have gained 10 pounds. Over 1 year and that’s 20 pounds. This book is all about doing the right things daily in order to achieve maximum results over the long term. Use this book as a reference on how to do so.
Limitless By Jim Kwik has to be one of the best books that encompasses all of the ways you can unlock your brain and start being the highest version of yourself. This has everything from how to memorize faster, getting into flow state, remembering something for life, studying more effectively, and speed reading. There are countless other valuable takeaways from this book but it’s best if you look at the reviews yourself 😉 Will Smith loves the methods Jim teaches so it’s safe to say you’re in good hands as well.
Can’t Hurt Me David Goggins is THAT book to get you out of your own fears and into tackling them head-on. This isn’t a book about motivation, it’s a book about giving you all the tools to thrive and be the best version of yourself. If the story about how he ran 100 miles on broken legs with no training at 290 pounds isn’t enough, how about where he lost 106 pounds in under three months to qualify for Navy Seal Training. What about the former record he held for completing 4,030 pullups in 17 hours. That’s mind-blowing. Read his book to see how he accomplished this. (Language alert but extremely powerful)
The Greatest Salesman In The World by OG Mandino can be read in less than 2 hours but can change your perception on life forever. The real way to read it is to read each individual scroll 3 times a day for 30 days then move on to the next scroll. Since there are 10 scrolls, you will read them for 10 months. For reference, Matthew McConaughey attributes most of his success to this book and for good reason! Change your perspective, change your life!
“I will live this day as if it is my last. …I will waste not a moment mourning yesterday’s misfortunes, Yesterday’s defeats, yesterday’s aches of the heart, for why should I throw good after bad?”
I will live this day as if it is my last. This day is all I have and these hours are now my eternity. I greet this sunrise with cries of joy as a prisoner who is reprieved from death. I lift mine arms with thanks for this priceless gift of a new day. So too, I will beat upon my heart with gratitude as I consider all who greeted yesterday’s sunrise who are no longer with the living today.
I am indeed a fortunate man and today’s hours are but a bonus, undeserved. Why have I been allowed to live this extra day when others, far better than I, have departed? Is it that they have accomplished their purpose while mine is yet to be achieved? Is this another opportunity for me to become the man I know I can be?”
Awaken The Giant Within By Tony Robbins needs to be a must-read. As far as practical takeaways, other than Atomic Habits, this book has so many it almost HAS to change your life. I still believe this book and many others on this list should be worth $100+ for the value they provide.
The Power Of Now By Eckhart Tolle Is a phenomenal book all about accepting what is your current reality so you can move past it and into the life you were born to live. If you constantly battle with negative thoughts and want to find your true self, check out the power of now!
Atomic Habits By James Clear is a great read if you feel like you have a ton of or even just a few things in your life that you wish you did a better job at. How making your bed can make you a millionaire? It’s in there. Working out daily? Yep. What about….. Yes, it’s also somewhere in this book.
The Richest Man In Babylon By George S. Clason has to be the shortest but most influential book on this list. It’s the oldest book, but the one with more lessons than thousands of books today. It also happens to be one of the cheapest books on this list. If you haven’t already read this book, do yourself a favor and get it today.
Think And Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill is one of the most famous books of all time and for good reason. This book will help you think about money in a new way. The research conducted in this book spans over 20 years. Interviewing some of the most wealthy achievers of their time. Some of the interviewed include Henry Ford, Theodore Roosevelt, John D. Rockefeller, and Thomas Edison. These are some of the most successful people in American History, figure out what mindset is necessary for success.
How To Win Friends And Influence People By Dale Carnegie will always be a classic. Through this book, you understand a practical method for win-win conversational tones. As well as methods that are half the effort and 3 times as productive than traditional conversational means.
The Power Of Now By Eckhart Tolle is a phenomenal book all about accepting what is your current reality so you can move past it and into the life you were born to live. If you constantly battle with negative thoughts and want to find your true self, check out the power of now!
7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey was actually the very first book I read. And I’m extremely glad I did. It covers 7 (shocking) simple but profound habits that separate the average from the ultra efficient in the world. My favorite section “Sharpen The Saw” is my favorite portion and the reason why I’ve read over 90 books in 2 years.
Set For Life Scott Trench is one that really helped me grasp just how much Americans spend on living expenses on a yearly basis. This isn’t supposed to be a book where they say stop buying latte’s but examine your biggest expenses like housing and creating ways to reduce those in creative alternatives.
The Book On Rental Property Investing By Brandon Turner was the first designated real estate book I read and loved every bit of it. It has so much practical knowledge much of which I still use today. If you are considering learning more about real estate, get this book.
House Hacking Strategy Craig Curelop Taking real estate a step further, this book can break down the methods behind an extremely effective real estate investing strategy. By utilizing this, your housing payment is reduced, paid for, or paying you to live there.
The 4 Hour Workweek By Tim Ferriss really covers so many topics. It’s one of the reasons I started this blog. Tim is one of those mentors that can dumb down a complex topic into bite sized pieces to help the reader better understand the topic. This is mainly a book on how to better prioritize your time so you can focus on tasks which you truly enjoy.
If you truly commit to reading these books, I guarantee you will see improvement and you will be reaching financial freedom faster.
Leave a comment below if you’ve read any of these or which one you’re looking forward to reading next!