Books worth reading about money and investing

Updated November 2026

A good book can do more for your finances than a year of headlines. These nine are well known, still useful, and between them cover saving, investing, behaviour and retirement income. Most are in public libraries. We have no affiliate links and earn nothing from any of them.

Canadian classics

The Wealthy Barber – David Chilton

Latest edition: updated 3rd edition, 1997. A novel about a small-town barber who explains money to his customers: pay yourself first, use RRSPs, buy enough life insurance, make a will. Some product details are dated, but the habits it teaches are not. Good for young adults and anyone who finds finance books dull.

Millionaire Teacher – Andrew Hallam

Latest edition: 2nd edition, 2017. A teacher explains how he became a millionaire on a modest salary through frugal living and low-cost index investing, set out as nine simple rules. It is clear on why fees matter and how to build a portfolio from a few index funds. Suits beginners who want a do-it-yourself approach.

Stop Over-Thinking Your Money! – Preet Banerjee

A short, practical book (published by Penguin Random House Canada) built around a handful of rules: protect yourself against disasters, spend less than you earn, pay off high-interest debt, read the fine print, and delay spending. Written for Canadians who feel overwhelmed and want the essentials without jargon.

Retirement Income for Life – Frederick Vettese

Latest edition: 3rd edition, 2024. Written by a former pension actuary, it focuses on the question most books skip: how to turn savings into a steady income that lasts. It covers when to start CPP, how much to spend each year and the role of annuities. Best for Canadians in their 50s and 60s.

Pensionize Your Nest Egg – Moshe A. Milevsky and Alexandra C. Macqueen

Latest edition: 2nd edition, 2015. Argues that retirees should think about "product allocation" – how much of their savings to turn into guaranteed lifetime income – as well as asset allocation. It is more technical than the others but explains longevity risk well. For people approaching retirement without a workplace pension.

Timeless investing books

The Little Book of Common Sense Investing – John C. Bogle

Latest edition: 10th anniversary edition, 2017. The founder of Vanguard makes the case for owning the whole market through low-cost index funds and holding on. The examples are American, but the argument about costs applies everywhere. Short and readable; a good first investing book.

A Random Walk Down Wall Street – Burton G. Malkiel

Latest edition: 50th anniversary edition, 2023. A tour of stock-market history, theories and fads, from bubbles to modern investment products, leading to the conclusion that most people are best served by broad index funds. Longer and more detailed than Bogle; for readers who want to understand why.

The Intelligent Investor – Benjamin Graham

Latest edition: 3rd edition with commentary by Jason Zweig, 2024. The classic on value investing and on the difference between investing and speculating, first published decades ago. Graham's ideas about a "margin of safety" and the moody "Mr. Market" are still widely quoted, and Zweig's commentary updates the examples. Demanding; best for readers who want to pick individual stocks or understand those who do.

Money and behaviour

The Psychology of Money – Morgan Housel

First published 2020. A set of short chapters on how people actually behave with money: luck and risk, the power of "enough", why saving matters more than returns early on, and why reasonable beats rational. No spreadsheets – useful for anyone, especially couples who disagree about money.

How we chose

We picked books that have stayed in print and in libraries for years, that explain ideas rather than sell products, and that still hold up against today's rules. Edition years are shown only where we could confirm them with the publisher or library records. We left out books built around a single hot strategy, get-rich-quick titles, and anything that depends on market predictions. None of these authors or publishers has any connection with this site.

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