The Wealthy Barber
by David Barr Chilton · first published 1990
78% recommend22% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Plain-spoken, easy-read introduction to personal finance basics like saving and investing; valued for covering the fundamentals approachably, especially for beginners and people new to financial planning.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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Canadian: "The Wealthy Barber: The Common Sense Guide to Successful Financial Planning" Easy read, covers all the basics.
on “Can someone recommend a good personal finance book/guide” ↗…a similar demographic. So, I think you definitely want to take a look at housing and schooling, particularly if you are not sitting on a large amount of cash. I also recommend you read the book "The Wealthy Barber". Food for thought... 700k in Santiago gets you: https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/6518-Plaza-Blvd-San-Diego...? 700k in Bavaria gets you: https://www.engelvoelkers.com/en-de/property/stilvolles-mode...
on “Ask HN: Should I move to California or Germany as a SWE with 2 small kids?” ↗…some people more successful than yourself and really try and learn from them how to manage you finances correctly. It's something that many families just don't teach. Finally I'd recommend reading "The wealthy Barber"[1] to get an idea of what a healthy financial situation and practices might look like. [1] http://www.amazon.com/Wealthy-Barber-Updated-3rd-Commonsense
on “Ask HN: After almost 30 years the romance is over - What now?” ↗Perhaps not exactly what you're looking for, but one of the best "life" books I've read is The Wealthy Barber. It covers a lot of personal finance advice in an interesting way.
on “Best recommended books for entrepreneurship/interesting life things?” ↗"The Wealthy Barber" was a simple but charming introduction into the basics. A professional financial advisor once recommended to me, "anything by Vanita van Kaspel."
on “Ask HN: Simple books and resources would you suggest on investing money?” ↗…just trying to push mutual funds that they get a commission off of -- but the reputable ones will give you really sound and practical advice.) One recommended a really short yet helpful book called "The Wealthy Barber." It explains all the basics of personal finance in the form of a folksy story. (It also makes a good gift if you know someone who's struggling with this.) Another author who writes more detailed…
on “HN: How did you learn finance?” ↗Honestly, the easiest way to make money is through passive incomes. This may not work for the timeframe you're considering, but I do recommend a book called "The Wealthy Barber." It summarizes basic personal investment strategies, using the story of a small-town barber who ended up being independently wealthy by making sound and practical investments. Obviously it's easier…
on “Ask HN: What is the smartest way to beat the system- do easy work for high pay?” ↗I recommend the book "The Wealthy Barber." It breaks down the basics of personal investing - it's a great place to get started. There's a rule of thumb that says if you have a compounding interest rate, you can divide 72 by your interest rate…
on “Ask HN: How can I use money to make money?” ↗> 2. Read The Simple Path to Wealth by J L Collins I loved this book, and it’s exactly what I do. I have every investment dollar in VTI (ETF version of VTSAX). My other favorite book is The Wealthy Barber. That and The Simple Path To Wealth have be the wisdom to keep investing as simple and possible, and some insight on how to develop good investing habits. Paying myself first & dollar cost averaging…
on “Ask HN: How to save/invest/deal with money?” ↗I would imagine it would depend on where you're from? I'm from Canada and the book that helped me more than anything else is 'The Wealthy Barber Returns'. 'Millionaire Teacher' is also fantastic, and I believe is U.S. based (been a few years). Both books teach the fundamentals of how to save/invest in a safe manner in a way that is easily digestible.…
on “Ask HN: Best book/course/resource for personal finance or financial literacy?” ↗Read 'The Wealthy Barber' I'll give you a spoiler: compounding interest.
on “Ask HN: Investment ideas” ↗It really is a terrible book and basically says nothing useful at all. If you are into these kinds of books “The Wealthy Barber” is a bit annoying and I think there are some mildly sexist anecdotes but it’s not terrible advice besides that. Does anyone have a book on financial literacy they’d recommend?
on “Analysis of Rich Dad, Poor Dad, Part 1” ↗Pretty much this. In Canada, we have a book called the Wealthy Barber ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wealthy_Barber ) that came out in the late 1980s that was a fictional story of a "rich barber giving financial advice to young people". It essentially lays the groundwork…
on “Is "Rich Dad Poor Dad" a Fraud?” ↗Followed humble dollar during my stint in personal investing. There was a revival of personal blogs pitching index funds alongside books like The Wealthy Barber. Its sad and scary to see just how fast he died from cancer. Also bewildering he stopped smoking at 27. All in all, RIP.
on “Farewell friends” ↗