The most successful people in the world all have one thing in common: they never stop reading. Having previously shared what I consider the best books about finance, many of you expressed interest in reading and discussing them together, as well as having regular recommendations on finance books to read. And so last year, the Family Finance Mom Book Club was born. Read on to learn how you can find our current club pick and join the discussion!
Family Finance Mom Book Club
Nonfiction can be a turn off for some readers. It can also be hard to read about topics that are new to you, if you have to look up new vocabulary or don't have a resource to support you when you encounter elements you don't understand. But for those interested in deepening their understanding of personal finance, books can be a tremendous resource.
How #FFMBookClub Works
Since there is no shortage of finance books to read, each quarter, I come up with a shortlist of nonfiction picks related to finance. They vary from social commentary on economic inequality, personal stories of financial improvement, market history, to even self improvement books you can apply to all elements of your life, including your family finances.
I put the list up to a vote in my Instagram stories, and my followers choose the book we will read. We read one new book each quarter. A new book is announced the first week of each quarter in January, April, July, and October for discussion during the last month of the quarter in March, June, September and December.
To join the discussion, all you have to do is follow me @FamilyFinanceMom and #FFMBookClub on Instagram. You'll find all our previous book picks and discussion posts there. And as you read with us, you are welcome to post your own as well!
Our Current Pick Is...
For Q1 2024, we are currently reading The Two-Parent Privilege: How Americans Stopped Getting Married and Started Falling Behind by Melissa Kearney. Kearney is an economics professor who has studied the impact of marriage and family structures on economic outcomes for decades. In particular, she highlights the percentage of children living in homes with married parents has fallen dramatically over the last 40 years - though the decline is concentrated among those without a college degree, while the percentage of children of married college-educated parents has fallen far less.
She explores why marriage is declining among groups so differently, the economic impacts on major issues such as widening inequality and eroding social mobility, and most importantly, raises what we should potentially be doing to reverse these trends in order to best serve these children and families.
Finance Books to Read - Club Picks to Date
If you are new to Family Finance Mom Book Club, and are looking for more finance books to read than just the current quarter's pick, here are all our Book Club picks to date. I've put stars by my personal favorites.
2024 FFM Book Club Picks
**Q1: The Two-Parent Privilege: How Americans Stopped Getting Married and Started Falling Behind by Melissa Kearney
2023 FFM Book Club Picks
**Q1: The Bogle Effect: How John Bogle and Vanguard Turned Wall Street Inside Out and Saved Investors Trillions by Eric Balchunas
Related Post: Podcast Interview with Eric Balchunas
Q2: Panic: The Story of Modern Financial Insanity by Michael Lewis
Q4: Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr. by Ron Chernow
2022 FFM Book Club Picks
Q1: Numbers Don't Lie: 71 Stories to Help Us Understand the Modern World by Vaclav Smil
**Q2: The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah
Q4: Understandable Economics: Because Understanding Our Economy Is Easier Than You Think and More Important Than You Knowby Howard Yaruss
Related Post: Podcast Interview w/ Howard Yaruss
2021 FFM Book Club Picks
**Q1: The Psychology of Money: Timeless lessons on wealth, greed, and happiness by Morgan Housel
Q2 Book 1: Big Debt Crises by Ray Dalio
Q2 Book 2: The Deficit Myth: Modern Monetary Theory and the Birth of the People's Economyby Stephanie Kelton
**Q4: The Debt Trap: How Student Loans Became a National Catastrophe by Josh Mitchell
Related Post: Podcast Interview w/ Josh Mitchell
2020 FFM Book Club Picks
Q1: Everyday Millionaires by Chris Hogan
FFM Book Review: How to Become a Millionaire
**Q2: The Big Short by Michael Lewis
FFM Book Review: How Do Mortgages Work and a History of the 2008 Financial Crisis
Q3: The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein
**Q4: The Mandiblesby Lionel Shriver
FFM Related Post: Should I Invest in Bitcoin?
2019 FFM Book Club Picks
Q2: Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki
**Q3: Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
**Q4: Atomic Habits by James Clear
You can click through to get any of the above books right on Amazon... or, since we prefer to save money rather than spend it around here, get it from the library. Since you have several months to read each book, there's plenty of time to get on your library waitlist.
If you already have a library card, be sure to see if your library uses Libby to check out ebooks. You can get ebooks without ever even leaving your house, at absolutely no cost to you!
Have a Finance Book We Should Read?
New finance books get released ALL the time. If you find one you'd like us to consider for our next #FFMBookClub pick, please submit it via the Google Form below.
The best education you can get is the one you create for yourself. Never stop learning. And if you never stop reading, you never will! For more great financial discussion, be sure to check out my closed Facebook group, Family Finance Moms.
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