Toolkit

We’ve searched over the net to give you helpful tools for both budgeting and investing.

Retirement Calculators

Free retirement calculators and web-based savings calculators.

 

Investment and Budgeting Tools

These are very helpful tools you may find useful.

 

Credit Score Check

Best credit score inquiry around that are absolutely free.

 

Personal Finance Forums

These communities are very friendly and helpful with personal finance tips and advice.

 

Downloadable Software

Less known but very solid free software.

Personal Finance Books

personal finance books

The Millionaire Next Door — This is a classic of personal finance. The authors are two marketing professors, Thomas Stanley, and William Danko. The book is based on their research in marketing to the affluent and draws a surprising portrait of what real American millionaires look like. They find that in contrast to the public conception of millionaires as champagne-swilling yacht traveling blue blood, most of America’s wealthy are frugal owners of unglamorous small businesses. We definitely recommend it. Click here to grab a copy. If you are thinking of starting out a small business in your journey to become a millionaire, then funding should not be a stumbling block. Finimpact is an amazing online service that helps you to funding sources that are best suited to your business. In case you have a bad credit score and you would still like to get a loan for your small business, Finimpact.com provides the solution. It will guide you in understanding how credit score works and how you could even get a loan with a low credit score.

Rich Habits – The author of this gem is Tom Corley. For this book, Corley interview over 300 millionaires and looked at what daily habits made them productive. Corley found that Millionaires were more likely to read, eat healthy, set goals, develop multiple streams of income and avoid time wasters. If you are interested in developing success patterns in your own life, the book is well worth the read. Get it here and get on the road to healthy habits.

The Richest Man in Babylon — This is a classic. The book was published in 1926 and has sold millions of copies. The book teaches financial principles through parables and storytelling. The lessons of the stories are simple. They advocate saving, reducing your expenditures, investing to grow your wealth and mitigating risk. Its also sold millions of copies since the 1920s. Click here to get with the Babylonian insight.

The Intelligent Investor – This classic text is continually updated to reflect prevailing market conditions. The author, Benjamin Graham, is the greatest investment advisor and value advisor of the 20th century. Graham’s philosophy of “value investing” — which teaches investors to buy stocks for less than the company’s intrinsic worth is renown for shielding investors from substantial error — has made The Intelligent Investor a stock market bible ever since its original publication in 1949. If you are interested in emulating the value investing philosophy, which has been shown to produce superior investment returns over the past 60 years, this a must read. It retails for something like 10 bucks online. It retails for 10 bucks online.

Dave Ramsey’s The Total Money Makeover is a Classic. Today we all hear about get-rich-quick schemes and diet plans that leave us with a lot of ideas but not a single penny in our pocket. This book is one of the simplest, most straightforward game plans to completely make a financial makeover.  A book to read if your finances are in bad shape. Click here to get financially fit.

The 4-hour Work Week – Forget the old concept of retirement and the rest of the deferred-life plan–there is no need to wait and every reason not to, especially in unpredictable economic times. Whether your dream is escaping the rat race, experiencing high-end world travel, earning a monthly five-figure income with zero management, or just living more and working less, The 4-Hour Workweek is the blueprint. Grab a copy now!

Think and Grow Rich has been called the “Grandfather of All Motivational Literature.” It was the first book to boldly ask, “What makes a winner?” The man who asked and listened for the answer, Napoleon Hill, is now counted in the top ranks of the world’s winners himself. The most famous of all teachers of success spent “a fortune and the better part of a lifetime of effort” to produce the “Law of Success” philosophy that forms the basis of his books and that is so powerfully summarized in this one. Click here to get a copy.

Freakonomics – Which is more dangerous, a gun or a swimming pool? What do schoolteachers and sumo wrestlers have in common? How much do parents really matter? These may not sound like typical questions for an economist to ask. But Steven D. Levitt is not a typical economist. He studies the riddles of everyday life—from cheating and crime to parenting and sports—and reaches conclusions that turn conventional wisdom on its head. Freakonomics is a groundbreaking collaboration between Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, an award-winning author, and journalist. They set out to explore the inner workings of a crack gang, the truth about real estate agents, the secrets of the Ku Klux Klan, and much more. Through forceful storytelling and wry insight, they show that economics is, at root, the study of incentives—how people get what they want or need, especially when other people want or need the same thing. Click here to get a copy.

The Automatic Millionaire starts with the powerful story of an average American couple–he’s a low-level manager, she’s a beautician–whose joint income never exceeds $55,000 a year, yet who somehow manage to own two homes debt-free, put two kids through college, and retire at 55 with more than $1 million in savings. Through their story, you’ll learn the surprising fact that you cannot get rich with a budget! You have to have a plan to pay yourself first that is totally automatic, a plan that will automatically secure your future and pay for your present. David Bach gives you a totally realistic system, based on timeless principles, with everything you need to know, including phone numbers and websites, so you can put the secret to becoming an Automatic Millionaire in place from the comfort of your own home. This one little book has the power to secure your financial future. Do it once–the rest is automatic! Click here to find out more.

Rich Dad Poor Dad –  The #1 Personal Finance book of all time, tells the story of Robert Kiyosaki and his two dads—his real father and the father of his best friend, his rich dad—and the ways in which both men shaped his thoughts about money and investing. The book explores the myth that you need to earn a high income to be rich and explains the difference between working for money and having your money work for you. Click here to get a copy.