We have officially turned the page on 2021 and I sincerely wish everyone a happy new year! 2022 is a new start, and a great time to grow and learn. By setting your foundation for financial literacy in 2022, you will be well on your way to financial independence and the life of your dreams. In this post, I will share with you my top 5 recommended books that have helped me lay the foundation for financial literacy on my quest to financial freedom. I truly believe these books hold more value through wisdom than any amount of money out there. In order to be truly free, you need to cut back on unnecessary expenses and invest in yourself and your financial education. Here are my top 5 recommended books for 2022:
Rich Dad Poor Dad
Rich Dad Poor Dad is easily the most recognizable and significant personal finance book of all time. Its lessons make up the core principles of financial independence, and author Robert Kiyosaki makes the rules very simple to understand and implement in your own life. Kiyosaki demonstrates the difference between assets and liabilities, and how most people spend the majority of their money on liabilities which in turn keeps them poor. By buying assets, or in other words anything that appreciates in value over time such as real estate or stocks, you will be “putting your money to work for you”. The rich get rich and stay rich by putting their money in assets that allow their money to work for them 24/7 365 days a year even when they aren’t physically working themselves. In the book, Robert has two father figures. One of them is his real father, and the other is his friend Mike’s father. His father was a school teacher who made a good salary and told Robert to work hard, save up, and get a job with good benefits. Mike’s dad showed Robert how to invest in assets and grow rich making money work for you. Robert’s real dad was a highly educated college graduate, while Mike’s dad only had a high school diploma. The moral of his story is to show how society and culture have everything backwards, and in order to become wealthy you must invest in assets, limit liabilities, and make your money work for you.
Pick up a copy here!
The Richest Man in Babylon
The Richest Man In Babylon by George S. Clason is a timeless classic that shows the laws of growing wealth through stories from ancient Babylon, which at the time of its existence was the richest place in the world. The story covers the richest man in the city, Arkhad, and how he became as rich as he did. Frustrated with working so hard and having nothing to show for it in terms of money, Arkhad sought advice of one of the wealthy men of whom was one of his customers. The man agreed to teach him to be rich, and over the course of a few years, Arkhad was able to absorb his lessons and become wealthy. The main principles Arkhad learned and teaches to his community are not dissimilar to Robert Kiyosaki’s. He explains the importance of saving at least 10% of your income, seeking the advice of wise men in investment, avoiding schemes, and making your money work for you. Arkhad’s principles show how the laws of money and wealth don’t change over time, and with diligence and patience, anyone can become wealthy at any day in age.
Pick up a copy here!
The 4 Hour Workweek
In Tim Ferriss’s classic, he explains the principles of starting side hustles and businesses that work without you having to be at the center. Automation and building systems are the name of Ferriss’s game. He has built multiple income streams in which he was able to set up systems and pull himself out of the equation almost altogether after they had been established. He does this by hiring virtual assistants and other employees who are capable of taking over day-to-day tasks for him while he does whatever he wants to do. In addition to this, another valuable tool Ferriss offers is ways to take the unnecessary things out of your own life by putting tasks through a funnel and seeing if it is something you should be spending time on or not. Overall, this book piggybacks off the principles of the two aforementioned ones, and will help lead you to scale your financial growth by getting back your time while making more money and people work for you.
Pick up a copy here!
Vivid Vision
Vivid Vision by Cameron Herold is a great roadmap to success for anyone. The purpose of this book was for Cameron to help companies align their concrete vision of what their company would look like, feel like, and act like in 3 years’ time so that people could understand what the visionary (you) wants to build so they may be able to grow to reach that point. Now, you may think this book isn’t for you because you don’t have a business. That is perfectly ok! You can use this tool for your own personal life as well to make a concrete vision for your 3-year future so that you may take daily steps to achieve this reality. It is also a great asset for investing, and just about anything that will help you be a healthier, wealthier, and happier person! Vivid Vision is a powerful book that will give you to tools to reach your desired future.
Pick up a copy here!
Who Not How
Who Not How by Benjamin Hardy and Dan Sullivan is an amazing guide to freedom. It is common in society to do everything yourself. In school, working with others is oftentimes considered cheating. Competition is promoted over collaboration, and this translates into the real world. The real way to reach wealth is to stop asking yourself how you can do something, and rather ask who can do it for you. This is a principle called finding who’s for your how’s. The goal here is to eliminate and delegate things you aren’t good at to people who are to free up time for you to focus on the things you do best. In the book, Hardy provides numerous examples of how this principle applies to real life. Applying Who Not How to your own life will surely eliminate stress, enable you to communicate well with others, and get more accomplished than you ever could on your own.
Pick up a copy here!
Conclusion
These books are the 5 core foundations of my path to financial freedom. I hope that if you decide to read them, that they will provide you with the same limitless value they have provided to me. Enjoy these books and absorb their wisdom. Happy reading and Happy New Year!