The 11 Best Books on Personal Finance for Millennials, Twenty-Somethings, and Young Adults

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The moment has finally arrived-you leave high school or college with an image of how perfect things will be now that you are no longer confined to the daily grind of classes and parents.

Easy street is right around the corner and you get to make your own decisions without someone else telling you what to do. The time has finally come to claim your independence and become a “real” adult.

No sooner has the ink dried on your newly minted diploma than you go to the mailbox and BAM! Reality hits. Your first student loan bill. Followed days later by utility bills, rent, car payment, car insurance, health insurance, groceries and spending money (if you ever intend to go out with your friends).

On top of that, unless you are one of the lucky few who land an incredibly high-paying job, you are probably realizing that your new career pays way less than you had hoped.

To make matters worse, you are also supposed to start thinking about retirement planning, saving, investing and coming up with a down payment on your first house. For those of you planning to have children, there’s more money you need to come up with.

You start to panic. How will you survive? Will you be homeless? What if you never get where you wanted to go? You have convinced yourself by now that you are never ever going to be able to retire.

Breathe. Like the millions before you, your early twenties and young adult years can be overwhelming, but all hope is not lost. In fact, the sky is still the limit and there are many ways to figure out the hurdles of new responsibilities and how to grow your wealth.

In good news, there are several incredibly useful financial books out there directed at millennials and young adults to help you navigate through this new territory.

Here are some of our top picks recommended by millennials to help other young adults get control of their finances:

John Linden, Founder of MirrorCoop says,

“As a younger person, I had no idea how to invest my money. I had investment accounts through my bank, but I didn’t know what to do with it. After a number of unsuccessful shots in the dark (and probably $500 in losses), I decided to start asking for help.

A friend of a friend recommended this book, which illustrates some of the methods that Warren Buffet uses to make money on the stock market.

Prior to reading it, I always thought that investing was about taking big risks, but this book taught me how to approach it in a smarter, more measured way. I’m incredibly thankful for the information I’ve learned from this one.”

The book titled “Personal Finance in Your 20s For Dummies” by Eric Tyson caught content marketer at IsItWP, Zakiyah Toor’s eye specifically because it was geared towards those in their twenties.

Tyson breaks his advice down into sections from budgeting to investing in changing your mindset about money.

The book uses simple terms that anyone would know and makes it clear that it’s written for those who are just starting out trying to save and make more money, especially millennials.

This book is written by a millennial for millennials.

This book is written in a way that young people beginning their financial journey can understand.

It covers a variety of topics, including buying vs. renting, when and how to invest, life insurance, tax planning, and so much more. It also includes helpful tools, such as a budget template, that readers can leverage and implement in their own lives.

Brenda Knight of Mango Publishing suggests Student Loan Solutions for young adults.

“Loans should be straightforward, but unfortunately, student loans are complicated. If you are one of the 70% of college graduates with student loans, Student Loan Solution has financial advice for you.

Those who have student loans, especially those with a lot of student loans, need to approach their finances differently than those who do not have student loan debt.

Student Loan Solution explains what student loan borrowers should be focusing on when it comes to their finances, above and beyond managing their student loan debt.

Additionally, it shows borrowers how to take advantage of strategies that help them make more money, save more money, and ultimately pay down their student loans faster.

By the time you are done reading Student Loan Solution, you will understand your student loans, gain control of your finances, and be armed with strategies to improve your finances and, ultimately, your life.

For millions of Americans, paying for college meant taking out loans. Fight the student loans epidemic affecting 40 million borrowers―learn the best way to pay off the college degree you worked so hard to earn.”

Twenty-five-year old Serafima Aleksandrova has a confession to make.

She loves The Financial Diet both because it is well-written and beautifully designed and the tone of the texts.

The book has zero judgment, which is refreshing for a ‘personal finance’ book because these texts are often written by experts who know everything while ‘poor youth knows nothing’ like we’re all John Snow.

So I had a blast reading TFD and even gave a copy to some of my friends because of the authenticity and relatability of the stories made me feel understood and inspired to try saving strategies and re-think my relationships with money.

I’d recommend The Financial Diet to all twenty-something who are tired of hearing the same stereotypical expert opinions about money.

Some books stay relevant for a long time and this book is one of them.

Popular with multiple age groups from Gen Zers to Gen Xers, Millenial Igor Mitic (Co-Founder of Fortunly.com) thinks, “this is the most inspiring personal finance book for entrepreneurs that I’ve read and even though it was written over 10 years ago, it’s as relevant as ever to the millennial generation.

It’s a must-have book for any millennials that are aspiring to become an entrepreneur.

The book helps you understand what goes into the mindset of an entrepreneur. Using personal experience, Timothy Ferriss does a fantastic job of illustrating his journey as an entrepreneur from start to finish, providing a detailed account of his personal life and though-processes.

The book is an easy read, and not only will you learn about the journey of an entrepreneur with principles that can be applied to any startup or online business.

Personal Finance Blogger Gladice Gong of Earn More Live Freely, finds Lowry’s book, “good for young people at the beginning of their financial journey because it covers all the basic personal finance topics such as saving, paying off debt, budgeting and investing, and also emphasizes the importance of good money mindset and gives advice on how to reorient your attitude towards money in a more productive way.

This is extremely valuable because real changes can only happen after you’ve experienced a change in your mindset and attitude.

In an ever-changing world of finance, strategies and tactics might change but the basic personal finance principles taught in the book will always apply.

This book was recommended to me by numerous young adults and millennials and is one I personally have read and re-read multiple times (and I am a Xennial so this one has stood the test of time).

“This book is a complete life-changer as it opens up our eyes to the faulty relationship many of us have with money,” says Claudia Torres, Lifestyle Blogger of the popular blog TheFab20s.

“The main gist of the book is ’the rich buy assets, the poor buy liabilities they think are assets.’ If a person can wrap their head around that concept and understand it, they won’t have financial troubles in their life.

This is the perfect book for twenty-somethings as everything is explained in layman’s terms. Robert explains the concepts the same way his ‘rich dad’ explained it to him when he was just a boy.

In fact, my own father gave me this book when I was in middle school and I understood about 80% of it at the time (the last chapters about taxes and investing were a bit tough for a 12-year-old).

It’s the perfect book to lay a foundation for millennials and get them on the right path before they make poor financial decisions.

As for my own personal finance journey, this book set the foundation for me to find ways to have money work for me and not the other way around. I’m currently 27 years old and have created multiple streams of income in the past couple of years. The book planted the seed that has to lead me on my own journey to learn as much as I can about making money, investing, passive income, etc and it’s always the first book I recommend to friends.”

This book is great for young adults because the format is simple and easy to digest without using complex financial terms. It’s not condescending or intimidating in the way it is communicated.

It uses real-life examples in an interesting manner and has no charts, graphs or numbers. The book discusses clearly and simply important topics like debt, budgeting, saving, spending, investing and more in an informative way and is great to use as a guide when you need a quick question answered.

Practicing the principles in the book actually help millennials start their financial life properly and allow them to take control of their finances.

Benjamin Sweeney of ClydeBank Media recommends Snow’s book, claiming, “it is the book he would most recommend. Snow doesn’t focus on specific dollar amounts or strategies that are accessible by only the super-wealthy.

Millennials don’t often have a huge amount to invest and Ted’s presentation of universal or evergreen strategies and concepts in a way that is agnostic to individual investor’s capital resources is helpful (and practical).

Most of Ted’s recommendations are considered “vanilla” investing approaches and generally conform to the best practices that are outlined for no-touch/low touch investors.

Reading this book drives home the point that you can participate in the market without devoting huge amounts of time to reviewing earnings calls, watching trendlines like a hawk, or logging into your portfolio multiple times per day.”

“This book is a game-changer. Ramit is the only author that explains why you can invest in what you like or enjoy. And you should do that, to feel better and to live your rich life.

In order to do that you need to cut everything else merciless. He sends you on a 6-week program to align your finances. A must-read for everyone who’s graduating and starting their professional career and everyone who didn’t read it yet.”

– Peter Wilfahrt, of Versandgigant, author, entrepreneur, self-proclaimed “digital native” and IT security.

There are many books available to young adults that want to jump-start their financial lives and take control of their finances. Wherever you are at in your journey, take the time to educate yourself while you’re young so you can enjoy the fruits of your labor over a lifetime.

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Krista Goodrich, author of "The Boss Lady Investor™: You Don't Need a D!*k to Understand Money," a humorous narrative personal finance book geared to help women take control of their finances, lives in Daytona Beach, Florida with her husband, Colin, and their dogs.

A lifelong serial entrepreneur, Krista is also an avid investor and public speaker, focused on helping women understand personal finance in a way that makes it fun for other boss ladies.