Oscar Wilde famously wrote, ‘In old days, books were written by men of letters and read by the public. Nowadays books are written by the public and read by nobody.” Wilde wrote this almost 150 years ago, yet it seems his cynical view is ringer truer than ever.
But sometimes digging deeper than the fake news, WhatsApp messages and Facebook trolls is worth our time. Within that huge stack of dead trees and digital ink, there are some genuine pearls out there. And in fact, some of them can help you with your financial education. We selected 6 books that will help you on your financial education journey
Books on investing
If you are considering investing in the stock market and are wondering which stocks to pick and when to sell or buy, you may want to read up on the most successful investor of the last 6 decades, Warren Buffet. A great introduction are his famous letters to the shareholders of his investment fund, named Berkshire Hathaway. You can find them collected in books or online, letters from 1977 – 2015 can be read here. Wonderful advice came from these letters such as “Forget what you know about buying fair businesses at wonderful prices; instead, buy wonderful businesses at fair prices”.
Wondering, from whom Warren Buffet learned investing? Buffet was actually a student and employee of Benjamin Graham, pretty much the inventor of value investing. His book “The Intelligent Investor: The Definitive Book on Value Investing” is considered the standard work on value investing. It is the opposite of a ‘get rich quick’ scam: it shows investing requires patience, discipline and hard work.
Books on money and biases in financial decisions
“Rich Dad, Poor Dad” by Robert Kiyosaki dissects how differently the rich teach their kids about money, compared to the poor and middle class. He wrote the book, based on his observations of how differently his two ‘dads’ – one rich (actually his best friends’ dad), one poor (his own dad) – thought about money. Though in my view, this won’t teach you how to get rich as most of the examples are about flipping property, it does do a nice job in illustrating two very different mindsets. For example, one dad would say “I can’t afford that”, while the other dad would say “How can I afford that?”. Or, one would see “Money is evil”, while the other would say “Lack of money is evil”. It is best to show how some people dress themselves in the language of a victim, instead of taking control of their (financial) lives.
“Thinking, Fast and Slow” by Nobel prize winner Daniel Kahneman is surely the book to read about all of the biases the human brain constantly makes. These biases especially come into play when making long-term financial decisions. Being aware of them is the first step to preventing falling for them. Other recommended books about these biases are:
- “Stumbling on Happiness” by Daniel Gilbert
- “Predictably Irrational” by Dan Ariely
- “The Invisible Gorilla” by Christopher Chabris and Daniel Simons
- “Nudge” by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein
- “The Behavior Gap” by Carl Richards
For young professionals who are working on getting rid of their PTPTN loans, or who already have collected a massive credit card debt, even just a few years after graduation, read “Debt-Free By 30” by Jason Anthony and Karl Cluck, though it might be harder to pick up a physical copy in Malaysia
In case you are looking for a book which offers a bit more of a local perspective, consider KCLau’s “Funny Munnee”, “Top Money Tips for Malaysians” and “Teaching Your Kids About Money”. You can find them here.
Most books should be available online as eBook formats. Enjoy reading!
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