Top 28 Best Personal Finance Books – Canada Money Experts Recommends for 2023

Quick Overview: Best Personal Finance Books for Canadians, written by Canadians

In the quest for financial stability, reading personal finance books can be a great way to expand one’s knowledge on the subject.

However, for Canadians seeking to get their hands on a personal finance book tailored specifically to their local financial market, the options can be limited.

Luckily, there are some excellent personal finance books available that were written by Canadian authors with Canadian readers in mind:

• Beat the Bank: The Canadian Guide to Simply Successful Investing
• The Smart, Savvy Young Consumer: How to Save and Spend Wisely
• 397 Ways To Save Money

Sale

397 Ways To Save Money (new Edition)

Check Price on Amazon

Sale

The Smart, Savvy Young Consumer: How to Save and...

Check Price on Amazon

Beat the Bank: The Canadian Guide to Simply...

Check Price on Amazon

These books offer practical advice and a wealth of information on various aspects of personal finance that are relevant to Canadians.

By using examples and investment tips that are specific to the Canadian financial market, these books go beyond the generic information that can be found in some foreign-authored personal finance books.

With their straightforward language and helpful insights, these personal finance books are a must-read for anyone seeking to improve their financial literacy in Canada.

Whether you’re just starting out or looking to boost your financial savvyness, these personal finance books offer valuable insights and actionable advice that could help you achieve your goals.

1. Rich Dad Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money – That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not!

By Robert T. Kiyosaki

One of the best personal finance books Canada readers would enjoy is this New York Times bestseller that sold millions of copies worldwide.

Rich Dad Poor Dad is based on the premise that financial education should start early in life so children develop the proper habits and learn the essential concepts of finances.

The book’s ideas are rooted in Kiyosaki’s two fathers – his birth father, a highly educated but poor man, and his best friend’s father, who was financially secure even though he had only a high school education. 

The book lays out what rich and poor people do with money. It explains the difference between working for money and having your money work for you. It also takes a hard look at entrepreneurship and how to become an entrepreneur – another idea that’s all the rage in Canada these days. 

The advice is controversial, which makes it an interesting read for Canadians interest in personal finance.

2. Best for Retirement Planning → Victory Lap Retirement

By Mike Drak, Rob Morrison CFP, & Jonathan Chevreau

This is a personal finance book written for boomers and retirees looking to make the most of their New Freedom, which is – as Chevreau & Drak define it – “the freedom to live well today, while still having enough saved up. For tomorrow.”

Chateau describes the “victory lap” as a mix of work and leisure. So, if you are looking for a way to get out of the “rat race,” then this is one of the best books on finance that you could pick up.

His advice is to save enough for your basic needs and then work as much as you want so that you can afford other things. He also recommends living a lifestyle from which one doesn’t have to retire.

The authors offer advice from retirement specialists on various topics, including long and short-term care insurance, retirement planning, Wills, and estates. They also discuss the three biggest fears retirees have – health issues, outliving their assets, and running out of money in retirement — which is wholly misplaced, according to Chevreau & Drak.

They emphasize that building wealth takes discipline rather than intelligence or knowledge, as many believe.

Are you getting close to retirement? Victory Lap Retirement is one of the best personal finance books in Canada for you.

3. Debt-Free Forever: Take Control of Your Money and Your Life

By Gail Vaz-Oxlade

If you are looking for a practical guide to get out of debt, this is the book that will help you make it happen.

The author offers easy-to-follow advice and simple methods to get rid of credit card debt once and for all. She shows how to channel the power of common sense and discipline to stop living paycheque to paycheque.

She gives readers a game plan to stop the cycle of debt and live the life they want without carrying significant credit card balances month after month. 

This book doesn’t focus on budgeting — it focuses on eliminating your need for one. Instead, Gail shows you how to harness your cash flow and change your habits so that your money moves in the direction you want it to.

Debt-Free Forever was published in 2012.

Gail, who formerly hosted the popular TV show “Till Debt, Do Us Part”, has authored several other personal finance books Canada readers will find beneficial, including “Money Rules, Never Too Late” and “Money-Smart Kids”. 

4. Worry-Free Money

By Shannon Lee Simmons

If you suffer from money worries, this book is a must-read. It explains how to disregard what other people think, pay yourself first, and find value in all that you do. The author also shows readers how to avoid the mental traps that cause us to sabotage our financial goals.

Shannon has created an organized system for managing your finances. It includes a debt repayment plan, goal setting, saving for emergencies and retirement, creating a budget that works for you, and more. It is a non-judgemental read, and the scenarios are highly relatable for Canadians.

Worry-Free Money was published in 2017. Recently, the author published a second book, Living Debt-Free.

5. Happy Go Money

By Melissa Leong

Melissa Leong’s Happy Go Money book proves that more money in the bank does not automatically mean more happiness— you must be smart about your spending and saving.

Combining personal finances and happiness psychology, Melissa shows you how to get the most delight out of every dollar and lead a happy life while being responsible with money. Therefore, it is one of the best personal finance books in Canada for people who need the motivation to stick to a budget and feel optimistic about their own financial outlook.

Melissa Leong is a popular on-air personality and the resident money expert on CTV’s show, The Social. She published Happy Go Money: Spend Smart, Save Right And Enjoy Life in 2019.

6. Moolala: Why Smart People Do Dumb Things With Their Money and What You Can Do About It

By Bruce Sellery 

Bruce Sellery, a famous business journalist and personal finance professional, The book Moolala contains practical personal finance advice for Canadians who want to take their financial life into their own hands. It is a useful, actionable resource that can help you improve your overall economic well-being. 

Moolala shifts the focus from making more money to finding ways to save more of what you already have. It helps you identify the money behaviours that hold you back from paying off debt, living within your means, and saving for retirement. 

The book lists these five steps to achieve your financial goals:

1. Start by laying the foundation
2. Determine what you want
3. Develop the plan for reaching them
4. Take action
5. Stay engaged

Bruce published Moolala in 2011.

7. The Year of Less: How I Stopped Shopping, Gave Away My Belongings, and Discovered Life is Worth More Than Anything You Can Buy in a Store

By Cait Flanders

Cait Flanders is a Canadian blogger who authored The Year of Less, which focuses on minimalism. This personal finance book will help you reduce excessive spending and generate more savings to pay off debt and save for retirement. 

The book highlights the importance of living within your means by encouraging people to get the most out of their money rather than spending it on low-value products. Cait shares her story about how she took a 12-month break from the soul-crushing, consumerist life many people live today. 

This book is a superb resource for anyone who wants to live happily and positively in the present moment while saving for the future. Cait Flanders published The Year Of Less in 2018.

8. Worry-Free Money: The Guilt-Free Approach to Managing Your Money and Your Life

By Shannon Lee Simmons

Short and sweet, this book is the ideal handbook on how to master your finances without becoming overwhelmed. Simmons teaches you basic money management skills that will lead you to financial freedom without all of the doom and gloom associated with most personal finance books. 

Shannon Lee Simmons honestly explains her financial issues in a way that any reader can feel comfortable identifying with her mistakes and shortcomings. After meeting with thousands of clients, Shannon realized that almost everyone feels like they don’t make enough money, even if their income is above average. 

So, to address this, the book takes a different approach to finances. It addresses the reasons for the pressure to spend, understanding why people overspend, and how to get your finances in control while having fun in the process. Worry-Free Money is one of the best personal finance books in Canada for building your financial confidence and plans.

It was published in 2017 and featured testimonials from financial experts like David Chilton and Rob Carrick.

9. The Joy of Being Retired: 365 Reasons Why Retirement Rocks – and Work Sucks!

By Ernie J. Zelinski

Just imagine: you’ll be able to sleep past 6 a.m., work on that novel, or even start your own business without the daily grind cramping your style!

You won’t have piles of bills and financial stress to worry about anymore. You can take off to some exotic location whenever it strikes your fancy instead of planning vacations around paying for car repairs or going to the dentist. 

Sounds good, doesn’t it? But how do you get there? That’s where Zelinski comes in.

In this book, he lays out a clear, straightforward plan for getting from here to there – and back again if your dreams don’t work out as planned. 

You’ll find valuable information on:

• How to plan for your retirement years
• Making the most of those golden years with travel, hobbies, and volunteer work 
• Getting a life without giving up everything you’ve worked for over the past 50 years…..and much more. 

The Joy of Being Retired is a light read with cartoons and 365 reasons retirement rocks and work sucks!

10. Cashflow Cookbook: $2 Million of Financial Freedom in 60 Easy Recipes

By Gordon Stein

The Cashflow Cookbook takes a practical approach to cash flow management. Gordon Stein compares traditional cooking and recipes with finances.

He uses ingredients, recipes, and cooking as metaphors to demonstrate how to manage your money more effectively. For example, “deglaze debt, toss out toxic ingredients, etc..”

If any of what we’ve discussed sounds familiar, perhaps you have seen parts of this book in the Toronto Star. They often feature excerpts because it’s one of the best financial books for explaining money issues!

11. 397 Ways to Save Money, Spend Smarter & Live Well on Less

By Kerry K. Taylor

This book is a compilation of money-saving tips that you can use to help save money and cut down your monthly expenses.

Kerry Taylor has written several articles about personal finance and is now making those articles available in one convenient location for people looking to learn how they can bring their finances back into balance.

As a bonus, some of the tips listed in the book include advice on how you can earn money while cutting your monthly expenses.

There is no single person or household that will not benefit from reading this. From a family of four trying to save money on gas, food, and the electric bill all in one place to those who want more than anything else to become debt-free and independent from their established routines, this book can turn your life around for the better.

If you’re looking for the best personal finance books Canada has to help you cut costs in your life, this is a top choice!

12. How to Pay Less and Save More for Your$elf: The Essential Consumer Guide to Canadian Banking and Investing

By Rob Carrick

This personal finance book, written by a journalist for The Globe and Mail, covers various strategies to help you save more money.

Rob Carrick writes in plain English while avoiding complicated financial terminology – something that makes the book accessible to everyone who wants to learn how to manage their finances better.

The author’s advice is based on simple, practical advice from financial experts – he doesn’t invent or reinvent the wheel. Carrick describes his strategies as “rules of thumb” that can be applied to everyone regardless of their age or tax bracket in Canada.

He writes about topics such as student loans and mortgages, money management tips for people over 50, etc. Then, with a quiz, Rob measures how you feel about the use of electronic transactions.

The rest of the book provides advice based on how tech-savvy you consider yourself. Rob’s point is that if you blindly trust your bank, you are likely to end up losing a lot of money.

This book makes our list of the best personal finance books in Canada because of how well it offers advice that stands up to even the most intense scrutiny.

13. The Smart, Savvy Young Consumer: How to Save and Spend Wisely

By Pat Foran

The Smart, Savvy Young Consumer is perfect for people ages 14-34, so it’d make an excellent graduation gift for any young person starting high school or college. 

Pat Foran interviewed dozens of Canadians in their 20s and 30s to discover how they handle their money. In addition to the advice offered by these interviewees, you’ll find specific ideas for saving money throughout the book that is tailored to the life stage you’re in. 

Want to spend your money on travel? There are tips for that. Prefer to have cash in the bank in case of an emergency? Those suggestions are inside, too.

This book also features quotes from people like Justin Beiber, Jim Flaherty, and many others.

This well-written guide will help readers manage their finances more effectively – another fantastic Canadian finance book worthy of a read.

The Smart, Savvy Young Consumer is laid out in a style that encourages you to move quickly through the pages, making it ideal for those who want to get to the meat of the book without getting lost.

14. Personal Finance for Canadians for Dummies

By Eric Tyson & Tony Martin

Goodreads Rating: 3.78

Personal Finance in Canada for Dummies is an excellent introduction to money management and financial planning for Canadians.

Do you need to improve your financial literacy? This book covers an exhaustive array of finance topics, from taxes to debt, real estate, and more. However, it’s a long read. So it serves better as a reference when you have finance-related questions.

15. The Psychology of Money: Timeless Lessons on Wealth, Greed, and Happiness

By Morgan Housel

This book is an exciting look into the psychology of money and how your personality, ego, preconceived notions, and even your pride can affect your decisions around money.

This is one of the best personal finance books in Canada for helping you understand how to think about money to make more intelligent financial decisions. If you don’t want to be a slave to your emotions and “rationalize” poor choices, this book may just give you what it takes to start building wealth.

Housel has been a columnist for The Wall Street Journal. He is also a partner at The Collaborative Fund.

Best Personal Finance and Investing Books

16. The Wealthy Barber Returns

By David Chilton

If you want a book on personal finance that will entertain you through from cover to cover,  David Chilton’s The Wealthy Barber is for your needs.

Best read when young, but this self-published book has become one of Canada’s best sellers and appeals to all readers. This best-selling Canadian finance book has become one of the top 10 bestselling financial advice books in Canada. 

The book features an entrepreneurial barber, Roy, who uses lessons about managing and investing money to encourage his clients’ success. The commonsense approach of this no-nonsense financial guide is all about tackling the day-to-day issues Canadians face. Dave uses a storytelling method in this book, making it more realistic and relatable for readers, bringing the lessons close to home. 

Reading and applying these lessons will help you get out of debt, improve your credit score, create a budget plan on paper (or online), start saving sooner for retirement rather than later, and invest wisely in real estate, stocks, or other assets.

The first edition of The Wealthy Barber was published in 2002 and has sold more than 2 million copies. He released a sequel to this book in 2011 called the Wealthy Barber Returns.

17. Wealthing Like Rabbits: An Original and Occasionally Hilarious Introduction to the World of Personal Finance

By Robert R. Brown

This book explains how you can apply the idea of rabbits multiplying quickly to your wealth, which tends to grow slowly. As Robert R. Brown put it, the trick to accumulating money rapidly is to get compound interest working for you.

Wealthing Like Rabbits offers sound financial advice for millennials. One of his pieces of advice for young people struggling with money is to avoid investing too much money into aesthetics and keeping up appearances, which can be a massive drain on your resources.

Written for Canadians, the book covers many important topics, including investments (RRSP and TFSA), frugality, debt repayment, mortgages, credit cards, opportunity cost, etc. This is one of the best personal finance books Canada readers can use as an eye-opener for saving up for your future.

18. Millionaire Teacher: The Nine Rules of Wealth You Should Have Learned in School

By Andrew Hallam

Millionaire Teacher is based on the teaching experience of Andrew Hallam, a high school teacher who became a millionaire after he turned thirty years old. He shows readers how ordinary people can retire rich by pursuing a low-stress, straightforward approach to investing. This includes cutting fees, saving, spending on assets that appreciate, and more.

He also reveals that it is possible to beat the market by holding index funds for long periods of time with logic, humour, and complex data. This will allow you to save significantly on brokerage fees and taxes while giving your wealth plenty of time to compound. 

For those who don’t want to do any work managing their investments, the laid-back investment style may be your ticket to millionaire status.

Millionaire Teacher: The Nine Rules of Wealth You Should Have Learned in School was published in 2011. A second edition followed in 2017.

19. I Will Teach You to Be Rich: A 6-Week Program That Works

By Ramit Sethi

Goodreads rating: 4.03

I Will Teach You to Be Rich is a personal finance book that has changed many lives. Ramit Sethi, an Indian-American entrepreneur and author, wrote this book with a goal in mind–to help people gain control over their money.

This easy-to-follow guide contains practical, real-world advice that you can start using today. It targets a younger audience and serves as an actionable guide for sorting out your finances.

Ramit emphasizes the importance of saving for retirement a priority so you have enough money to last through your golden years. His writing style is humorous, which makes his tips entertaining and easy to read.

Ramit teaches:

• How to optimize your credit cards and improve your credit score
• How to find the best bank accounts and negotiate fees
• Maxing out your retirement accounts. He discusses American retirement accounts, but the advice also applies to Canadians.
• Automation, i.e., linking as many accounts as possible to automate bill payments, investing, and savings to help you save time.
• How to diversify across several asset classes when investing.

Ramit Sethi’s tips are practical. He includes many techniques and products he’s used so that you have ideas of where to start.  For instance, he mentions which banks and credit cards he uses and why. He also shares word-for-word scripts he uses to negotiate bank and credit card fees.

Overall, I Will Teach You to Be Rich is an excellent choice for personal finance beginners interested in getting smart about their money.

20. A Random Walk Down Wall Street: The Time-Tested Strategy for Successful Investing

By Burton G. Malkiel

In his book, A Random Walk Down Wall Street, economist Burton Malkiel examines several investment strategies and brings attention to their flaws.

He tears apart technical analysis as an investing strategy claiming that the market follows a random pattern of unpredictable short-term price movements. This is contrary to how technical analysis predicts future movement using price and volume data.  

Like John Bogle, Malkiel’s conclusion is to invest in low-cost index funds. He argued that aiming to pick winning investments is like throwing darts at a stock ticker. So he advised that rather than paying a financial advisor, buy index funds. Like other personal finance experts, he urges you to start saving an emergency fund and advocates maxing out your retirement accounts first.

Do you want to understand how the stock market works and learn some introductory investor psychology? Read “A Random Walk Down Wall Street.“

21. The Millionaire Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of America’s Wealthy

By Thomas J. Stanley & William D. Danko

Goodreads Rating: 4.03

The Millionaire Next Door is an anecdotal book that uses the stories of several millionaires to break down typical millionaire habits and actions. The book reveals the dirty little secret about being a millionaire– you don’t need to earn millions of dollars per year by working at a high-flying job to become one. 

Many millionaires are living quiet, low-key lives in middle-class neighbourhoods. They don’t drive flashy cars or wear fancy clothes. Most importantly, they’re regular people who have maintained a healthy work-life balance and saved lots of money. In other words: a typical millionaire isn’t the person you’d think it is.

As far as the authors Thomas Stanley and William Danko are concerned, millionaire status isn’t about how much money you earn or what you do for a living. It’s about your financial habits and lifestyle choices–including spending less than you make and investing for the long term. That’s why this book can be relevant to readers regardless of occupation, location, or income.

With some common sense, frugality, and restraint on spending, you’ve got the tools to become a millionaire. While The Millionaire Next Door was written for an American audience, the information is still applicable to Canadians.

22. Stop Over-Thinking Your Money! The Five Simple Rules of Financial Success

By Preet Banerjee

Stop Over-Thinking Your Money! is a perfect guide for those who want to learn more about personal finance and improve their situation. The most important financial lesson you can learn is how much it costs you when you overthink your money.

In this book, Preet Banerjee explains why excessive thinking gets in the way of your financial goals. He shares how to identify the problems that prevent you from growing your wealth and shows how to free yourself from them. 

The first part of this book discusses these five financial success rules:

1. Disaster-proof your life
2. Spend lower than you earn
3. Pay down high-interest debt aggressively
4. Carefully read the fine print
5. Delay consumption

In the second part, Preet covers how to invest, what financial advisors do, fees related to funding, and insurance. It’s a must-read for those in their twenties to brush up on finances or any time people start putting away savings. This book was published in 2014.

23. Beat The Bank: The Canadian Guide to Simply Successful Investing

By Larry Bates

If you are looking for an effective way to start investing, this book is the perfect resource. It offers investors a straightforward plan to follow and basic knowledge about how to invest in Canada. Larry provides valuable insight into areas of personal finance such as credit cards, debt management, mortgages, insurance, wills, and estate planning. 

He also demonstrates how you can easily simplify and optimize your investment portfolio, cut fees, maximize tax-sheltered accounts, and increase long-term earnings.

His T-Rex Score calculator is another helpful tool that shows you how much of your money will be spent on annual fees and how much you get to keep. Beat the Bank was published in 2018.

24. The Value of Simple: A Practical Guide to Taking the Complexity Out of Investing

By John Robertson

John Robertson is a famous Canadian financial writer and radio show host who emphasizes the importance of simplicity when investing. His book – The Value of Simple: A Practical Guide To Taking The Complexity Out of Investing, was published in 2018 and includes personal finance advice that can be applied to your money management. 

In this book, John takes you through the world of managing your TFSA, RRSP, RESP, and non-registered accounts. He explores how to take the reins and masterfully implement low-cost indexing strategies in these investment vehicles.

Canada’s traditional mutual funds are the most expensive in the developed world, and, for many Canadians, it might be better to avoid them altogether.

So, John provides a step-by-step guide on investing wisely in index funds as an alternative to traditional mutual funds. The step-by-step format makes it one of the best personal finance books Canada would-be DIY investors can start with.

25. The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness

By Dave Ramsey

Dave Ramsey’s The Total Money Makeover is one of the best personal finance books for those looking to get their financial life together and control their finances. It takes you through a step-by-step process that will help you reach your goals faster. 

When it comes to generating wealth, Dave’s advice is all about making sound financial decisions. He has a proven 7-step plan to help you take charge of your money and set you on track to a secure future.

These plans cover how to climb your way out of debt and transform your financial life. Each chapter covers one step:

• Step 1: Save $1,000 for emergencies.
• Step 2: Pay off your debts from the lowest to the highest balance.
• Step 3: Build your emergency fund to three to six months of living expenses.
• Step 4: Maximize retirement investing.
• Step 5: Save for college if applicable.
• Step 6: Pay off your mortgage. 
• Step 7: Grow your wealth with all your newfound money.

Ramsey also debunks several popular misconceptions about finance, the largest ones being:

1. Debt makes lenders richer, not you.
2. Building wealth is a slow, gradual process.
3. Living beyond your means to impress others is a waste of time.

The book then concludes that you will be wealthy when your investment income surpasses your regular income. The Total Money Makeover was published in 2003.

26. The Little Book of Common Sense Investing: The Only Way to Guarantee Your Fair Share of Stock Market Returns

By John C. Bogle

John Bogle is the founder and former CEO of Vanguard Group, a big player in the mutual fund industry–which happens to be one of the largest in the world. 

His book, The Little Book of Common Sense Investing, is about sticking with common sense investing practices, avoiding all excessive risk, and taking care of your nest egg. In short, it’s about working in your favour instead of against it. The common-sense approach involves: choosing low-expense index funds, diversifying your assets, and re-balancing your holdings regularly.

Bogle also takes time to remind us that there will be bouts of devastating stock market declines in the future–it’s an inevitable part of investing with stocks. Take it as given, and decide how much you can afford to lose. Then, learn to live with it–it won’t be fun, but it will pay off in the long run.

The Little Book of Common Sense Investing was written over a decade ago, so some of its information on mutual funds is dated. That said, Bogle’s advice still holds up.

Bogle impresses with his down-to-earth style and his ability to address thorny issues simply yet directly. He doesn’t try to scare the bejeebers out of us, nor does he promise something that can’t be delivered. Instead, he takes a realist approach–you know, the kind of approach that’s rooted in common sense.

With this book, he hopes to help you get started on a journey toward a comfortable retirement–without panicking about saving for it or letting your emotions interfere with your carefully thought-out plans.

This is an excellent pick for Canadian readers, especially those who want to learn more about index investing. No matter where you live or what you do, index investing works. It has the power to improve your finances in a variety of ways.

READ ALSO >> How to Buy Shares in Canada

27. The Four Pillars of Investing: Lessons for Building a Winning Portfolio

By William J. Bernstein

William Bernstein’s book, The Four Pillars of Investing, is a testament to the power and necessity of low-cost investing. If you’re looking for an accessible yet advanced introduction to asset allocation, this book is arguably the best place to start. 

Bernstein breaks down his investment philosophy into four main concepts that influence the strategy he uses for his portfolio. These four pillars are:

1. Asset allocation is the most critical determinant of investment success;
2. Diversification is essential to achieving proper asset allocation;
3. Costs matter – a lot! It doesn’t matter how well you select investments if they eat up your returns;
4. Active management is a loser’s game. That doesn’t mean you should never actively manage your portfolio, but it does mean that you should do so only in service of the first three pillars.

This book offers excellent advice on diversification and asset allocation for the beginning investor and pulls together some complex topics into easy-to-understand language.

Overall, this is one of the best personal finance books Canadian beginner investors will find helpful. The author cuts through some complicated topics and provides clear examples of implementing his strategy in their portfolio.

28. Clever Girl Finance: Ditch Debt, Save Money and Build Real Wealth

By Bola Sokunbi

Bola Sokunbi, a Certified Financial Education Instructor (CFEI) and the founder of Clever Girl Finance has written this finance book for women. The tone is chatty, and the advice is easy to follow. You’ll learn how to save money on everyday purchases, including groceries and clothing costs, as well as tips on investing your money for long-term growth.

Finding financial freedom can be challenging for any woman, but this book addresses your specific needs and barriers. For example, the chapter on finances as a single woman touches on issues like paying your bills without a partner and making intelligent financial choices once you start dating again.

Bola Sokunbi’s experiences make her a credible finance expert both in her career and as a single mom. Plus, the book offers valuable worksheets and a downloadable budget template for better money management.

FAQs: Personal Finance Books, Canada