Individual stocks — and hope one of them becomes the next Google.
Bitcoin — and constantly annoy your friends with unsolicited humblebrags of how much you’re allegedly making.
Low-cost, diversified portfolio of index funds — and actually make money.
If you answered anything other than C, send me an email with your address so I can come to your house and slap you.
It doesn’t matter who you are or how much money you make. There’s no better way to assure you’ll be rich one day than by investing in index funds.
And when you leverage multiple index funds it becomes a powerful tool called the lazy portfolio.
What’s a lazy portfolio?
A lazy portfolio is a diversified portfolio of low-cost index funds that allows you to…well, be lazy. That means no active trading, no checking your stocks every day, and no paying some hedge fund manager (who won’t beat the market anyway) to handle your money.
It just gives you results.
It’s the set-it-and-forget-it approach to investing, allowing you to set the same asset allocation in your portfolio for a lonnngggggg time (typically for 10+ years).
Does this sound boring? Yes.
Will it make you rich? Oh, yeah.
That’s because lazy portfolios generally have:
Fewer fees. Many mutual funds come with a bunch of dumb costs because they’re handled by money managers. Index funds do not, because you’re just investing in the whole market, so transactions are handled by computers that are happy to take much less money.
Less risk. Since index funds invest in the entire market, they’re MUCH less volatile. You’ll earn money slowly, but if you keep your cash in the market over your lifetime, I promise you’ll make money.
Check out the graph of how the S&P 500 has performed since 1950.
The S&P 500 since 1950.
If you want more information on getting started actually purchasing funds for your portfolio (or if you just need a solid primer on investment basics), be sure to check out my articles below:
If you don’t know how to purchase funds yet, I highly suggest you at the very least read my How mutual funds work article. In fact, do that now. (Don’t worry, this article will still be here!)
When you’re done, I want to show you a few funds to get you started in building a lazy portfolio for yourself and start earning money in the market today.
How do I build my lazy portfolio?
Good news: Building a lazy portfolio is easy. You do it the same way you would put money into any other fund.
However, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all way of doing things when it comes to a lazy portfolio. That’d be like saying that there was only one single fund or bond that EVERYONE should put exactly XX% of their money in…which is wrong.
Luckily, there are certain “recipes” that people have leveraged to help them earn money on their investments. These recipes differ in terms of how many funds are in the actual portfolio and also how the assets are allocated.
They are also completely malleable, which means you can change them whenever and however you want depending on your financial goals.
While there are many different recipes out there, they generally break down into three categories:
Two-fund portfolios
Three-fund portfolios
Four-fund portfolios
Below are three portfolios that I suggest that fall into each category — along with suggestions for funds you can put in them.
Rick Ferri’s Two-Fund Lazy Portfolio
The 60/40 rule of asset allocation is a tried-and-true rule of thumb for approaching your portfolio. And it’s ludicrously simple:
60% stocks
40% bonds
That’s it.
Of course, you’re going to want to find funds that fit those asset classes. One great combination of funds (as well as their stock symbols) recommended by Rick Ferri, founder of Portfolio Solutions, is:
Vanguard’s Total Bond Market ETF (BND)
Total World Stock ETF (VT)
If you choose to set this up as your lazy portfolio, your asset allocation will look like this:
You can change how you allocate these assets depending on your risk tolerance too. If you’re willing to put a little bit more into the market via stocks — a riskier choice — you can put more into the Total World Stock ETF. Otherwise, you can place more into bonds and get a more assured return.
Taylor Larimore’s Three-Fund Lazy Portfolio
Developed by the guy who Jack Bogle called “The King of the Bogleheads,” this fund is another one that’s pure 60/40 rule. However, unlike the aforementioned two-fund portfolio, this one suggests investing in both international index funds as well as stock market index funds.
The percentages for the asset allocation look like this then:
42% U.S. stocks
18% international stocks
40% bonds
As a Boglehead himself, Larimore suggests going with Vanguard funds here:
Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund (VTSMX)
Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund (VGTSX)
Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund (VBTLX)
If you choose to set this up as your lazy portfolio, your asset allocation will look like this:
If your assets don’t look like the Mercedes symbol, you’re doing it wrong.
Over the past decade, this fund has returned roughly 7%, according to the Wall Street Journal — which beats out the VAST majority of actively managed funds and even the S&P 500. It’s a no-brainer if you want to invest in an easy, hands-off portfolio that will give you gains.
Speaking of no-brainers…
Dr. Bernstein’s “No-Brainer” Lazy Portfolio
As a neurologist turned financial wizard and author of The Intelligent Asset Allocator and The Birth of Plenty, Dr. William Bernstein has championed the power of the index fund over individual stocks and bonds for YEARS. So it’s no surprise that he suggests you put your money in a lazy portfolio that’s made of a few of them.
One portfolio that he suggested in The Intelligent Asset Allocator is called the “No-Brainer” Portfolio, and is comprised of four equal funds:
25% U.S. stocks
25% small-cap U.S. stocks
25% international stocks
25% bonds
You can see why it’s a “no-brainer.” This portfolio also gives investors a chance to diversify their risk (since there are four equally distributed funds) over time.
Here are his suggestions for the funds you can invest in:
Vanguard 500 Index (VFINX)
Vanguard Small-Cap Index (NAESX)
Vanguard Total International Stock Index (VGTSX)
Vanguard Total Bond Market Index (VBMFX)
If you choose to set this up as your lazy portfolio, your asset allocation will look like this:
Over the past decade, this portfolio has had an annual return of about 5% — which is in line with the S&P 500. It’s a great one for anyone who likes low-risk, assured returns.
Other recipe suggestions
Those are just a few solid recipes that I suggest.
If you’re a weirdo like me, and want to dive even deeper into the world of lazy portfolios and asset allocation, here are a few great recipes for portfolios for further reading:
No matter what you choose, remember that when it comes to your lazy portfolio, there’s no right or wrong way to go about. It’s just what matters to you and your goals. That’s it. One of these lazy portfolios might make perfect sense to you while the others seem AWFUL…and that’s fine! It’s your finances, and ultimately, it’s you who gets to make the decisions.
How to invest in your lazy portfolio for peak laziness
When you finally invest in your lazy portfolio, you can take your laziness even further by automating your finances.
I. Talk. About. This. A. LOT. But that’s only because it’s the best way to invest, save, and earn money. This system allows you to automatically send your money where it needs to go as soon as you receive your paycheck.
To find out more on how to automate your finances, check out my 12-minute video explaining it here:
If you want a deep dive into my exact systems on investing, saving, and earning, I have an offer for you:
The Ultimate Guide to Personal Finance
In it, you’ll learn how to:
Master your 401k: Take advantage of free money offered to you by your company…and get rich while doing it.
Manage Roth IRAs: Start saving for retirement in a worthwhile long-term investment account.
Spend the money you have — guilt-free: By leveraging the systems in this book, you’ll learn exactly how you’ll be able to save money to spend without the guilt.
Enter your info below and get the free PDF in your inbox today. You won’t regret it.
Sometime soon, I’ll be moving most of the Money Boss archives to a new home at Get Rich Slowly. This site will transform into something else — most likely, a static page containing the core content of the Money Boss philosophy.
Until the dust settles at GRS, however, I can’t publish there. And I have something to say!
The Four-Percent Rule
One of the fundamental ideas behind financial independence and early retirement is that there’s a “safe withdrawal rate”, a pace at which you can access your investments so that your nest egg will last for thirty years (or longer).
For simplicity’s sake, a lot of folks talk about the “four-percent rule”: Generally speaking, it’s safe to withdraw 4% from your portfolio every year without risk of running out of money. (This “rule” manifests itself here at Money Boss when I say that you’ve reached Financial Independence once you’ve saved 25x your annual spending — 33x your annual spending if you want to be cautious.)
Question Is the 4% rule still relevant in today’s economy? What safe withdrawal rate would you recommend for someone planning for longer than 30 years of retirement?
Answer
The “4% rule” is actually the “4.5% rule” — I modified it some years ago on the basis of new research.
The 4.5% is the percentage you could “safely” withdraw from a tax-advantaged portfolio (like an IRA, Roth IRA, or 401(k)) the first year of retirement, with the expectation you would live for 30 years in retirement. After the first year, you “throw away” the 4.5% rule and just increase the dollar amount of your withdrawals each year by the prior year’s inflation rate. Example: $100,000 in an IRA at retirement. First year withdrawal $4,500. Inflation first year is 10%, so second-year withdrawal would be $4,950.
Now, on to your specific question. I find that the state of the “economy” had little bearing on safe withdrawal rates. Two things count:
If you encounter a major bear market early in retirement, and/or
If you experience high inflation during retirement.
Both factors drive the safe withdrawal rate down.
My research is based on data about investments and inflation going back to 1926. I test the withdrawal rates for retirement dates beginning on the first day of each quarter, beginning with January 1, 1926. The average safe withdrawal rate for all those 200+ retirees is, believe it or not, 7%!
However, if you experience a major bear market early in retirement, as in 1937 or 2000, that drops to 5.25%. Add in heavy inflation, as occurred in the 1970’s, and it takes you down to 4.5%. So far, I have not seen any indication that the 4.5% rule will be violated. Both the 2000 and 2007 retirees, who experienced big bear markets early in retirement, appear to be doing OK with 4.5%. However, if we were to encounter a decade or more of high inflation, that might change things.
In my opinion, inflation is the retiree’s worst enemy. As your “time horizon” increases beyond 30 years, as you might expect, the safe withdrawal rate decreases. For example for 35 years, I calculated 4.3%; for 40 years, 4.2%; and for 45 years, 4.1%. I have a chart listing all these in a book I wrote in 2006…
If you plan to live forever, 4% should do it.
That’s some helpful information, and it comes directly from a man who has been researching this subject for 25 years. Obviously, it’s no guarantee that a four-percent withdrawal rate will hold up in the future, but it’s enough for me to continue suggesting that you’re financially independent once your savings reaches 25 times your annual spending.
But here’s the catch — and the reason I’m writing this article: From my experience, spending in early retirement is not a level thing. It fluctuates from year to year. Sometimes it fluctuates wildly.
The Fundamental Problem with the Four-Percent Rule
Earlier this month at Our Next Life, Tanja wrote that the fundamental problem with the 4% rule for early retirement isn’t the 4% rule. “The fundamental problem with any ‘safe’ withdrawal rate is the underlying assumption of level spending over time,” she writes. “And you don’t have to be planning for dirtbag years followed by larger-living years, as we are, to be looking ahead to increasing costs in the future. You could be the most disciplined budgeter of all time and still need to plan for your spending to change over time.”
The problem, Tanja says, is that many costs — especially costs for large expenses — can outpace inflation. Health care costs, for example, have been skyrocketing for years. So has the cost of higher education. Housing costs too have been increasing faster than inflation (and their historical average).
Meanwhile, Social Security and private pensions haven’t been keeping pace with inflation. (That’s one reason that, like many of you, I don’t even consider Social Security when calculating my retirement figures. Yes, I look at my projected benefits now and then. But to me, any future SS payments will be a bonus, not part of my actual calculations.)
The first two decades — starting in just a few months! — will be their “dirtbag years”. During this time, they’ll have to rely on money from regular, taxable investment accounts. In order to maximize the chances of their money lasting, they plan to live lean. They’ll still enjoy life, but they’ll do so on a reduced budget.
Gradually, they’ll introduce rental income. Then, when they turn 60, they’ll have access to tax-advantaged retirement accounts. (Plus, of course, they should still have some money in taxable accounts.) At this time, they intend to increase their spending.
I like the approach that Tanja and Mark are taking because it builds in the expectation that spending is going to increase as they age — whether they like it or not. Some of this increase will come because they’ll get tired of living with less, but some of it will also come from external forces — from inflation, from the costs of health care. I think they’re being smart.
My Experience with Early Retirement Spending
From my personal experience, spending during retirement — especially early retirement — hasn’t been level. There may be some baseline that you tend toward (like reverting to the mean, basically), but some years you spend a lot, and some years you spend a little.
I look at it as being similar to the stock market. Over the long run, stocks offer a 6.8% real return. That’s their average. But average is not normal. Some years, stocks drop 20%. Other years they’re up 40%. But they’re very rarely at or near 6.8%.
The same concept applies to spending in early retirement.
I achieved Financial Independence in 2009 when I sold Get Rich Slowly. (My income from the site was such that I would have achieved FI in 2011 without the sale. The sale accelerated the process.) Since then, both my spending and income have fluctuated wildly each year.
In 2010, for instance, I earned six figures (yes, despite having sold the blog) but spent very little. I had no mortgage. Kris and I grew a lot of our own food. I worked from home. I hadn’t yet succumbed to the travel bug.
My high income continued for a few years, then dropped off sharply. I believe this is why I was audited by the IRS (although you never can be truly certain). For the past few years, I’ve been lucky to earn $20,000 in a year — although I’m hopeful that I’ll earn more now that I’ve repurchased Get Rich Slowly.
Meanwhile, my spending has been, well, variable. During 2012, I didn’t spend a lot. When Kris and I got divorced, I moved into a cheap apartment and didn’t go out much. When I bought my condo in 2013, however, there were plenty of unplanned expenses. While Kim and I were on the road in the RV for fifteen months, our spending was relatively low. But this year? This year, I’ve spent over $100,000! (Fortunately, most of this spending is non-consumer in nature — buying Get Rich Slowly, remodeling the house — but it’s still spending.)
My Experience with Early Retirement Withdrawals
So, that’s how I spend my money in early retirement. But how do I actually get the cash to spend? How do I convert it from investment accounts to my checking account? That too tends to vary.
In the early years when I was still earning a lot of money, I didn’t need to draw on my investment portfolio. My spending was funded by my income, just like it always had been. (And I had money leftover to add to my stash!)
After my income dried up, I had to change my approach. I had to start tapping my investment accounts. Until this year, I did that by taking lump sums. I try to maintain a balance in my checking account of between $10,000 and $20,000. That’s my “working capital”, I guess. When my balance drops below $5000, I look at my anticipated expenses for the next 6-12 months, then cash out one mutual fund or another.
I also found that I had to redeem shares when I had big one-time expenses. Buying a condo? Time to sell. Buying an RV? Time to sell. Buying back Get Rich Slowly? Time to sell.
There’s a huge downside to this approach, of course. Every time I sell shares from a mutual fund, I take a tax hit. Generally speaking, this tax hit is pretty low (the 15% long-term capital gains rate), but it still stings.
Earlier this year, I decided I wanted to take a different approach in the future. Instead of making lump-sum withdrawals, I wanted a steady, reliable source of income. I met with my investment advisor. He and I restructured how my accounts work. Instead of reinvesting interest and dividends, my mutual funds now kick out money into a cash account.
I haven’t been using this new approach long enough — and this year has had two huge expenses — so I’m not sure what the actual implications are. My guess (based on the assumptions my planner and I made) is that my taxable investment account will supply around $15,000 per year. Combined with my income from other sources, this will be enough to cover day-to-day expenses, but I’ll still have to cash out lump sums anytime I have a major unexpected expense.
Because I don’t want to take the lump-sum approach, one of my medium-term financial goals is to build a balance in some sort of cash (or cash-like) account. I want for this to be my source of operational expenses. If things go well at Get Rich Slowly, my income from that site can serve as the funding source for the new account.
So, that’s how I handle retirement withdrawals and expenses. But I’m just one guy — and a strange one at that. I’d love to hear from others. How do you handle investment withdrawals in early retirement? And how do you handle expenses? Are your expenses level? Do they fluctuate wildly like mine do? What do you do when you need money? Do you automatically withdraw four percent (or some other amount) every year? Do you use only what your accounts kick off in dividends and interest? Do you pull lump sums? What are things like for you?
Someday — perhaps someday soon — I’ll see if I can’t compile actual numbers for my income, spending, and withdrawals since 2009. The main issue is that I haven’t always tracked my spending. (After I achieved FI, I didn’t see the point. Now I do.) As a result, I don’t have easy access to raw numbers.
More likely than not, you will experience some form of financial hardship in your lifetime. Some of these will be minor challenges like a layoff or a series of missed mortgage payments, others will be significant like divorce or declaring bankruptcy. Often one financial hardship begets another, so don’t be surprised if a layoff leads to divorce which ruins your credit and forces you into bankruptcy. If you think you’re too smart to ever have to deal with financial hardship, rest assured life will find something to hit you with at one point or another. What is financial hardship? Financial hardship is much more than having to live on a tight budget. Instead, it refers to the long-lasting and lingering consequences of a financial catastrophe. The very definition of financial hardship is being willing but unable to meet your obligations because of unexpected events or unforeseen changes that have compromised […]
Real quick: How much does the average wedding in the United States cost?
If you guessed anything other than $35,329, you’d be wrong.
How is it possible that someone can spend this much money on a single day? And how is it possible that everyone who thinks their wedding “doesn’t need to be that fancy” eventually spends more than they planned?
To answer that question, you have to understand that every little part of the wedding — from the venue right down to who you want videotaping everything — is going to cost money. And these costs add up quickly. The Knot recently published their list of average costs, so let’s take a look at the average price spent on (most) everything at a wedding.
A few quick takeaways:
The venue is the most expensive part of the wedding. And if you think you’re going to be able to save on it by holding your wedding at your house, you’re wrong — and I’ll explain why in a bit.
Your final price is going to fluctuate depending on how many guests you have, but on average there are about 120 guests at a wedding. That means catering for everyone can be in the neighborhood of $8,520.
LOL at how much more my fiancee’s dress is going to cost than my tux.
These prices might actually INCREASE depending on where you live. For example, the average wedding in New York City can cost over $78,000. When compared to Utah, where you’ll most likely pay in the neighborhood of $20,000, NYC can seem astronomical.
So how do we solve this $35,329 question?
How to save for your dream wedding (with advice from a wedding planner)
To get a better idea of how couples can save for their dream wedding, we talked to wedding planner Sarah Glick. She co-owns Brilliant Event Planning along with Chelsea LaFollette. For years, the two have been planning weddings all around the world — so they’ve personally handled their fair share of expensive weddings.
“The budgets for our clients really vary, depending on head count and location, but we have planned weddings for clients with budgets exceeding $1 million,” Sarah says.
Whether you want to save for a wedding of $35,329 or $1 million, all you need to do is follow a system of three steps:
Set a realistic budget
Prioritize the important things
Use sub-savings accounts to help you save
Step 1: Set a realistic budget
Even though you’re on a personal finance site like IWT, you’re still human. That means that your wedding will most likely be much pricier than you originally thought. The best way to not fall into debt when the day you sign a check to vendors arrives is to anticipate and plan for it.
“Set a budget,” Sarah says. “People often think they can just handle each contract with a vendor as it comes up and deal with the costs on a case-by-case basis. However, that often results in the client spending way more than they wanted to spend and more than they would have spent had they considered the overall big picture from the beginning of the planning process.”
So sit down and make a realistic budget of how much your wedding might cost you. The back-of-a-napkin formula for it is simple too. Simply take into account:
If you’re 21, you should each plan to save around $3,500 a year or $292 a month.
And if you think that’s unreasonable, I have two things to tell you:
Even if you can’t save that much now, any amount you CAN save will add up down the road. Can you afford $50/month? If so, that’s $50 better than you were doing yesterday.
If you work towards earning more money, you’ll be able to eventually save this much. Keep reading and I’ll give you the exact resources you can use to get there.
Of course, this will change depending on how old you are and how much you want to spend on your wedding. Here’s a great wedding cost calculator you can use to give you a rough estimate of how much you should save based on what you want for your big day.
Step 2: Prioritize the important things
If your budget seems a little bit intimidating and you want to find areas to save, don’t worry. You can always prioritize aspects of your wedding to help you cut back.
“This depends on what the couple’s priorities are. Everyone is a little bit different,” Sarah explains. “Couples can save by choosing one or two areas to splurge on and then being cost conscious for everything else.”
It’s human nature to want the best for our wedding day, and we need to be realistic about that. However, you also need to be realistic about the fact that you can’t always have the best of everything. That’s where prioritization comes in.
From Sarah:
“For example, even though a DJ is cheaper than a band, live music is sometimes a must for people, regardless of budget. If you decide that the live band is a must-have, then you might want to skip custom invitations and order from an online vendor to save on stationary.
Couples can also save by going with a venue that has tables, chairs, linens, etc. already included. The contrast to this is a raw space where you would need to rent everything (which corresponds to a significantly higher rental spend).”
Remember how I mentioned that your wedding’s location can affect how expensive it is? You can leverage this fact and cut back on your wedding expenses by choosing a more budget-friendly location.
“A wedding in Mississippi, for example, will cost much less than a wedding in New York City, even if the head count stays the same,” Sarah says.
Once you know what your priorities are, revisit your projected wedding budget and reconsider some areas where you can cut back. If you have the costs on paper, you’ll know exactly which trade-offs you can make to keep within your budget. If you haven’t decided on what you want to spend though, it’ll look like there are no trade-offs necessary.
THAT’S how people get into debt for their wedding.
But I’m not going to let that happen to you. That’s why I’m going to show you how to set up a sub-savings account where you can put money away for your wedding automatically each month.
Step 3: Use sub-saving accounts to help you save
Let’s assume you’re 25 years old and plan to spend $40,000 on your wedding. Let’s say you also plan on getting married by the time you’re 30.
If you want to pay for the whole wedding yourself (a totally achievable goal), you’ll have to save about $8,000 a year or $666 a month for the wedding (let’s not read too much into that last number).
A perfect way to put away that evil amount each month is through a sub-savings account. This is a savings account you create in addition to your regular savings. Often times, you can even name them too!
The beauty about them is that they allow you to see exactly how much you’ve saved because the account is tailored for that specific goal. This does wonders for you psychologically.
When I first discovered sub-savings accounts, I created one and named it “Down Payment” for a down payment on a house. I was regularly transferring money into it based on my savings goals using my automated finances.
As the months passed, the amount in that account grew bigger and bigger, and I felt really proud of my accomplishment.
During this time, one of my friends was just blindly putting away money in an account he had mentally earmarked for vague goals.
Though we might have had the same amount saved away, the difference between us psychologically was staggering. Where he felt despair about trying to save money, I was motivated.
For me, I wasn’t working towards $20,000 for a down payment. I was working on saving $333 a month over five years — a perfectly achievable goal, especially after I tracked my progress.
So go to your bank’s website and open up a sub-savings account and name it “Wedding fund.” Once you’ve done that, you can now automate your finances so you’re putting money into it each month automatically.
Check out my video below to learn exactly how to set it up today.
Two big things couples get wrong about their wedding
There are a few things that couples do that they think are saving them money but are actually costing them more in the long run. Let’s go into them now so you can avoid them when planning for your wedding.
According to Sarah, those two misconceptions are:
“I’m just going to put a tent up at my home — it will be cheaper.”
The venue is typically the biggest expense for any wedding day. So if just use your home instead, shouldn’t that offset the cost?
According to Sarah: Nope!
“A lot of clients come to us and say they want to put a tent on private property to save on venue costs,” Sarah says. “However, if the property is a private home, I can almost promise it’ll be more expensive than a more typical wedding venue.”
The reason why is the same reason wedding venues are so expensive in the first place. Vox actually did an investigation of why wedding venues are so expensive and it’s due to the fact that weddings need more tender loving care than normal events.
Think about it. This is one of the only events that people expect to go perfectly. If it doesn’t, you end up with situations where people act like they’re on an episode of Bridezilla.
Also, your home is probably not suited for a wedding anyway.
“Your home is not created for events,” Sarah says. “You need to bring everything in including bathrooms for your guests, heating/cooling if the weather isn’t perfect, functional lighting, access to water and power (which means we need to run those lines), a second tent for catering, all of the tables, chairs, china, glassware, and flatware…and more!”
You also have to worry about paying for delivery and moving for all of the above, she adds.
So having the wedding in your backyard won’t help. Maybe if you had a destination wedding instead…
“Destination weddings are cheaper — fewer people will show up!”
Some people think that because you’re flying out for your wedding, you’ll be able to save money because, surely, fewer guests will want to show up…right?
“Truth is, [destination weddings] often cost the same as a local one,” Sarah says. “It used to be that if a wedding required travel, people would have a hard time getting there or affording the travel. And so they wouldn’t be able to come. However, nowadays, it is SO easy to travel. Flights can be found inexpensively and companies like Airbnb exist to make staying in a foreign place simple and affordable.”
So even if you have that awesome travel rewards credit card and can fly anywhere in the world for free, it doesn’t mean that your wedding will be cheaper.
“We’ve found that our head counts for destination weddings often do not differ very much from our local weddings,” she says.
Earn more to afford the wedding of your dreams
Despite what society tells you, there’s no right or wrong price for your wedding. You might have a wedding in the high six figures, or you might just have a wedding that ends up costing a couple thousand. Both are perfectly fine. What matters most is that you’re realistic about what you’re going to spend so you know what to save.
If you want a wedding that might cost a little bit more than you’re able to save for right now though, there is a solution: Earn more money.
You can only save so much money at the end of the day. However, there’s no limit to how much you can earn.
That’s why my team and I have worked hard to create a guide to help you invest in yourself today: The Ultimate Guide to Making Money.
In it, I’ve included my best strategies to:
Create multiple income streams so you always have a consistent source of revenue.
Start your own side hustle so you’re earning money for any financial goal (like a wedding).
Increase your income by thousands of dollars a year through earning raises and freelancing.
Download a FREE copy of the Ultimate Guide today by entering your name and email below — and start earning money for your big day today.
A while back, a friend of mine called me asking for a favor: She wanted to borrow my credit card to buy something online.
“How come?” I asked. “Don’t you have a credit card?”
To which she told me she didn’t have one.
Here’s an exclusive look at my reaction in GIF form.
After I finished pulling out my hair, I suggested that she get her own credit card and start building her own credit instead.
“I can’t get approved for a credit card,” she told me. “I have no income.”
My solution to her: Get a secured credit card.
What is a secured credit card?
A secured credit card requires you to put down a few hundred dollars into a savings account. That money is used as collateral that the bank uses when they issue you credit.
This is typically the same amount as your credit limit. For example, if you deposit $500, that means you’ll have $500 in credit to spend. It’s like a deposit that the credit card company holds on to until they deem you trustworthy.
And if you consistently pay your credit card bills on time, you’ll eventually get this money back. After a few months of this, you’ll also be able to graduate to a regular (or “unsecured”) credit card.
That’s why these credit cards are perfect for people who have:
Bad credit.
No credit at all.
No source of income.
For my friend, she didnt have any credit or steady income. This made signing up and getting approved for a traditional credit card difficult for her. With a secured credit card, she’d be able to build solid credit without having to worry about her lack of income.
A secured credit card can also be helpful for anyone looking to circumvent the Catch-22 of needing credit to build credit: You can’t build credit unless you have it.
What are some good secured credit cards?
Most all banks will offer you their own version of a secured credit card. Simply call up your bank and ask them, “What kind of secured credit cards do you offer?”
If you want a few solid suggestions for cards, though, here are a few that I recommend:
Minimum deposit: $49, $99, or $200 depending on your credit-worthiness
With the minimum security deposit, you’ll also receive a $200 line of credit. If you make your first 5 monthly payments on time, you’ll gain access to even more credit (solid encouragement for you to be good about your credit).
Great secured credit card for anyone who has bad credit or just wants a reliable card to establish good credit. You can also use your debit card, a check, or money order to put money down for the security deposit (no traditional bank account needed!). While there is a $35 annual fee, you can get it waived using the right script.
This one comes with rewards including 2% cash back anytime you spend money at restaurants and on gas, and 1% cash back on everything else! Also, after eight months of using the card, Discover will automatically review your account to see if you’re eligible to be upgraded to an unsecured card.
How to build good credit with secured credit cards
If you have a bad credit score or are nervous about the seemingly daunting task of building good credit, let me make one thing clear: You can always make your credit score better — even if it’s currently nonexistent.
And you don’t need to be a personal finance weirdo like me in order to raise your credit score. Instead, you need to start using a simple system that’ll help you improve your credit score.
Before we jump into the system, though, it’s important to understand what your credit score is and what goes into determining the actual number.
This is what your score is made up of (courtesy of Wells Fargo):
Payment history: 35%
Amounts owed: 30%
Length of credit history: 15%
How many types of credit in use: 10%
Account inquiries: 10%
Using each of those elements, you’ll receive a number between 300 (bad) and 850 (good). This number is your credit score.
Knowing this, there are three steps you can take in order to build good credit and improve your score:
Step 1: Automate your credit card payments
The biggest portion of your credit score is determined by your payment history, or whether or not you paid your bills on time. That’s why it’s of the utmost importance that you do so if you want a good score. In fact, just one missed payment means your credit score can take a 90 to 100 point hit.
That’s why you should automate your finances so this is done passivelyfor you every single month.
And it’s simple: At the beginning of the month, when you receive your paycheck, the money is immediately sent to where it needs to go through automatic systems that you have set up already.
A while back, I created a video that shows you how to automate your finances in 12 minutes. Check it out.
A few notes:
This system allows you to subvert your limited willpower by helping you save money without ever having to do it yourself.
You can set it up so you’re paying off your entire credit card balance each month — and even if you can’t, you can still improve your score by paying at least the minimums on time (though you should pay everything in full).
This system goes beyond your credit card, allowing you to passively save money for the things you love, pay off all your bills on time, and invest money for retirement. Big wins all around.
If you haven’t automated your finances already, take a break from this article to do it right now. Seriously. It’s that important.
Once you’ve done that, let’s move on to another important step: Getting rid of your debt.
Step 2: Crush your debt IWT-style
Debt is a HUGE detriment to your credit score with “amounts owed” representing 30% of your number. That’s why you never want to carry a balance on a card, especially when you’re just starting out with a secured credit card. Build those good habits now.
Getting rid of your debt is so important, that it should be one of the first things you do if you want to work towards living a Rich Life. (And you shouldn’t be looking at secured cards if you have other credit card debt. Pay that off first.) That’s the main reason why I don’t allow anybody in debt to take my courses.
If you want to know how to get rid of your credit card debt, I have a fantastic system for it in my article on how to get out of debt fast.
For even more help, here are three of my best resources on getting rid of debt:
Luckily, if you’ve automated your finances, you’re already well on your way to getting rid of your debt.
Step 3: Spend money on the card — but not too much!
It isn’t enough to have a line of credit open. You also have to use it if you want to build good credit.
Too often people think they need to cancel their credit cards in order to recover from a bad credit score. However, this is a pretty bad idea. After all, 15% of your score is represented by your credit history and 10% is represented by the types of credit you have open. If you cancel your cards, you’re deleting all of that history!
So even if you don’t use a credit card that often, you should at least put a small recurring payment on it. Some suggestions:
Subscription services such as Amazon Prime, Spotify, or Tidal (just in case Jay-Z is reading this).
Utilities such as water, cable, electricity, or phone bill.
Ride share apps like Lyft or Uber.
This way, you make sure your card is nice and active and you get to maintain your credit history.
And remember: You’ll want to pay off everything in full each month if you can. I realize that sometimes emergencies come up and there might be the odd month or two where you can’t pay all of it off. That’s okay! Life happens. The important thing is that you remain as consistent as you can and work towards building solid habits that’ll help ensure your financial future.
Bonus: Make your credit cards work for YOU
You can now get a full chapter of my New York Times bestselling book, I Will Teach You to Be Rich, on optimizing your credit cards for free.
It’ll help you tap into even more perks, max out your rewards, and beat the credit card companies at their own game.
I want you to have the tools and word-for-word scripts to fight back against the huge credit card companies. To download it free now, enter your name and email below.
When it comes to raising a family, childcare costs are a huge expense that can start to rival your mortgage payments. With daycare costs as high as $2,000 per month in major cities, many families opt out altogether, and instead choose to have one parent stay home. While this might seem economical at first glance, it has a catastrophic long-term negative impact of the lifetime income of the parent that gives up their career, even for only a few years, in order to care for their child. Childcare is not paid out of one partner’s income, it’s a household expense I hate when I hear a new mom say the reason she decided not to go back to work is that her monthly income would be a piddly few hundred dollars (if that) after childcare expenses. Many women do the math that if their take home pay is $2,500 per […]
I got a great question from a reader named Sherene a while back asking about which was better: Roth IRAs vs CDs? She wrote:
“I am a recent college graduate and I want to put the little money I have saved (approx $3,000) into something that will give me good returns over the years. Would you suggest I get CDs or a Roth IRA?”
My answer: They’re not mutually exclusive. Roth IRAs are a type of investment account and CDs are simply a type of investment. You can have both!
A quick overview of each:
CD: Theseare a type of investment known as time deposits. This means you essentially loan money to a bank for a set period of time and when that time is done, they’ll give you your money back plus interest. This makes them very low risk.
Roth IRA: This is an investment account with significant tax advantages. It allows you to invest in funds of your choosing and accumulate money for retirement age.
Whether or not you choose to invest in CDs all depends on what your goals are. Let’s take a look at the two investments and how you can get started with them should you choose.
Roth IRA: An account EVERYONE should have
Along with a 401k, the Roth IRA is one of the best investments you can make as a young person.
A Roth IRA puts your after-tax money to work for you. That means you can put already taxed income into bonds, index funds, or whatever else into the account, allow it to accrue compounded interest over time, and eventually withdraw it when you retire…
…and pay no taxes when you withdraw it.
What does this mean for Sherene? That means her greatest advantage is time. If the market dips slightly, Sherene has nothing to worry about because she knows it will, in the greatest likelihood, bounce back.
The S&P 500 since 1950.
And over the years, this makes the Roth IRA account with an index fund a fantastic investment.
How to open a Roth IRA account
If Sherene (or you) wants to open up a Roth IRA, she’ll need to open up a brokerage account. There are plenty of great ones out there with fantastic customer service and fiduciaries ready to guide and answer any questions you might have about your investments.
Other factors you want to consider when looking at brokers:
Minimum investment fees. Some brokers require you to invest a minimum amount in order to open and hold an account. This can be a deal breaker for many.
Investment options. All brokers differ in what they’ll offer in the way of investments. Some have funds that perform better than others.
Transaction fees. A few brokers charge you a transaction fee in order to put money in an investment.
Not only do those three provide a great customer support line, but they also have small or no minimum investment fees and are known for their great stock options.
How much can I invest?
Currently, there’s a yearly maximum investment of $5,500 to a Roth. However, this amount changes often so be sure to check out the IRS contribution limits page to keep updated.
Once your account is set up, your money will just be sitting there. You need to do things then:
First, set up an automatic payment plan (which we’ll explain how to do later) so you’re automatically depositing money into your Roth account.
Second, decide where to invest the money in your Roth account; technically you can invest in stocks, index funds, mutual funds, whatever. But I suggest investing your money in a low-cost, diversified portfolio that includes index funds such as the S&P 500. The S&P 500 averages a return of 10% and is managed with barely any fees.
For more read my introductory articles on stocks and bonds to gain a better understanding of your options. I also created a two minute video that’ll show you exactly how to choose a Roth IRA. Check it out below.
When can I take my money out?
Like your 401k, you’re expected to treat this as a long-term investment vehicle. You are penalized if you withdraw your earnings before you’re 59 ½ years old.
You can, however, withdraw your principal, or the amount you actually invested from your pocket, at any time, penalty-free (most people don’t know this).
There are also exceptions for down payments on a home, funding education for you/partner/children/grandchildren, and some other emergency reasons.
But it’s still a fantastic investment to make — especially when you do it early. After all, the sooner you can invest, the more money your investment will accrue.
To quickly recap:
Roth IRA = Investment account
CD = A thing you can invest in
But should you put money in CDs at all?
CDs: What the heck are they?
A CD, or certificate of deposit, is a low-risk financial investment offered by banks. If you invest in a CD, you loan money to a bank for a fixed time known as a term length (typically anywhere from three months to five years). In this time, you can’t withdraw your investment without being penalized. However, you are accruing money at a fixed rate.
Your interest rate on a CD varies depending on the length you agree to keep your money in the bank (the longer you keep it there, the more money you earn). But you are all but assured that money when the term length is up.
Another reason why they’re so risk-free: CDs are typically insured by the FDIC up to $250,000. That means if you put $100,000 into a CD and accrued $5,000 in interest, your $105,000 would be insured if your bank fails (which it won’t).
That makes CDs an incredibly safe investment.
Who should invest in them?
Older people typically invest in CDs due to their aversion to risk. However, there are several factors to consider if you’re wondering if you should invest in a CD:
Length of investment. Can you part with the money during the full term length?
How aggressive you want to be. Do you have more wiggle room to invest in riskier funds or do you just want to play it safe?
Inflation. As of writing this, the inflation rate sits at 2.2%. That percentage is also on the high end for most annual percentage yields for CDs, which are typically anywhere between 1% to 2% for a 5-year bond. This means you could actually lose money when you factor in inflation with CDs.
CDs are a safe investment. If you value security and peace of mind over taking a few more risks for potentially higher gains, you might just want to put your money to work in a CD. Also, bonds like CDs can be used for short-term goals such as buying a house or putting more money into your emergency fund.
Make the smartest investment today
There’s no one-size-fits-all solution.
Some people are going to have a diversified portfolio of index funds and never touch it. Others might want to put more money into the market and more actively handle their funds. There’s no right or wrong answer to how you do things. The choice is up to you.
But, it can be confusing if you’re new to this world and have no idea how to get started.
That’s why I’m excited to offer you something for free. I have an offer: My Ultimate Guide to Personal Finance.
In it, you’ll learn how to:
Master your 401k: Take advantage of free money offered to you by your company…and get rich while doing it.
Manage Roth IRAs: Start saving for retirement in a worthwhile long-term investment account.
Automate your expenses: Take advantage of the wonderful magic of automation and make investing pain-free.
With this guide, you’ll be well on your way to living a Rich Life. And you don’t need any fancy get rich quick schemes or snake oil or other BS “solutions”. All you need is determination and the right systems put in place to help you get the most out of your financial situation and not have to worry about living “frugally” (aka sacrificing the things you love).
Enter your info below and receive my FREE bonus video on how to reduce your debt today.
I’m a big reader (I try to read two books a week), so people often come to me for good book recommendations. That’s why I decided to compile a list of 50 books that I absolutely love — and think you will too.
I do have one request before you jump in: Follow Ramit’s Book-Buying Rule.
If you think a book looks even remotely interesting, buy it.
Don’t even waste five seconds debating it. If you glean just one idea from the book, it makes it even more than worth the price. That idea could be the one that changes your life or simply challenges long-held beliefs you’ve always had. And those moments are invaluable to your development.
So without further ado…
Ramit Sethi book recommendations
I’ve divided my recommendations into several sections:
Finance/Investment
Psychology
Entrepreneurship
Miscellaneous
And each has a (non-affiliate) link for easy buying.
FINANCE/INVESTMENT
1. The Bogleheads’ Guide to Investingby Taylor Larimore, Mel Lindauer, and Michael LeBoeuf
This is a great, no-nonsense guide to investing. The book draws on the principles of John Bogle, the founder of Vanguard, and is presented in short, bite-sized chapters in plain language — so don’t worry about running to Google to look up esoteric financial terms.
2. A Random Walk Down Wall Streetby Burton Gordon Malkiel
Written by renowned economist Burton Gordon Malkiel, A Random Walk has proven to be a staple for any good investor’s bookshelf since it was first published in 1973. While I don’t necessarily agree with the entire book, the ideas presented between its covers are downright fascinating.
A GREAT primer on investing in index funds. The book also shows you how simple it is to get started investing. You don’t need a bunch of brokers in your ear telling you where to put your money when you have easy-to-manage index funds you can hold onto for years.
4. The Millionaire Next Doorby Dr. Thomas J. Stanley and Dr. William D. Danko
What’s a better way of learning how to be rich by studying…well, the rich?
That’s the idea behind The Millionaire Next Door — which draws upon the work of two doctors who studied the lives and financial philosophies of the wealthy.
This one frequently appears in “best investment books” lists — and for good reason. Since its publication, the Siegel book has become known as the buy and hold bible, touting the overall benefits of long-term passive investments in equities.
6. The Opposite of Spoiled: Raising Kids Who Are Grounded, Generous, and Smart About Moneyby Ron Lieber
I don’t have kids, but when I do, I’m going to make sure I have the talk with them early.
No, not THAT talk. I’m talking about the money discussion where I teach them all about the importance of diversification in their portfolios and the superiority of index funds over individual stocks. You know. Things kids like.
Luckily, finance columnist and father Ron Lieber has plenty of actionable and proven advice on how to approach talking to your kids about allowances, part-time jobs, college tuition, and even the tooth fairy.
Ah, quite possibly my FAVORITE book on the list. (There’s got to be SOME benefit of writing this list.) My New York Times bestseller on getting the most out of your finances — no guilt, excuses, or BS involved.
I give you the exact word-for-word scripts you can use to negotiate everything and also how you can allocate your money to save without worry, spend without guilt, and invest with confidence.
8. Age of Propaganda: The Everyday Use and Abuse of Persuasionby Anthony Pratkanis and Elliot Aronson
Aronson, the co-author, guest-lectured at Stanford and his class was one of the most thought-provoking ones I ever took. Learn how the media, our friends, and even we ourselves cause us to behave in unexpected ways. Each and every aspect of this book is rooted in theoretical literature, but it is incredibly fascinating to read.
9. Influence: The Psychology of Persuasionby Robert Cialdini
Dr. Cialdini put his years as the world’s foremost persuasion expert into this grandfather of psychology books. Impressively, this book is equally interesting to the ordinary reader as it is to experts. He distills years of research into a few critical principles that help you understand how to influence others and yourself — and how to protect yourself from unethical persuasion.
Imagine being able to set a goal and know that you’re going to get it done. That’s the beauty of building habits and it’s exactly what Charles Duhigg explores in The Power of Habit. I sat down to talk to him about the power of habits a while back. Check out that discussion below.
A good checklist can change your life — or at least that’s what surgeon, writer, and public health researcher Atul Gawande believes. In this book, he gives you the advice you can use to start leveraging checklists to streamline all facets of your life and business (just ask any pilot).
Gavin de Becker has helped politicians, actors, and other high-profile individuals recognize and react to violent threats. In The Gift of Fear, he offers a look at violent behavior and exactly how you can recognize it before it’s too late.
13. Playing Big: Practical Wisdom for Women Who Want to Speak Up, Create, and Leadby Tara Sophia Mohr
Tara Mohr offers insight and advice for talented women with big goals but little in the way of confidence. Find out exactly how she has helped thousands of women find success in their careers in Playing Big.
14. Mistakes Were Made (But Not By Me): Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions, and Hurtful Actsby Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson
Age of Propaganda‘s Elliot Aronson teams up with Carol Tavris to explore the cognitive dissonance we embrace to justify our bad decisions. The two authors also offer up some tactics we can use to confront our own behaviors and learn from them.
15. How to Win Friends and Influence Peopleby Dale Carnegie
There’s a reason a book older than some of our grandparents still shows up on “best psychology book” lists. Dale Carnegie’s tested and proven tactics on developing rock steady social skills are timeless. If you haven’t read this one yet, make sure you do ASAP.
16. Creativity Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspirationby Ed Catmull and Amy Wallace
From the mind of a guy who helped bring you the most tears you’ve ever shed during a children’s film comes a book packed with lessons on how you can effectively manage your team to embrace creativity. These same lessons helped Catmull propel Pixar from a small animation studio to a household name.
17. Iacocca: An Autobiographyby Lee Iacocca with William Novak
In this insightful autobiography, long-time Ford CEO Lee Iacocca reflects on his illustrious career, sharing his success, failures, and practical business lessons that got him far with companies like Chrysler and Ford.
Legendary copywriter Gary C. Halbert provides timeless copy and life advice to his son Bond through a series of letters — now available to anyone who wants it. In this book, you’ll find some of the best actionable advice on creating copy that sells.
19. The Robert Collier Letter Bookby Robert Collier
From one of the best marketers who ever lived, The Robert Collier Letter Book provides insight on how to craft the perfect sales letter. The advice here can be easily transferred to email copy, sales pages, etc.
My good friend Tim Ferriss has distilled the lessons he’s learned from interviewing over 200 Top Performers for his podcast The Tim Ferriss Show. The result is a book full of actionable lessons and insights into how the most successful people live their lives (including a cameo by yours truly).
21. The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9 – 5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Richby Tim Ferriss
Reading this book changed my life. Tim’s lessons on efficiency and his take on the concept of retirement have impacted an entire generation of entrepreneurs to pursue goals beyond the 9-to-5 and build their own Rich Lives. I can’t recommend this book enough.
22. Getting Everything You Can Out Of All You’ve Gotby Jay Abraham
Years ago, I picked up a copy of this book and it opened my eyes to Jay’s philosophy on wealth-creation through proven systems. He has since become my mentor and I can tell you with confidence that his program will help you leverage the unseen resources right in front of you to help increase your earnings and reach your goals.
23. The Luxury Strategy: Break the Rules of Marketing to Build Luxury Brandsby J.N. Kapferer and V. Bastien
The Luxury Strategy provides a fascinating look into building luxury brands such as Ferrari, Armani, Louis Vuitton, and Ralph Lauren. The authors also offer seemingly counter-intuitive marketing strategies used in luxury branding.
A hold-nothing-back look at what it’s like to build a business brick-by-painstakingly-placed-brick. Get the real origins of the Nike swoosh and how the company became one of the history’s most iconic brands from Phil Knight himself.
Having worked for both Twitter and Facebook (not to mention founding his own startup), Antonio Garcia Martinez has penned a humorous and occasionally scandalous expose of Silicon Valley’s tech industry. This book’s going to give you a real-talk look into the reality of the tech world. A must-read for any burgeoning entrepreneur (or startup employee).
26. It’s Your Ship: Management Techniques from the Best Damn Ship in the Navyby Capt. D. Michael Abrashoff
What can the former commander of a United States naval destroyer teach you about business? A hell of a lot. And assuming you don’t have time to rise through the ranks of the U.S. Navy and command your own ship, Capt. Abrashoff has distilled the management lessons he learned while at the helm of the USS Benfold that can help you lead your own team to success.
27. Setting the Table: The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Businessby Danny Meyer
Drawing upon over three decades in the hospitality industry, restaurateur Danny Meyer provides unique insights on the client/business relationship and the methods you can use to create positive relationships with your customer. Though it’s told through the lens of running a restaurant, the lessons here are applicable to any business.
28. Creating Magic: 10 Common Sense Leadership Strategies From a Life at Disneyby Lee Cockerell
When you’re in charge of the happiest place on earth for over a decade, you’re going to learn a thing or two about management. In Creating Magic, Lee Cockerell gives you the exact leadership principles that took him to the top of one of the world’s biggest companies and the methods you can use to become a better leader yourself.
29. My Life in Advertising & Scientific Advertisingby Claude C. Hopkins
This is two books for the price of one — including one that David Ogilvy, the greatest ad man who ever lived, once said of it, “Nobody should be allowed to have anything to do with advertising until he has read this book seven times. It changed the course of my life.”
These are must-reads for anyone curious in the theory behind advertising and proven tactics you can use to approach it.
John Caples — the man who wrote one of the most successful advertisements in history — provides you with copy tactics that draw upon decades worth of experience. The book also provides you with his proven headline formulas that alone makes it well worth the price.
If you want to increase sales and take your copy game to the next level, Breakthrough Advertising is the book that will help get you there. There is one catch though: This book is out of print. That means that it’s incredibly rare, with copies typically selling anywhere between $100 and $500.
32. Playing to Win: How Strategy Really Worksby A.G. Lafley and Roger L. Martin
This book boils down to one mantra every business owner should constantly echo to themselves: “You are playing to win.” That’s what Procter & Gamble’s A.G. Lafley did when he took a dying brand and made it a powerhouse of sales.
33. Confessions of the Pricing Man: How Pricing Affects Everythingby Hermann Simon
One of the biggest roadblocks for freelancers and new entrepreneurs is pricing — namely, how the hell do you do it? You can blindly test out prices until you hit upon something that works. OR, you can turn to a man with over four decades of experience in pricing and read his book on the subject. I suggest the latter.
34. Your Move: The Underdog’s Guide to Building Your Businessby Ramit Sethi
This is my second favorite book on the list!
Your Move is a no-BS guide to creating your own business from the ground up. You’ll learn the exact tactics you can use to come up with a profitable idea, find clients to sell to, and create a system to grow your business even further. And, the author is handsome.
36. Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisisby J.D. Vance
One of the best books to come out of 2016. Hillbilly Elegy is a devastating look into the struggles of an American working class family — and what that means for a large cultural swath of the country.
37. Models: Attract Women Through Honestyby Mark Manson
Manson cuts through all of the pickup artist BS to give you actionable, straightforward lessons on how to attract women. This is a great read for anyone interested in psychology and social skills.
38. An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earthby Col. Chris Hadfield
An incredibly entertaining read from the astronaut who sang David Bowie’s Space Oddity…while in space. Col. Chris Hadfield details his life through a series of vignettes, showing you how he went from Canadian farm boy to the internet’s favorite astronaut.
39. Date-onomics: How Dating Became a Lopsided Numbers Gameby Jon Birger
The phrase “There are no good guys left out there to date” is practically a meme — however, the data backs it up. Date-onomics is a fascinating look at the numbers behind dating and the tactics women can use to find success.
41. All Quiet on the Western Frontby Erich Maria Remarque
Though you were probably forced to read this in high school, this is a novel that deserves a second read. Having served on the German frontline himself, Remarque provides a haunting and gritty account of the realities of trench warfare — as well as the impact of war when soldiers are home.
42. On Writing: A Memoir of the Craftby Stephen King
The master of horror gives you an in-depth look on exactly how he got that way in one of the best memoirs you’ll ever read. King also gives you some no-nonsense advice on grammar and style in the second half of the book. If you’re a writer, make sure this one is on your shelf.
43. Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Lusterby Dana Thomas
The shape of luxury has changed since Louis Vuitton was making clothes in 19th century France — and award-winning journalist Dana Thomas found out why through this in-depth book that tears down the shiny facade of the luxury industry to reveal what really drives it.
44. No Hero: The Evolution of a Navy Sealby Mark Owen
A follow up to his bestseller No Easy Day, this book gives you an eye-opening look into the life and history of one Navy Seal who took part in the raid that killed Osama bin Laden.
45. Invisible Ink: A Practical Guide to Building Stories That Resonateby Brian McDonald
Though the book is written through the lens of a screenwriter, the lessons on storytelling, character building, and narrative crafting that McDonald dishes out are universal for any writer. You’ll learn how to captivate and engage your audience while telling stories that’ll stick with them far after they stop reading.
46. The Red Circle: My Life in the Navy Seal Sniper Corps and How I Trained America’s Deadliest Marksmenby Brandon Webb
A Navy Seal sniper instructor gives you a look into his experience training some of the deadliest men in the world. Spoiler alert: It’s nothing like it is in video games.
47. Bringing Up Bebe: One American Mother Discovers the Wisdom of French Parentingby Pamela Druckerman
The story of one American mother raising a child in Paris. Her observations on the differences in French and American parenting are eye-opening and can give any mom or dad fascinating insights on raising their child.
49. One Bullet Away: The Making of a Marine Officerby Nathaniel Fick
If it wasn’t obvious already, I love stories of awe-inspiring military leadership — and One Bullet Away is no exception. Fick’s account of leading his platoon in Afghanistan immediately following the 9/11 terrorist attacks is harrowing and gives any leader lessons to learn from.
50. Losing the Signal: The Untold Story Behind the Extraordinary Rise and Spectacular Fall of Blackberryby Jacquie McNish and Sean Silcoff
Excuse me while I put on my old man pants for a moment:
BACK IN MY DAY WE DIDN’T HAVE ANY FANCY IPHONES OR TINDER MACHINES. ALL WE HAD WERE OUR BLACKBERRYS AND THAT’S THE WAY WE LIKED IT! WHAT IS AN EMOJI, ANYWAY?
And while you’re probably never going to see someone sporting one again, the BlackBerry once commanded more than half of the smartphone market. Now, it has less than 1%. Journalists Jacquie McNish and Sean Silcoff explore the mismanagement and internal struggles that led to the fall of a once thriving cell phone empire.
If you’re looking for a good book, you can’t go wrong with any of the suggestions above.
And remember: If you’re even remotely interested in buying one, go for it. You might learn a lesson you might never have otherwise gotten.
Now I want to turn it to you: What books do YOU recommend? Have you read any of the books above? What did you think? Looking forward to reading your answers.
