20 Investment Books For Young Adults

It’s the age of discovery, and you’re beginning to look out for your financial future because you’ve realized how significant investment is. It could be that you have the money, but your spending habits make it challenging to save and invest. The best thing to do is to fully equip yourself with the positive mindset and mentality you need to grow financially.

In today’s world, you can acquire knowledge about something by reading a book about it. Books like The Millionaire Next Door, The Total Money Makeover, and The Essays Of Warren Buffet are just a few of the books you can read to improve your spending and start investing.

When investing, you cannot just begin without proper guidance. Now! Don’t be in despair. It doesn’t matter if you’re starting as a college student or a young adult. Many authors have written books about the basic rules and tips you need to get started on investment.

In this informational guide, we’ve outlined the 20 best investment books for young adults to help you get your investment started properly.

20 Best Investment Books For Young Adults

Every year, young adults are bombarded with investment advice. Magazines, books, and television shows offer tips on how to make the most of your money. Unfortunately, this information is rarely practical for young adults. Most investment advice is geared towards people who have a stable career in mind and a fair amount of money to invest.

In this article, I’ve compiled a list of some of the best investment books for young adults. These books will help you save enough money to focus on your goals while also giving you information that will help you learn the basic concepts so you can start investing wisely later in life.

1. I Will Teach You To Be Rich: No Guilt, No Excuses – Ramit Sethi

Many young adults do not have a disciplined financial life. But with I Will Teach You To Be Rich by Ramit Sethi, you’re sure to begin to gain control of your finances. In I Will Teach You To Be Rich, Sethi explains how conscious spending and sensible banking can boost your financial life.

It is one thing to have money and another thing to spend wisely. Sethi believes that for a person to become wealthy requires discipline. And by being disciplined, you’ll have to go through some tedious actions like cutting down on your expenses.

In the book, he outlines six ways that further suggest how you can gain control of your finances in less than two months to enable you to invest and also guide you towards achieving an organized financial life.

The six steps to financial freedom in the book include;

How to manage your credit.
Optimize your bank account properly.
Get ready for investment – the dos and don’ts.
The right investment plan.
Automate money transfers.
Tips for conscious spending.

2. The Intelligent Investor: The Definitive Book Of Value Investing – Benjamin Graham

Due to the lack of sufficient knowledge, many young adults who start to invest are prone to economic risk, it causes them to lose money. In The Intelligent Investor, Graham teaches how to invest in the stock market with a minimized risk of losing capital.

In the book, the author also teaches young investors how to handle fluctuations, diversify investments and focus on steady returns. Also, there are several essential investment tips you’d learn in the book. But here are a few;

Be psychologically prepared before venturing into investments.
Understand the basic concept of price and value.
Understand the principles of management and long-term investment. In addition, how investment increases success.

3. Security Analysis – Benjamin Graham And David Dodd

Every young adult who wishes to start investing must understand the basics of the security analysis of money. Some of the securities as debt make it challenging for investors to be successful.

In Security Analysis, the authors use their experiences with investment to explain the intricacies of investing. He also covers the value of an investment and teaches young intending investors how to analyze and protect finances.

In the book, the authors also outline three key factors to consider before you start an investment.

Analyze relevant facts and know the type of investment you wish to start.
Have the mindset of profiting from it.
Conduct analysis and ensure the investment is worth it by monitoring how corporate policies handle such.

4. You Can Be A Stock Market Genius: Uncover The Secret Hiding Of Stock Market – Joel Greenblatt

As a young adult, you don’t need to be an expert to start investing. In the book, You Can Be A Stock Market Genius, Greenblatt uncovers the secret hiding place of the stock market. He also gives a comprehensive guide on how you can start from scratch and be successful.

Also, Greenblatt highlights how special financial situations like debts and restructuring can affect investment. Like a pro, he believes that to be a successful investor, you must;

Do your work.
Do not trust anyone.
Access the investments and choose the one you can handle.

5. The Little Book That Still Beats The Market – Joel Greenblatt

In this book, Greenblatt explains that you cannot invest without a clear idea of what you want to invest in. With this, he talks about the dynamics involved in why people fail in investments and the formula to follow to help you avoid loss.

As an intending investor, reading this book will give you an insight into how you can get into the stock market and excel in it with a minimized loss. It also covers the data and analysis of some financial crises and the model you can use to avoid them.

In The Little Book That Still Beats The Market, Greenblatt explores the basic principles of the stock market and how to get it right. He also talks highly of the value of investing by outlining how to;

Evaluate stocks for ROI.
Stay patient but practical.
Conduct analysis to determine the best companies to invest in.

6. The Essays Of Warren Buffet: Lessons For Corporate America

This masterpiece by Buffet is another significant investment book you should have in your collection. It explores the principles of how to apply wisdom in investment from the investor to the manager. In addition, it also highlights the different factors like governance, value, stock, etc., that centre around investment.

One of his favourite quotes states, “It is better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price.” This quote applies to his ideas in The Essays Of Warren Buffet. He believes you can gain from investment by buying stocks only in companies with a clear vision of growth and a solid foundation.

The essays in this book are a good starting point for young adults as it teaches them what to know about the connection between an investor and a manager.

7. The Little Book Of Common Sense Investing – John C. Bogle

Bogle believes that as a young adult who intends to invest, you can gain more from investment by not limiting yourself to your meagre salary. He believes that if you want to grow big, you shouldn’t settle for less.

He also expressed that keeping your costs low is one of the ways you can gain higher investment, but you may be wondering how it is possible to keep your costs low when you buy in large quantities. That’s where index investing comes to play.

In The Little Book Of Common Sense Investing, Bogle explains how index investing allows investors to buy low-cost funds from diverse markets and the value they can gain from it. He also focuses on how it helps you to start a long-term investment plan.

Index investment is still one of the safest and best ways of gaining financial freedom. With this wealth masterpiece by Bogle, you can never get it wrong with your investment plans.

8. The Great Crash, 1929 – John K. Galbraith

This investment book is also known as the financial pipeline. By being a financial pipeline, Galbraith explains the processes, ups, and downs involved in long-term investments by taking us down memory lane to the stock market crash that happened in 1929.

In The Great Crash, 1929, Galbraith outlines some toxic financial traits that brought the world’s economy to a dead end at the time of the crash. In addition, he also serves a good dose of the solutions to solving financial collapse.

By reading this book as an intending young adult investor, you’ll know the intricacies and secrets of investments. You’ll also learn how to avoid financial crises and gain more value.

9. The Millionaire Next Door – Thomas J Stanley And William D. Danko

Many young adults are fond of wasteful spending. Mostly, they find it complicated to keep up with their savings plan. According to Stanley and Danko, anyone can be a millionaire, but the road map to becoming financially independent isn’t rocket science. They both believe that to have enough to sustain you, you must learn to live within your means.

Both authors focus on the benefits of a proper budget and a savings plan. In this investment book, Stanley and Danko identify seven spending traits inherent in young adults and the steps to keep them from financial crises.

Also, in the book The Millionaire Next Door, both authors have created a straightforward formula to calculate your expenses if you find it challenging to get up to your finance to standard.

10. The Total Money Makeover – Dave Ramsey

In the book Total Money Makeover, Ramsey stated, “We buy things we don’t need with the money we don’t have to impress people we don’t like.” This quote explains how debt is one of the factors that affect savings plans.

Due to peer pressure as young adults, we often spend more than we can afford. Sometimes, we borrow to stay afloat. Then, when it’s time to pay back, we realize how much we’ve disrupted our savings plan.

With The Total Money Makeover, you can quit such spending habits and have enough to invest. Here are a few tips Ramsey put out in the book.

Use a debt snowball to clear all your debts.
Start saving emergency funds.

Maintain a low budget.

Ensure you always stick to your savings plan.

11. Your Money Or Your Life – Vickie Robin And Joe Dominguez

The title of this book is funny, but it contains so many elements of truth. If you happen to be in a situation where you’re supposed to choose between your money or your life, I’m sure you’d prefer to give out as much as you have to protect your life.

It’s true that if you have no money, you’ll lose relevance and value. But then, many young adults work so hard yet earn very little. And even with the little, there are still debts on the ground to pay and investments to make. The good news is that you can grow above this and make the most of your meagre income.

Your Money Or Your Life talks about nine transformational steps you can take to enable you to have control over your finance. It also teaches you how to improve your money attitude, like how to get out of debt, start saving and achieve financial independence.

12. The Defining Decade – Meg Jay

Most young adults are living in fear of being insignificant and incapable of handling finance. Due to this, they end up wasting their 20s and not making the most of it. In The Defining Decade, Jay explains why your twenties matter and how you can make the best of it.

Asides from that, Jay also shares the secrets of how to use your time wisely to deal with the changes you’ll face as a young adult in your work, relationship, school, etc., to enable you to achieve your financial goal.

Some of the tips for making the best investment plan which the author outlines in this book are,

Be so good and talented that they find it difficult to ignore you.
Do not make decisions based on your passion.
Learn how to persevere and be organized.
Value your time.

13. Influence – Robert Cialdini

In this book, Cialdini highlights six principles of persuasion and explains how they influence investment. He talks about how you can use these principles as an intending investor to control the market system.

Caldini believes humans are prone to treating others based on the idea of giving and taking. For instance, with his principle of reciprocation, he talks about how you can gain as an investor by giving.

Other principles include;

Commitment: This principle centres around how being consistent as an investor can help secure your financial future.
Authority: Here, he explains how you can build authority through investment.
Liking: This principle is one of the commonest. If you like someone or vice versa, persuasion would be easy.
Scarcity: As an investor, you can leverage scarcity by investing in things in high demand but not easy to get.
Social Proof: As an intending investor, you can tell if the platform you want to invest in is profitable by researching what others think about it.

14. How To Become A Money And Wealth Magnet – Sanmi Emmanuel Akindipe

How To Become A Money Magnet is one of the impactful investment books that will teach you how to attract and maintain wealth. Akindipe believes that money is the tool men use to measure their strength, success, and progress.

In this book, he talks about the top secrets that govern investments. These secrets include;

The top ideas that will help you to become a wealth magnet.
The roadmap you should follow to become a money magnet.
Types of money that aren’t good for investments.
The type of wealth you shouldn’t prioritize and the ones you should.
The top secrets that will help you save and have enough to invest.
Reasons you should invest and create wealth.

15. The Psychology Of Wealth – Charles Richards

As a young intending investor, The Psychology Of Wealth will teach you how to understand your relationship with money and achieve wealth. Richards believes that anyone can gain financial independence, and he uses this book to discuss the necessary skills you need to accomplish that.

In the book, the author talks about how he tried to find out what dominates the world of wealth. Having completed his research, he came up with valuable tips to help young investors succeed.

The valuable tips include;

Show appreciation.
Have patience and avoid rush wealth.
Practice the law of reciprocation(give, and you shall receive).
Leave your comfort zone and be productive.
Understand the basic principles of wealth.
Have the mindset that being wealthy isn’t determined by the money you have in your bank account.

16. Business Adventure – John Brooks

This book is one of the most impactful investment books that will help you as a young adult distinguish between a reliable and unreliable investment plan. Using twelve classic tales from the world of wall street, Brooks explains the importance of developing decision-making skills and how it will help you to get it right with investments.

Brooks also draws his illustrations from thriving companies that leverage good decision-making skills. He also explains how the moments of fame work and the tips to follow to avoid a fall.

17. The Modern Guide To Stock Market Investing – Alan John

This impactful investment book teaches young adults how to gain financial freedom through the power of investing. It covers everything you need to know about the stock market and how to plan your budget and save for the future.

The author here is also a teen who emphasizes that investing isn’t dependent on age – both teens and adults can gain financial freedom. He also uses simple and relatable topics to explain how investment works and ways to become a success.

18. Rich Dad, Poor Dad – Robert Kiyosaki

One of the powerful lessons in this book that the author teaches is that as a young adult, you should learn to use your brain wisely. He believes that if you keep your brain active about financial independence, it will soon open your mind to opportunities on how to make money.

In this book, Kiyosaki explains why the rich always thrive by laying bare their mindset and mentality. He discusses the secret that lies in why the poor work for money and the money works for the rich.

Furthermore, he talks about the need to avoid having so many liabilities and how to acquire money-generating assets.

19. Broke Millennial – Erin Lowry

Adulthood is always intimidating due to many pressures like finance and academics. But, bills do not respect challenges. In Broke Millennial, Lowry teaches the simple methods to stop scraping and improve your financial life through a proper budgeting plan.

In the book, the author also explores the ways young adults can use to eliminate brokenness and the ideas to help them gain financial independence. Interestingly, he talks about the tips to help you get rid of the panic attacks you face when you’re broke.

20. Financial Literacy – Chad Foster

It is not enough to think of investment and go straight into it. There are specific financial skills you need to achieve success. So, when you think of the set skills to explore to become financially free, Financial Literacy makes it easy.

When you become financially literate, you’ll learn how to create a budget and track your spending daily.

As a young adult looking forward to stepping up your financial game, you need the proper guidance to get through it. With the 20 best investment books for young adults highlighted in this article, you’re sure of better ways to up your game and enhance your financial growth.