Books for Lawyers: Debt Is Slavery

Over the last 20 years, I have read easily more than 100 books on personal finance and investing.  Some of the books were eye-opening studies like that in the Millionaire Next Door that we discussed in this earlier post.  Many of the books included some tidbits of wisdom, but may not have given practical, dollars and sense advice - like Rich Dad, Poor Dad as we discussed here.  Frankly, it's been a lot of work and effort over several years to mine these books for their wisdom.

Consequently, I could not help but be a little irritated when "Debt Is Slavery" came out - Why?  It's just too darn good!  In its short 102 pages the book clearly and concisely sets forth about 80% of the basic personal finance advice that I had to learn the hard way. 

I highly recommend "Debt Is Slavery" and I have given the book to several of my younger relatives. Let's take a more detailed look at it below.

Books and Lawyers - Rich Dad, Poor Dad

In this earlier post, I discussed the bestselling book "The Millionaire Next Door" and what it might be able to teach lawyers.  "The Millionaire Next Door" was one of the first personal finance books that really helped me improve and shape my financial thinking.  Robert Kiyosaki's "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" (RDPD) was another.  As I will discuss further below, this post should in no way be construed as a blanket recommendation for all of Kiyosaki's products, but RDPD does have a few valuable lessons for lawyers.

Lawyers And "The Millionaire Next Door"

The bestselling book The Millionaire Next Door was a real eye-opener for me.  The book is based on a series of surveys set up by the authors who both work in academia and serve as advisors and consultants to businesses that are trying to market products to the rich.  The book provides a lot of great information about the millionaires in America, including generally how they got there, who they are, and how they live. 

The book also mentions lawyers and provides some analysis of how lawyers can become millionaires and why more laywers aren't millionaires.  We will discuss the advice provided by the book as well as some points that the book may have missed after the jump.

Three Useful Books For New Attorneys Or Law Students

I sometimes get asked by law students or young associates whether I could give them a reference that might help them make an easier transition to law firm life.  There are three books that I recommend - I'll identify them below and discuss their pros and cons.