5 Personal Finance Books the UMCU Financial Education Team Recommends
Looking for trustworthy personal finance advice? The UMCU Financial Education team headquartered in Ann Arbor recommends these five books covering budgeting, debt payoff, investing, and retirement planning. Each is written by a credentialed expert and offers practical steps you can start applying today.
We are still a few months away from the start of the new year, but here’s an idea that might be a perfect fit for your resolutions list – reading a few books from some of the very best personal finance experts out there! Social media has an abundance of “finfluencers” who post videos and images on sites such as TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook. Unfortunately, many of these posts are made by individuals with little to no experience, credentials, or education in personal finance. Sometimes the information provided is misleading and risky; other times it’s simply wrong. That's one of the reasons UMCU's Financial Education Team offers workshops and resources across southeast Michigan, to make sure our members have access to guidance they can count on.
A better suggestion is to invest some time reading a book written by an author who has experience, done the research, and knows the steps needed to actually achieve sustainable financial wellness. It’s like having your own personal financial coach for the nominal, one-time cost of the book (or free if you find it at the library!). Ready to get started? Here are some helpful suggestions from the UMCU Financial Education Team:
Our Top Personal Finance Book Picks for 2027
Mind Your Money by Yanely Espinal
This book discusses breaking down money taboos, shifting your financial mindset, overcoming debt (drawing from Espinal's own experience of paying off $20,000 in debt in 18 months), building a budget, navigating the banking system, raising credit scores, and starting to invest.
How to Retire: 20 Lessons for a Happy, Successful, and Wealthy Retirement by Christine Benz
These lessons range from nitty gritty financial matters to quality-of-life considerations that help pre-retirees and retirees alike maximize their 'time on earth' allocations.
Get Good with Money: 10 Simple Steps to Becoming Financially Whole by Tiffany Aliche
Learn her ten-step formula for attaining both financial security and peace of mind. These principles have now helped more than one million women worldwide answer their most pressing financial questions: How to pay off debt? How to save money? How to build wealth?
I Will Teach You to Be Rich by Ramit Sethi
A New York Times bestseller, this book has an engaging and edgy style that has taught a generation how to boost their income, save more, and create the foundation for living a rich life.
The Forever Paycheck: The New Retirement Strategy to Spend More, Worry Less, and Never Run Out of Money by Jean Chatzky
Written in collaboration with AARP, the book addresses the "missing half" of retirement planning: how to transition from accumulating assets (like a 401(k)) to turning those savings into a steady, reliable stream of lifetime income.
Share Your Favorites With Us
These books are written to help individuals and households create a brighter future. If you read any of these books, or have others to suggest, please share your feedback with our Financial Education Team at education@umcu.org or bring your favorites to one of our upcoming workshops. Happy reading!
By Mark Munzenberger, Financial Education Manager, UMCU