Wonder Woman’s Guide to Money

Wonder Woman's Guide to Money
The Busy Woman's Guide to Money Management and Wealth Building
Natasha Janssens

Written by a working mum of two, the Wonder Woman's Guide to Money addresses the plight of the modern-day 'Wonder Woman' and helps her shift the way she feels about money forever by providing the tools, strategies and insight to take control of her financial future.

The growing pressure on today's woman to 'do it all' is immense.  She has a career, runs the household and is the primary caregiver of her children, while still being held to outdated standards about her appearance and role in society.  Moreover, despite being the primary household spenders, research has found that women tend to shy away from money matters and tend to have less financial confidence than men.  Despite increasing about gender equality and closing the gender pay gap, progress is slow, and in some respects, non-existent.  In fact, a recent UBS study found that millennial women- more than any other generation - are leaving investing and financial planning decisions to their husbands and partners.  A decision that can leave many women in very vulnerable positions when things don't go to plan.

This book is a stepping stone to getting your finances on track.  Written by a woman for women.

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Spenditude

Spenditude
A life-changing attitude to money
Paul Gordan & Janine Robertson

There are a lot of books out there in the personal finance world that give you actionable steps to start managing your money and looking after it, to make more and support yourself in retirement.  However, one very important aspect that is often left out of these books is our mindset and our attitude towards money.  For example if you are an emotional eater, it doesn't matter how much exercise you do, if you always turn to food for comfort, you are never going to get in shape.  You first have to address the mindset.  It's exactly the same with money.  You can put strategies in place to improve your finances but again unless you examine what's happening on the inside- in our mind and our attitude towards money, it is going to be very hard to sustain long term healthy money habits.  Here is where Spenditude comes in and why it is such an important book to read.  You are not going to learn any get rich quick strategies here but what you will learn is how to first identify what your attitude towards money is and then how you can go about making change to develop the 'spenditude' you desire.  This book is a slow burn that I encourage you to come back to for a second read.  Please do not underestimate the importance of your thoughts, beliefs, mindset or 'spenditude' towards money.  Becoming aware of your spenditude and learning how to change it is life changing!  Get this book in your eyeballs!

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GRIT

GRIT
Why passion and resilience are the secrets to success
Angela Duckworth

This is my favourite read for 2019. Psychologist Angela Duckworth presents in an engaging way, the fascinating reason why some people succeed and some don't, and it is not based on a fancy education or IQ, rather, it is based on what goes on in your mind when you fall down and a little attribute called GRIT.  Angela has done extensive study and research.  She presents her findings by sharing the engaging stories of those who have experienced a high level of success and what goes on their head when they meet adversity or road blocks to their goals.  The good news is grit can be learned!  Yes by reading this book, you too can learn how to develop traits that lead to success.  So good!  If you are working on trying something new and need some knowhow and inspiration to succeed, this is the book for you. I highly recommend this book.

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The Barefoot Investor for Families

The Barefoot Investor for Families
The only kids’ money guide you’ll ever need
Scott Pape

This is the best family and kids money guide I have read to date. Just like his first book Pape has a way of really simplifying financial concepts and strategies. He outlines exactly what you need to do to teach your children about money. And if you don’t know that much yourself don’t worry this book simplifies everything and you can learn as you read the book and or also pick up a copy of his first book The Barefoot Investor to get your personal finances in order first.

As a teacher I know first hand making things sound simple and easy is not as easy as you may think. I take my hat off to Scott Pape as financial literacy is so important and he has made it accessible to all Australian families. If you can teach your children the concepts and skills explained in this book you are setting them up for financial success for life. If you have children you need to read this book. Period!

 

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The $1000 Project

The $1000 Project
A easy guide to mindful saving, active earning and financial wellbeing
Canna Campbell

I have so much respect for this inspiring woman. I first discovered Canna’s You Tube channel about a year ago and admit I haven’t seen a lot of her channel as watching a You Tube is not something I can do while driving, which is the time when I do a lot of my financial study by listening to podcasts and audio books. So it wasn’t until more recently that I realised she had published a couple of books too. Well I’m yet to read her second book Mindful Money but after reading this one I will certainly be getting my hands on it as soon as possible. The $1000 Project is a fantastic and realistic challenge to create more money. Canna details how she came to creating it and her 12 month journey to reach her goal of making a passive income of $2000 per year by creating and investing 40 parcels of $1000. She fell just short of achieving her goal but so what! She achieved so much more by learning about herself and inspiring others. I absolutely love that she didn’t sugar coat how hard it was to do and that there were many times she had to dig deep to stay committed to her goal. To top it off this is a really easy read. I think it only took me a couple of nights to finish it. I highly recommend this book.

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How to be a Super Smart Woman

How to be a Super Smart Woman
New Strategies for Superannuation
Pauline Taylor

This is an important book that all Australian women should read.

Understand your super ladies! It’s your money and your future, do yourself a favour and empower yourself with knowledge about this topic.

If you ever read this Pauline- thank you for writing this book. Statistically women live longer than men. In addition to this on average men retire with more super than women. Why? Super is designed to work with consistent, regular contributions over a long period of time. Many women take time out of the work force to raise a family, furthermore when they return to work it is often in a part time capacity. This can have a dramatic effect on women’s super in retirement. There are many things you can do to make sure you have a healthy super in retirement. I highly recommend this book for women of all ages to learn how to make the most of their super.

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The Little Book of Common Sense Investing

The Little Book of Common Sense Investing
The only way to guarantee your fair share of stock market returns
John C. Bogle

John C. Bogle was the founder and former chairman of the Vanguard Group. In 1975 Vanguard created the world’s first index mutual fund and still offers low cost index funds today. This is a book about investing in low cost index funds and the reason behind why this is an effective long-term investment strategy. If you don’t know what index funds are or have little or no knowledge of the basics of investing in shares this book is not quite right for you yet. I would suggest studying up on the basics firsts by visiting the ASX website and doing one of their free online courses in shares or start by reading the Millionaire Teacher by Andrew Hallam to understand the fundamentals. I personally think investing in low cost index funds is a great strategy and Warren Buffet one of the most successful investors of all time also favours it.

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Rich Dad Poor Dad

Rich Dad Poor Dad
What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money –That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not!
Robert T. Kiyosaki

Yes it’s a bit gimmicky but if you’re serious about improving your personal finances the Rich Dad philosophy is worth reading about.

I was a little challenged by this book as some of Kiyosaki’s personal views and friendships do not match my own but that’s ok. I still found a lot of value in this book. Biggest take away was his take on savers being losers. At first I was thinking what the f*ck! But the more I mulled over it I realised he is right. With interest rates as low as they are right now our money in the bank is going nowhere. The best term deposit I could find was 2.4%. Is that even keeping up with inflation? You have to have your money working for you and the book gives you plenty of ideas for that.

Please note as an affiliate of Amazon Associates I receive a commission if you make a purchase by clicking through the Amazon links on this website.  This is at no extra cost to you.

Unf*ck Your Finances

Unf*ck Your Finances
Melissa Browne

Ok so the title might put some people off. Truth be told I love a good swear word and love that Melissa has enough courage and sass to be so bold. If you are offended by colourful language this is definitely not the book for you. However, if like me you are happy to converse like a sailor you will love this book as I did. Melissa presents some excellent strategies to get your finances on track including a great way to set goals and stay on track with them. She also touches on our mindset about money and acknowledges the shame many of us associate with money. Not to mention she is a qualified accountant and financial advisor so she knows a thing or two about personal finance! And finally she is an Australian women promoting financial wellbeing and is helping others. What’s not to like?

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The Barefoot Investor

The Barefoot Investor
The only money guide you will ever need
Scott Pape

If you’re in Australia where I am, unless you have been living under a rock, I’m pretty sure you would have heard of Scott Pape the Barefoot Investor. I would recommend his books if you are just starting out with managing your money and want to learn the basics of managing your money in a very simple way. He is all about simplicity which is great and I highly recommend him.

Pape is an unapologetic Aussie bloke who says it like it is and has an ability to really simplify financial concepts. An essential read for any Australian starting out on their financial journey. I think what really distinguishes Pape and explains why this book is a best seller is that he lays out a step by step program you can follow along with.  He doesn't use any jargon and this makes this book so accessible to the everyday person.  Pape also includes references to actual financial organisation such as banks, super funds and fund managers that he uses.  This is such a selling point for me, as even though he is not suggesting you use who he uses, it gives you a reference point and somewhere to start researching what may be suitable for the reader.  A top read.

Please note as an affiliate of Amazon Associates I receive a commission if you make a purchase by clicking through the Amazon links on this website.  This is at no extra cost to you.