When looking for a good book on financial management you should first figure out the experience level of the particular book you are thinking about getting. Many authors target people with a specific level of financial intelligence. For example, there is a huge difference between a book targeted to college age kids and a book targeted to the sophisticated and experienced investor.

Chances are you will fall somewhere in-between this. The best way to find financial planning books that meet your specific experience level is to read reviews on popular online websites. Amazon is probably the most well known place to find book reviews, but there are many others.   The reason you should read book reviews, as opposed to just walking in a store and buying a book, is that it gives you extended factual knowledge as well as reader opinion that you wouldn’t normally have access to.

When you read a book review you’ll be able to make a reasonable guess as to whether it will interest you or not. When it comes to financial planning books you will be able to get a better understanding as to whether the book was written with your experience level in mind. 

By going through some of the top reader reviews you should look for certain clues. If the reviewer uses a lot of financial jargon you don’t understand it’s probably not the best choice for you at the present time. On the other hand, if it sounds like the reviewer is experienced with financial planning and rated the book low because it only covered the basics, you’ll know that the book was written more with a beginner in mind.

When your browsing the financial books on Amazon you’ll see the top 3 reviews shown on the main page. Pay the most attention to these reviews because other users who have read the book have voted these particular reviews to the top. This means you can trust the reviewers opinion more than reviews that do not show on the main page.

When looking for good books on financial planning you need to be careful. There are a lot of books that are out-dated and that provide crappy advice. Make sure you don’t get ripped off, read the reviews first!

By: Andrew Patrick