4 Books That Changed My Relationship to Money

Welcome to Personal Finance Insider, a biweekly newsletter that connects you with the stories, strategies, and tips you need to be better with money.

Here’s what: Books I’m currently obsessed with

I’m a book lover. You can find me reading no less than three books at any given time. Usually one is a novel and the other two are nonfiction.

Picking up a nonfiction book is one of the most cost-effective ways to mentally download a ton of information about a particular topic. And there’s no shortage of books about my favorite topic of all: personal finance.

I’ve read dozens of books about money, and many of them have been helpful in teaching me the basics — how to save, invest, and budget. But today I want to share four books with you that have given me an entirely new understanding of my relationship to money. Here are my current obsessions:

• Brian Portnoy’s “The Geometry of Wealth” is full of insights that inspire me to think about how I can use money to shape my ideal life. He brings in lessons from other disciplines — history, neuroscience, and philosophy — to illustrate how everything in life is connected to money and how we can use that to our advantage. 
• Morgan Housel’s “The Psychology of Money” implored me to think about how we behave as investors, savers, and earners. He takes what we assume to be true about money and turns it inside out. I’m always game for new perspective.
• Rachel Rodgers’ “We Should All Be Millionaires” is a new book, released this past spring, that had me hooked from the introduction. Rodgers’ financial ambition is infectious, plus her ideas are inventive and totally actionable. This book has reminded me to never sell myself short.
• Ramit Sethi’s “I Will Teach You To Be Rich” has been a favorite for years. It was first published in 2009 and updated a decade later. In addition to really helpful beginner investing and money management advice, Sethi introduces the concept of building a “Rich Life” for yourself and how to identify and get over your money hangups. It’s always relevant. 

Happy reading!

—Tanza Loudenback, Personal Finance Insider correspondent and certified financial planner

P.S. My time at Insider is coming to a close — it’s been a pleasure sharing my money musings with you over the past year. Going forward, senior editor of Personal Finance Insider Stephanie Hallett will be authoring this newsletter.

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