First Federal Bank Blog

The world of finance is always changing, which means advice you received years ago might not be a good idea anymore. To make sure you’re caught up on all the latest trends and strategies in personal finance, consider one of these books recommended by the experts.

“Broke Millennial” by Erin Lowry

As the title suggests, “Broke Millennial” by Erin Lowry is a great choice if your financial life is relatively young, and you carry student loan debt. Lowry is a personal finance expert, and the book focuses on helping you stop living paycheck to paycheck, even if you have debt to pay off. Personal finance expert Farnoosh Torabi says that the book deals well with the new hurdles affecting you if you’re a young American. Not only does the book focus on the here and now, but it also offers insight into saving for retirement and managing your overall relationship with money.

“Rich Dad Poor Dad” by Robert Kiyosaki

If you’ve done much research into the world of finance literature, the name “Rich Dad Poor Dad” should sound familiar. The book actually celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2017 with a fresh edition, and Beverly Bird of The Balance says that it’s so important to personal finance that it earned a spot on her 2019 list. This finance classic teaches how to pass on good money skills to your kids, while also comparing the spending habits of the rich and poor. There are good ideas to take from each perspective, as well as cautionary tales. No matter what category you fall in, this book is sure to teach you something.

“Set for Life” by Scott Trench

Scott Trench, an investor and vice president of investing site BiggerPockets, wrote “Set for Life: Dominate Life, Money, and the American Dream” to help you understand how to put savings over earnings in terms of importance. Trench is part of the financial independence, retire early movement, or FIRE, so his books’ main goal is to help you save and grow your money quickly so that you can leave the workforce. Regardless of when you decided to head out to greener pastures, “Financial Freedom” author Grant Sabatier told New York Magazine that Trench’s strategies are great for “younger people who want to live life on their own terms as quickly as they can.” If that sounds like you, consider giving this book a look.

“Your Money or Your Life” by Vicki Robin and Joe Dominguez

If the ideas of the FIRE movement intrigue you, both Karen Iorio Adelson of New York Magazine and Beverly Bird of The Balance recommend “Your Money or Your Life: 9 Steps to Transforming Your Relationship with Money and Achieving Financial Independence.” Instead of giving you tips on how to manage your money for daily expenses, Robin and Dominguez focus on helping you first develop big-picture goals. Once you know how much money you need to accomplish those, the book then asks you how much money you are willing to trade your life for. This sounds harsh, but the authors point out that your job is essentially you trading parts of your life force for cash. Once you put that in perspective, it might be easier to make cuts to your lifestyle in the interest of having to work less (and keep more of your life) further down the road.

These certainly are not the only books on personal finance that can help you in 2019. If you’re looking for more guidance for your financial life, head to your local independent bookstore and ask one of the knowledgeable associates.