15 Top Investment Books For New Investors

As the title suggests, investing doesn’t have to be super complicated. Much of the time, it just takes some common sense and fundamental knowledge of the stock market. Bogle will walk you through on diversifying your portfolio and on the importance of investing for the long term. Investing is a mindset, and Bogle will show you how to successfully think about investing and implement proven strategies.

Yet another practical rule book; O’Neil will show you how to become a pro at investing. Even if you’ve never owned a stock, his research-based approach and advice is invaluable and includes everything from how to read the daily financial pages to selecting stocks.

Warren Buffett is hailed as one of the most successful investors of all time. In this book, Hagstrom outlines Buffett’s career and offers real-world examples of investment techniques and the rundown of stocks Buffett has bought over the years. Sometimes, it’s great to learn by example.

This one is a comprehensive guide for individual investors looking for a unique approach. What’s interesting about Pabrai’s methods is that he uses the mindset of business-savvy Indian immigrants as a framework for successfully investing in the stock market. This mindset also incorporates lessons from other legendary investors such as Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger.

I first came across this gem on BookTok, which has catapulted this already-famous investment book to a wider audience. Rich Dad, Poor Dad specifically looks at how investors should think about money. For example, we have all been told that our house is an asset. Kiyosaki, however, asserts the opposite because houses equal mortgages, meaning they take away money from you rather than put it in your pocket. The book will help you unlearn some of the deleterious financial advice we’ve been fed through schools and other institutions.

Graham’s classic book has sold over a million copies and for good reason. The Intelligent Investor is chockful of time-tested financial advice that also includes commentary on the realities of the 21st-century stock market as well as practical guidance on how to apply Graham’s principles.

Believe or not, Millennials are no longer the new kids on the block. We’re bonafide adults who need to get our financial lives in order, especially after growing up amidst the Great Recession and the recent one from the COVID-19 pandemic. This book will empower Millennials, and really anyone new to investing, to confidently make financial decisions.

I figure that a practical guide is more useful to some new investors. Sethi’s book details his six-week program that’ll set up beginners for success. This book doesn’t just deal with investing, it also deals with paying off debt, setting up bank accounts, and “set it and forget it” investment techniques. For many, jumping straight into investment is unrealistic, so Sethi’s advice on setting up your finances first are super helpful.

Money and how to handle it are all about your mindset. Housel teaches his readers about how their behavior affects this money management through a series of short stories. Each one details a case study on how different people think about money. While this book isn’t specifically about investing, the art of selecting stocks and other investments does come down to human behavior and whims.

I love listening to Suze Orman’s Women & Money podcast because she realistically walks listeners through everyday financial decisions. In her book of the same name, she specifically looks at the dysfunctional relationship that many women have with money. With compassion, she outlines her five-month program to help women achieve financial security with plenty of advice on long-term investments and when to invest in the stock market.

Here’s another book with excellent general advice on personal finance. I think Rapley’s book pairs well with Suze Orman’s Women & Money because both books give sound advice to women who want to take charge of their finances. Rapley has a six-month program that is an excellent guide for any woman prepared to get her finances in order.

Tengler is a wealth advisor and CEO who walks women through the process of building practical, reliable investment portfolios. She offers case studies and personal anecdotes that’ll resonate with many readers’ own financial situations and decodes the complexities of stocks.

Sokundi is the go-to person for women seeking to build a strong foundation for personal investing. Readers find her no-nonsense approach to be refreshing and practical. In the book, Sokunbi provides instruction on how investing works and which pitfalls to avoid. The information is accessible to readers with varying degrees of financial literacy and is great for beginners.

Finally, The Wisdom of Finance is an excellent manifesto on how to restore the humanity back into finance. Desai was a professor at Harvard Business School, and The Wisdom of Finance accounts his “last lecture,” in which he draws on his rich knowledge of the humanities to relay the inner workings of finance. This isn’t specifically an investment book; however, it’s important to understand how your money plays out in the real world because investments have real-world consequences.