If you’re looking to improve your money mindset, reading books can be a cost-effective option. After all, it’s better to learn from someone else’s mistakes than to gamble with your own finances.

While this doesn’t imply that personal experience is not important, reading a book is one of the best ways to develop your personal-finance skills. Here are nine of the top finance books of all time to help you do just that.

1. ‘Get Good With Money: 10 Simple Steps to Becoming Financially Whole’, Tiffany Aliche

Aliche is a financial instructor, and an award-winning one at that. Her podcast and blog have garnered numerous accolades and have been highlighted in publications such as the “Wall Street Journal”, “New York Times”, “Fast Company”, “Forbes”, and others.

Aliche espouses that when your personal finances are in order and you are “financially whole”, you have a lot more options than when they are not.

2. ‘The Intelligent Investor’, Benjamin Graham

Graham (1894-1976) was a teacher and an inspiration to people all over the world. This revised edition features updated commentary by financial journalist Jason Zweig, who draws comparisons between Graham’s strategies and news headlines.

Through Zweig’s viewpoints, readers can have a better understanding of how to apply Graham’s principles that have withstood market conditions over time.

3. ‘Rich Dad, Poor Dad’, Robert Kiyosaki & Sharon Lechter

Read about Kiyosaki’s experience of growing up with two fathers – his own and his best friend’s “rich dad” – and the ways in which both men influenced his views on money and investing.

The book debunks the fallacy that having a large salary is a prerequisite for wealth, and outlines the distinction between working for money and having your money work for you.

4. ‘Think and Grow Rich!: A Manual for Achieving Financial and Personal Success in Any Field’, Napoleon Hill

Hill’s book was first released in 1937 at the end of the Great Depression. It was accepted right away as a remedy for difficult times and remained a bestseller for decades.

Many still consider its positive-thinking philosophy and detailed methods for acquiring riches to be both relevant and life-changing.

According to Hill, thoughts shape reality. He provides a strategy and set of guidelines for turning one’s thoughts into riches, including visualisation, affirmation, goal setting, and planning.

5. ‘The Undercover Economist’, Tim Harford

This book offers a new explanation of the fundamental principles of modern economy, using examples from the streets of London and the bustling skyscrapers of Shanghai to the quiet canals of Bruges.

Harford explains the signals, negotiations, and competitions of strength that influence the economy at large as well as the everyday decisions people make, using a wit that leaves textbook language and calculations behind.

6. ‘The Psychology of Money: Timeless Lessons on Wealth, Greed, and Happiness’, Morgan Housel

Monetary success doesn’t always depend on knowledge – it can also do with your behaviour. Even for extremely intelligent people, conduct is difficult to teach.

Award-winning Housel provides 19 insightful short stories that explore the peculiar ways people think about money, shedding intriguing insight on one of life’s most significant subjects.

7. ‘The Millionaire Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of America’s Wealthy’, Thomas J Stanley & Sarah S Fallaw

The authors contend that most people are mistaken about how one becomes wealthy in the United States. More frequently than not, hard work, careful savings, and living within one’s means lead to wealth, not inheritance, advanced degrees, or even intelligence.

This book lists seven characteristics consistent in wealthy people, and demonstrates how the majority of truly wealthy people in the US don’t reside in Beverly Hills or on Park Avenue.

8. ‘The Savage Truth on Money’: Third Edition, Terry Savage

With the help of new applications and inexpensive money-management tools and advice, financial success can now be reached quickly and automatically.

In this updated edition, Savage offers tried-and-true principles of financial security, pointers on managing your money, and tips on developing financial strategies.

9. ‘I Will Teach You To Be Rich’, Ramit Sethi

Personal-finance expert Sethi has been dubbed the “new guru on the block” by Fortune. Here, he offers a straightforward, effective, six-week method for growing your money.

Find out how Sethi automates his finances so his money goes precisely where he wants it, and how you can do the same. Also learn how to deal with stressful expenses such as buying a home or car, paying for a wedding, having children, and other major commitments.

This article first appeared on MyPF. To simplify and grow your personal finances, follow MyPF on Facebook and Instagram.