Top 10 Finance Books to Read To Understand Finance Better

A company is a large entity consisting of smaller subunits or departments.  Each department has to work in liaison to achieve the organization’s common objective and help the company reach great heights. The top management conducts regular meetings with each department to evaluate the individual performance of the departments and address their grievances. The company hires driven and able individuals as managers for every department to help them flourish. One such department which is omnipresent in all types of companies is Finance. The demand for finance professionals has always been on the rise, and the future looks pretty enticing. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, financial manager category jobs will increase by 17% through 2030.

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What is Finance?

Finance is an umbrella term related to money, and has various subparts such as corporate, personal, and public finance:

1. Personal Finance– It refers to the finance-related activity an individual can take, like insurance, investment, savings, etc. 
2. Corporate Finance– It refers to the financing activities of a corporation. These include managing revenue streams, taking care of the cash flows, etc. 
3. Public Finance– It refers to the financial activities undertaken by the government. These include budgeting, debt issues, public expenditures, etc.

How can you improve your financial understanding?

Financial knowledge is a must-have for people across all fields. Managing money is an essential step in order to earn more. There are many ways to gain financial understanding, some of which are given below.

• YouTube-

YouTube can be called the most realizable and readily available source of gaining knowledge. You can follow your favorite creators and refer to different playlists to learn all about the field of finance.

• Podcasts-

Podcasts are increasingly becoming a common form of acquiring knowledge. You can understand complex subjects in more straightforward terms by listening to the podcasts of experts in the field.

• News Channels-

This is probably the oldest yet the most effective way of learning finance. You can follow finance specific news channels like CNBC TV, NDTV Profit, and ET Now.

• Books-

Books are hands-down the best way to accumulate knowledge. You can select books according to your level of understanding and gain deeper insights into the field. 

• Blogs-

Blogs are one of the efficient ways to learn about any subject as you can consume their content in less time. You can follow a creator and consume their content on a regular basis. This will help enhance your knowledge over a period of time. 

10 Best Finance Books–

• Investing 101: From Stocks and Bonds to ETFs and IPOs, an Essential Primer on Building a Profitable Portfolio, by Michele Cagan

The book is the perfect guide for anyone wishing to start their investing journey. A CPA by profession, Cagan breaks down all the complex financial jargon and provides a comprehensive explanation of different types of investment. This book will help you make informed investment decisions.

• One Up On Wall Steet: How to Use What You Already Know to Make Money in the Market, by Peter Lynch

Regarded as one of the best books on finance, it explains easy-to-follow tips to achieve your financial goal. According to the author, deriving insights from the company’s financial statements and using them in your investment decisions can yield handsome returns over a long time. 

• Dollars and Sense: How We Misthink Money and How to Spend Smarter, by Dan Ariely and Jeff Kreisler

In this book, the authors delve deeper into the human mind to understand how we deal with money. The book provides various reasons as to why people overspend and what are the factors influencing such behavior. It also contains multiple pieces of advice which could help overcome such money habits.

• Rich Dad Poor Dad, by Robert T. Kiyosaki

This bestseller book on finance is perfect for someone wanting to learn about money and finance from scratch. The author focuses on how you should manage your money and uses various approaches to explain the same. 

• Debt Free Degree: The Step-by-Step Guide to Getting Your Kid Through College Without Student Loans, by  Anthony ONeal 

As the name suggests, the book is a guide for parents on how they can avoid hefty student loans and live a life of financial independence after college. It also explains various aspects of college planning for parents, such as how they can prepare their child for college and the right way to do college visits. It is one of the best finance books for parents.

• Corporate Finance For Dummies, by Michael Taillard

The book is a perfect guide for beginners in the field of Corporate Finance. It explains various concepts of corporate finance theoretically and supports these through actual examples. It covers topics like cash flow, mergers and acquisitions, etc. 

• The Millionaire Fastlane, by MJ DeMarco

This guide to getting rich defines wealth as consisting of 3 things: meaningful relationships, a healthy body and mind, and freedom. According to the author, you have to make your income independent of your time to earn more money.

• The Revolution in Corporate Finance, by Liza H. Jacobs

The book talks about new transformations going on in the field of finance and the ways in which they affect corporate decisions.

•  The Richest Man in Babylon, by George S. Clason.

This top-notch financial literacy book talks about various principles you can live by to accumulate wealth. It uses multiple guides and advice which you can use to manage your money well and become wealthy.

• The Psychology of Money: Timeless lessons on wealth, greed, and happiness by Morgan Housel

According to the author, there is a difference between being rich and being wealthy. The book contains many tips and lessons on managing money and making intelligent financial decisions.

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Conclusion-

Gaining financial knowledge is essential for all the executives of a company across all departments. This is because the end-goal of a company is to achieve the target profits. Investors and shareholders are also generally more concerned about maintaining the upward trajectory of the revenue graph. Hence, all the decisions should be taken to attain the company’s financial goal. This is why it is necessary for the managers and people in authority to have considerable financial knowledge along with expertise in their respective domains too.