Recommended Reading
As educators, we know we can never learn enough. While we made reference to many studies, there are more to consider. Please allow us to recommend some books that have shaped our thinking about building wealth.
The Richest Man In Babylon (1926) by George S. Clason is a short parable that is called the most inspiring book on wealth ever written. That’s quite a claim, but it does show that the laws for wealth building applicable six thousand years ago hold true today.
The success of Andrew Carnegie inspired Napoleon Hill to write Think & Grow Rich (1937). Particularly useful is the section of fifty-five famous alibis by old man If—if I had more time, if I had money, if I lived in a big city, if I were not fat, and so on. These ghosts of fear can be destroyed by studying Hill’s book. This book will also show you how to develop persistence and how to surround yourself with wise people.
Princeton economics professor Burton G. Malkiel’s A Random Walk Down Wall Street (1973) book has been revised periodically. With thousands of sources for investment advice available to all of us, it is easy to get confused. The good professor lays out a plan for managing a diversified set of investments over a lifetime, paying particular attention to risk tolerance. This could be the only investment guide you need.
It is personally rewarding to donate your time as a volunteer, no matter what your financial wealth is. But money certainly helps to fund causes in this material world. Professor Arthur C. Brooks’s book about Who Really Cares (2006) shows that compassionate conservatism is an important driving force in America. He shows through extensive survey work that giving money to charity speaks louder than just talking about caring. He argues successfully, in our view, that charitable Americans improve life for all of us and selfish Americans make us all worse off.
