KILDARE FINANCE COLUMN: The very best finance books I've read in 2023

At the end of each year, I always like to share with you the financial books I’ve read and enjoyed over the past 12 months. And maybe one of them might be worth a read over the Xmas period, or one could be a good gift if you’re stuck for an idea for someone.

The descriptions of each book aren’t mine, they’re from the book’s publishers, although I’ve added in some of my own comments throughout.

And this is my last post for 2023.

It's a privilege writing for you every week and I hope you’ve found the articles I’ve written over the past 12 months helpful and I look forward to picking up from where I left off again in January 2024.

Wishing you all a safe and healthy Christmas and my best wishes for the New Year.

Just Keep Buying – Nick Maggiulli

Nick Maggiulli is a hugely popular finance blogger and in this book he crunches the numbers to answer the biggest questions in personal finance and investing, while providing readers with proven ways to build their wealth.

He tells us why we need to save less than we think; why saving up cash to buy market dips isn’t a good idea; how to survive (and thrive) during a market crash; and much more.

A Wealth of Common Sense – Ben Carlson

The strap line for this book is, why simplicity trumps complexity in any investment plan.

This books aims to shed light on investing and aims to help the reader make better investment decisions based on a simplicity based framework. Carlson says, and rightly so that just because the financial market is a complex system, doesn’t mean your investment plan requires a complex strategy. He believes this false premise is the reason why many people make poor investment decisions.

He says information is important, but understanding and perspective are the keys to better decision making.

Carlson says you don’t have to outsmart the market if you can simply outperform it. Cut through the confusion and noise and focus on what actually matters and that’s what this books aims to do.

The Secret of Shelter Island – Alexander Green

This book addresses what really matters when it comes to money and how to make smarter decisions with what you have.

Green explores the complicated relationship we all have with money and reveals the road map to a rich life. He draws on some to today’s best minds and many of history’s greatest thinkers to give the reader the inspiration and resource to look at the role of money and the values it can create in the pursuit of the good life.

Money Mountaineering – Peter Neuwirth

The aim of this book is to help people understand and deal with the complexity of the financial system, the uncertainty of the future, and the built up irrationality we have when it comes to our finances.

Covid-19 rocked the economy and impacted the financial lives of millions of people and they and everyone else for that matters need a framework that will help them make good financial decisions about their future.

The book gives readers the guidance they require for surviving a complex financial future and empowers readers to plan for the predictable and to be prepared for the unpredictable.

Cryptocurrency – How Digital Money Could Transform Finance - Gian Volpicelli

The past decade has seen the relentless rise of cryptocurrency as an alternative form of digital currency. But what preciously is it and what potential does it have to change the world of money?

In this book Volpicelli explains everything you need to know about it. He outlines its development and describes in an easy to follow way, how it operates. He demystifies the jargon from what blockchain is bitcoin, mining, smart contracts, and forking.

Retire Before Mom and Dad – Rob Berger

Rob Berger is the Forbes Deputy Editor and a Personal Finance Expert.

In this book, he sets out to teach readers:

- The five money myths that are keeping you from a life of financial freedom

- The step-by-step plan you need to save money without giving up your favorite hobbies

- How to achieve financial freedom with AutoPilot investing

- The seven Levels of Financial Freedom and what it takes to reach each level

What I Learned Losing a Million Dollars – Jim Paul & Brendan Moynihan

This is a story about Jim Paul's meteoric rise, that took him from a small town in Northern Kentucky to governor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

However, he lost it all, his fortune, his reputation, and his job in one fatal attack of excessive arrogance. The books revisit’s the events that led to Paul's disastrous decision and examine the psychological factors behind bad financial practices in several economic sectors.

This books cautionary tale includes strategies for avoiding loss tied to a simple framework for understanding, accepting, and dodging the dangers of investing, trading, and speculating.

The Psychology of Money – Morgan Housel

This is a great read, and one I’ve read many times and it’s not long and you’ll get through in a few days.

Housel shares 19 short stories exploring the strange ways people think about money and teaches the reader how to make better sense of one of life's most important topics.

And he uncovers that doing well with money isn't necessarily about what you know. It's about how you behave. And behaviour is hard to teach, even to really smart people.

The Burnt-Out Rat – Amit Maheshwari

The burnt-out rat is a parable: it shows you what financial freedom looks like. Much more, it lets you feel what it is like to be liberated from monetary worries, sets you on the path, holds your hand and guides you through all the challenges you will face on the way to your destination.

Arjun Thakral, a highflying executive, realizes that he is a burnt-out rat stuck in a rut from which he has no escape. He discovers that his close friends, an entrepreneur, and a doctor, are also living similar lives of financial worry.

This is the story of how the three friends break away from their conventional ideas about the concepts of profession, identity, money, assets, financial freedom, and life goals.

The Latte Factor – David Bach

In this book, Bach reveals his three secrets to financial freedom, and does so in an engaging story that will show you that you are richer than you think.

The book tells the story of Zoey, a twenty-something woman living and working in New York City.

And like many young professionals, Zoey is struggling to make ends meet under a growing burden of credit card and student loan debt, working crazy hours at her dream job but still not earning enough to provide a comfortable financial cushion.

At her boss’s suggestion, she makes friends with Henry, the elderly barista at her favourite Brooklyn coffee shop.

Henry soon reveals his Three Secrets to Financial Freedom ideas, which Zoey dismisses at first but slowly comes to appreciate their validity and power. Over the course of a single week, Zoey discovers that she already earns enough to secure her financial future and realize her truest dreams—all she has to do is make a few easy shifts in her everyday routine.

The Latte Factor demystifies the secrets to achieving financial freedom. And by following a simple, proven path, anyone can make small changes today that will have big impact for a lifetime.

Liam Croke is MD of Harmonics Financial Ltd, based in Plassey. He can be contacted at [email protected] or www.harmonics.ie