Financial education is still not taught in schools, even the basics like budgeting and debt management. You will not be alone in never having been given any guidance on how to manage your money once you graduate and start earning an income.
This was the primary reason for Grad Rags to Riches, and the first 10 posts take you through the 3 simple steps to becoming wealthy: How to Save, Invest and Protect.
There are numerous finance books available, 3 of my favourites being ‘Rich Dad Poor Dad’ by Robert Kiyosaka, ‘The Automatic Millionaire’ by David Bach, and a book by J L Collins who many consider the Godfather of the FIRE movement called ‘The Simple Path to Wealth’.
Here are 3 more great finance books which can be obtained free through the links provided.
Your Money Matters
Martin Lewis has now been ‘The Money Saving Expert’ for over 10 years having created Moneysavingexpert.com in February 2003 for just £100. The site's ethical stance and consumer revenge approach have made it the UK's most popular money website with more than 16 million users a month.
Like Grad Rags to Riches, Martin ‘The Money Saving Expert’ Lewis, passionately believes that financial education could have a huge impact on the future wellbeing of millions of young people. For this reason, he personally funded the design, print, and provision of over 400,000 copies of the first-ever curriculum-mapped financial education textbook.
The book focuses on the following areas:
• Savings – ways to save, interest, money and mental health.
• Making the most of your money – budgeting, keeping track of your budget, ways to pay, value for money, spending.
• Borrowing – debt, APR, borrowing products, unmanageable debt.
• After school, the world of work – student finance, apprenticeships, earnings, tax, pensions, benefits.
• Risk and reward – investments, gambling, insurance.
• Security and fraud – identify theft, online fraud, money mules.
There is also a Money Saving App available which gives access to the MSE site in super-easy app format. It includes the usual staples – the latest MoneySaving news, top deals and in-depth guides, as well as vital cost of living help. It also provides quick access to all sections of the main MSE site and the weekly email at the tap of a screen, plus it allows you to easily delve into MSE's 30+ MoneySaving tools.
Manage Your Financial Expectations by Mark Hamilton
Like Grad Rags to Riches, Mark found himself in a position where he needed to understand his own financial situation, and rather than trusting everything to a Financial Adviser (or not wanting to pay for financial advice from GRTR perspective) decided to read and research everything himself. Having identified mistakes he had made over the years and established how easy investing really could be, he wanted to pass on this knowledge to his children; MYFE was a result of this.
Money Saving Expert primarily covers how to save and protect. Mark’s series of 3 books cover investing: What, Why, and How.
“Those who manage our savings and investments have a tendency to make the process appear complex and intimidating. It's neither. This book (one) will give you a simple plan anyone can understand, and it will only take 30 minutes of your time per year. It will outperform 80% of finance professionals in the long run, and make you financially self-sufficient, possibly even well-to-do, in retirement.
But, it's not a 'get-rich-quick' plan. Successful saving and investing require time and patience. And yet, by following a few simple rules you can manage your stress and your saving and investment risks while securing your short, medium, and long-term goals.
If you haven't yet begun your saving and investment journey, this book will give you a road map for more successfully achieving your financial goals - even if you're having difficulty saving”. Mark Hamilton.
We’re Talking Millions! By Paul Merriman
Unlike the other 2 books, ‘We’re Talking Millions’ is a USA based investing book, but the principles outlined can be transferred to the UK.
Paul Merriman retired in 2012 from a lifetime of financial advising to start The Merriman Financial Education Foundation who’s objectives were simply to make freely available the knowledge and wisdom he’d gained and share it with those interested in “sound investing” for retirement. Paul donates all profits from his books.
We’re Talking Millions! is intended for young and/or first-time investors to learn why and how to make a handful of smart choices that can turn modest regular savings into a secure future.
It starts by outlining twelve steps to boost a retirement fund, each of which can add $1 million or more to a retirement nest egg if you start in your 20s or 30s. Listing tips and tricks along the way, the book outlines how to get started: saving early makes a MUCH larger impact than later savings.
Like Grad Rags to Riches, Paul recommends using passive low-cost index funds consisting of hundreds or more individual stocks and buying and holding these investments, but he is also a big fan of holding a small percentage in a small company value index fund in what he calls the “Two funds for life investment plan”.
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