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The Best Financial Books of 2021

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There are thousands of books out there about how to become better with finances, how to invest, and how to be okay with talking about money.

Listed below are books that will teach you how to go from living tightly with money to retiring debt and being worry-free. There are many books out there for those wanting to learn about finances!

Retire Before Mom and Dad: The Simple Numbers Behind a Lifetime of Financial Freedom by Rob Berger

Retire Before Mom and Dad is a book that teaches you how to improve your financial future by using psychology, finance, and self-help concepts. This is a great book for those that are just beginning to get into the world of personal finance or those that want to learn more!

Rob Berger is a litigation attorney and the founder of popular personal finance and investing website.

Rob’s goal is to help people achieve financial freedom by helping them live a life free of financial stress and worry by teaching them about wealth and living financially free. 

In Retire Before Mom and Dad, Rob writes about the difference between a Roth 401K and a Traditional 401K, the ins and outs of investing, how to retire debt-free, and how to successfully and carefully analyze long-term decisions.

His simple approach and clear writing will teach you how to become financially wise and efficient, as well as how to invest and self-help. This is a great book for those just getting started in the financial world, or those wanting to learn more!

When She Makes More by Farnoosh Torabi

In When She Makes More, Farnoosh Torabi teaches the reader how to deal with income imbalances in relationships, and how to help women manage these circumstances that can have negative impacts. 

Today, there are more women than ever working as the household’s top earners. However, they face higher risks of burning out, depressions, infidelity, and even divorce. Farnoosh uses her real-life experiences to connect the reader on a personal level.

Sold as a physical book or an audiobook, Farnoosh Torabi outlines rules to help her readers learn how to address financial imbalances that can affect relationships negatively and how to become okay with talking about these problems.

In When She Makes More, readers will learn how to deal with changes in dating and marriage in society, how to know when to let your significant other lead, and how to allow your significant other to become a stay-at-home parent without making their life too easy. 

Broke Millennial: Stop Scraping By and Get Your Financial Life Together by Erin Lowry

Written for Millennials, Broke Millennial gives great insights on how to save money, handle student loan debt, negotiate a pay raise, and how to ‘adult’.

Erin gives humor and empathy a fun twist in Broke Millennials!

No one likes to think about money, especially when money is tight. In Broke Millennial, the reader will learn how to be okay with talking out loud about money and how to deal with it.

Described as refreshing and conversational, Erin relates to her audience in a way that will guide them to a path of financial wellness! 

Written for Millennials, Erin doesn’t use boring language to talk about investing and credit card debt, but rather uses analogies to relate those topics to Tinder, dating, and marriage.

Erin even talks about how to manage student loans and what to do when your dining out with friends and can’t afford to split the bill.

Written by a millennial for a millennial, this is a must-read!

How I Invest My Money by Joshua Brown and Brian Portnoy

In How I Invest My Money, you will learn about 25 experts and how they invest, spend, save, and give their own money.

Joshua Brown and Brian Portnoy will teach you there is no right or wrong way to use your money!

Joshua and Brian talked to 25 different financial experts, including financial advisors, portfolio managers, and venture capitalists, and have turned their stories into essays about their lives, families, struggles, and aspirations.

https://www.harriman-house.com/Howinvestmoney

How I Invest My Money describes how there is no right or wrong way to handle your money, but rather use these stories to teach the reader how to figure out what works best for them. 

You will read about different perspectives on bonds, stocks, funds, charity, and other means of achieving the life you have always dreamed of. How I Invest My Money will also teach your how to create and keep a healthy relationship with money and your values. 

Spend Well, Live Rich by Michelle Singletary

In Spend Well, Live Rich, Michelle Singletary teaches the reader how to support a family while living on a budget.

Michelle also teaches the reader that it’s okay to not feel bad about not spending. 

Michelle Singletary was raised by Big Mama, her grandmother who made $13,000 a year. Big Mama was the one who taught Michelle the “7 Money Mantras for a Richer Life.”

These mantras include “If it’s on your a$$, it’s not an asset,” “Sweat the small stuff,” Keep it simple,” and “Priorities lead to prosperity.” 

How to Analyze Your Financial Upbringing
Check out our article on analyzing your own financial upbringing.

In Spend Will, Live Rich, Michelle teaches the reader how to teach children the value of money, how to become comfortable talking about money in relationships, how to save money as a household, and how to look for and get the best loans for your situation. 

Summary

There are many resources to help you become comfortable with finances.

By becoming comfortable with your finances, you can have conversations about money in your relationships, learn how to save money as a household, and become okay with saying no. Start your journey to financial freedom today!

How to Analyze Your Financial Upbringing

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Studies have shown that most of our financial habits and money decisions that affect our financial health are largely influenced by our upbringing. Your parents largely influence the way you save, spend, or view money.

A quick look at your finances can help reveal your financial health. Your financial health considers your net worth, debt, retirement plans, emergency funds, and several other financial implications.

https://thinksaveretire.com/parents-money-habits/

Why You Need to Evaluate Your Financial Health

It is not out of place to see a doctor for a physical check-up. In the same way, a routine fiscal check is good for your financial health. It will help you make the necessary economic adjustments.  

Here are Three of the Most Popular Ways to Assess your Financial Health

#1. Figuring Out Your Net Worth 

Determining your net worth is the first step in assessing where you stand financially. You can do this by adding all your assets and subtracting your liabilities.

Don’t beat yourself up. It’s completely okay to have a negative balance now. The goal is to write it down and work towards increasing your assets.

Action plan

Your net worth serves as a personal measuring tool that should spur you to take action. Focus on increasing your net worth by 5% to 10% every year. Your net worth is personal so remember never to compare yourself with someone else. 

#2. Take a Closer Look at Your Income to Debt Ratio

After figuring out your net worth, the next step is to calculate your income-to-debt ratio. Calculating your debt-to-income ratio helps you keep your debt under control.

You can get this by dividing your income by the total amount of debt you have. For example, if your monthly gross income is $6,000 and you have a total debt payment of $2,000, your debt-to-income ratio is 30%.

Action plan 

A high debt to income ratio means you need to exercise caution. Experts advise you keep the ratio to 20% or lower. You could pick on a side hustle or take on another job to help you pay up your debts. But most importantly, work on reducing your expenditure.

Identifying how you were raised could help you put things in perspective and set you on track for the future.

#3. Take Budgeting Seriously

If you aren’t tracking where your money is going, you need to start now. It is not enough to save. Make sure you know where every single penny comes from and goes to.

What to Do After My Emergency Fund Is Fully Funded?

Action plan 

Create a budget and stick to it. This might seem time-consuming, but there are lots of platforms offering automated solutions. 

3 Common Financial Upbringings | How They Affect Your Money Habits as an Adult

After evaluating your financial health, it is important to consider your financial upbringing. Growing up, it is natural to look up to your parents and immediate family and want to be like them.

So, it is not unusual for you to pick up the money habits of your parents or guardians. It is also possible to be negatively affected by their money habits.

#1. Little Financial Education

Some parents never saw the need to educate their children about financial literacy and good money behavior. This could be because their parents also never taught them.

Effects 

Adults who grew up with zero financial education end up not knowing how to strike the right balance. They could develop unhealthy financial habits like overspending and undersaving. Others hoard money and live miserly.

Solution 

Seek to acquire financial knowledge. You could enroll in finance courses, read investment books, or enlist the help of a portfolio manager to help you best manage your finances. 

32. Frugal Upbringing

A lot of families fall within the low to middle-income bracket. This means prioritizing the family’s needs over luxuries. It’s not uncommon for kids from such homes to have their requests for expensive gadgets denied or replaced with a cheaper alternative. 

Effects

If you are from a frugal family, you might splurge on wants rather than needs to compensate for childhood luxuries you never had. You might end up accumulating debts to fund this lifestyle. On the other hand, you could also choose to emulate your parents’ financial discipline.

Solution

Analyze your money habits. Are you embracing unhealthy money habits just to make up for your childhood? If you are, you could draw up a savings and investment goal.

You could also get an accountability coach to keep you in check or join groups of like-minded individuals.

#3. Luxurious Childhood 

If you grew up in rich homes, it is easy to emulate your parents’ lavish lifestyle. You even grow up with a sense of entitlement, expecting things to be easily handed to you.

Effects 

If you are from a well-to-do upbringing, there is a temptation to live above your means. You might want to match the luxury you enjoyed while living with your parents. If you are not careful, this could you lead you into debt, especially if your financial situation changes.

Solution

Keep a distance from friends and environments that cause you to overspend. Reduce the urge to splurge; rather, Indulge yourself occasionally.

Final Thoughts

Tracing your financial upbringing may help you improve your future. Take a holistic look at how you were raised, identify harmful money habits you have picked up, and work on replacing them with healthy financial habits.

Image Credit: [Thiago Matos]

How to Manage Financial Stress and Anxiety

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  • money stress

To manage financial stress and anxiety, there are several things you can do to take care of yourself and your emotions.

Using your money wisely and taking it day by day is a good start, finding ways that you can consolidate your financial burdens, and start taking care of them little by little.

It may sound easier said than done but, you’ll be back to yourself in no time.

What Causes Financial Stress?

Many things can cause financial stress. Sometimes unexpected things happen that take us by surprise and other times we just don’t make enough to make ends meet. In some cases, you may lose your job or suffer from an injury that keeps you from working.

Whatever the case, the inability to maintain your necessities can cause stress. This stress leads to anxiety, making you feel nervous and anxious. Anxiety and stress can affect everything in your life, making you feel uneasy, unconfident, and restless.

Over time, if you don’t address these issues, you’ll have bigger issues and could develop panic attacks and general anxiety disorder.

6 Ways to Combat Financial Anxiety and Stress

When you start to feel anxious about your paychecks, you may be suffering from financial stress. A good place to start is to assess your financial situation, looking for the root cause.

Getting to the bottom of what’s causing your anxiety is a good way to start taking care of it, getting your life back, and taking charge of your emotions. You can also tackle your financial stress with these 6 tips.

1. Stay Positive

First and foremost, you should stay positive. We are not perfect and sometimes things happen that are out of our control. Admitting that your finances are in turmoil, you can start taking the first steps to fix them.

Try and keep a positive mindset and realize that you just have to take things day by day. Your financial stresses won’t be around forever, and you can start working on them.

2. Start with the Most Important

When tackling a debt, start with the most important first. Whatever collects the most interest or weighs you down the most is where you should start, jumping on a payment plan when you can.

You can start by taking a look at your credit report and making phone calls if you need to ask questions about totals.

Once you have that in place, start taking steps to plan how you’re going to pay.

3. Be Real

When you have financial stress, the last thing you want to do is be unrealistic. Don’t be afraid to face the total that you owe, coming to terms with your debt. In this way, you can truly see what you have to work on and avoid thinking you owe much less than you do.

If you need to, work with an attorney, a financial advisor, or even a friend to talk it out and make sense of it all.

4. Use Your Money Wisely

Just because you’ve come to terms with the amount you owe doesn’t mean that you should start to blow your money. It means quite the opposite. Take care of your money and don’t spend it on unnecessary things.

It can help to get on a strict budget, one where you know exactly where your money is going. Try writing out your monthly income and setting aside the amount you need for essentials like food, gas, and utilities.

5. Take Small Steps to Success

When you’re trying to relieve your financial stress and anxiety, try and keep from overwhelming yourself. That means taking small steps instead of overthinking and trying to tackle too much at a time.

When you take small steps, you start to realize that you are hitting smaller milestones that get you closer to your final goal. In the end, you can use those small successes to build yourself up and put a dent in your debts to start feeling relieved fast.

6. Be Honest with Yourself

There is nothing worse than underestimating the amount of financial burden you feel. Not being honest with yourself could lead to more stress as you start to realize how far in debt you are.

Start by finding out what you owe and then, take steps to eliminate it.

How to Tackle Financial Stress

Dealing with financial stress is not easy but, with the right attitude and small steps, you can get yourself on the right road to becoming debt-free and more at ease with yourself.

https://thethirty.whowhatwear.com/financial-anxiety

If you have financial stress, here are three things to look into.

1. Consolidation

Consolidation is one loan that you can use to combine all of your debts into one place. Most of the time, those who have debts benefit from consolidation, able to reduce the interest and pay only one payment per month.

2. Bankruptcy

Bankruptcy is another option but, it comes with a few consequences. Your credit will show bankruptcies for up to 7 years, something that could affect your ability to buy things like a house or vehicle. Before filing bankruptcy, it’s best to check all of your options and save that for last.

There’s No Better Day Than Today

Sometimes, it’s easy to put off paying for your debts. Instead of waiting, start taking control of your finances to reduce your stress and anxieties.

There is no better day than today to start taking control over your life and start living more freely. Remember to check your debts, be honest with yourself, and find options that work for you.

Help is out there and there are more options than you might think. From attorneys to credit cards, you have a number to choose from. Whether it’s contracting an attorney or creating a budget yourself, you can do it, and your start living a worry-free and debt-free life.

Image credit:[KAROLINA GRABOWSKA]