I'm not sure if it qualifies as Personal Finance, but The Millionaire Mind and The Millionaire Next Door forever changed the way I view money. I'm lucky I read that book at the time I did, in college right as I was preparing to start my career and make "real" money.
The author, Thomas Stanley, is a college professor and he makes no effort to provide a guideline for how people should manage their own money (one of my favorite aspects!). Instead he presents different perspectives of money based on information he has gathered from focus groups with largely affluent/wealthy people over several years. He classifies "rich" people in two categories (1) Balance-Sheet rich (consistently accumulate wealth over time) or (2) Income-Statement rich (make lots of money & spend it all immediately). Without reading this book, I'd be giving in to the American concept of consumerism right now and spending a much larger chunk of the money I make right now.
Last edited by am_vanquish : 09-24-2009 at 04:49 AM.
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