What we’re reading now: Best business books according to financial advisors

February 19, 2021 4:50 PM

It’s winter during a pandemic: the perfect season to snag a bit of alone time by reading a book. We asked financial advisors across the country to tell us the best work-related books they’re reading now or have recently finished. From business to finance to economic history, these books will help you level up in practice management, investment strategies, and behavioral finance. Or they might help you better understand the world you and your clients live in.

Switch by Chip Heath and Dan Heath

Mari Adam
President and founder, Adam Financial Associates, Boca Raton, Florida

“I am a huge fiction reader but not a big DIY or nonfiction type. However, I am currently reading Switch by Chip Heath and Dan Heath as part of a work book club. It's all about how people make changes and can achieve unexpected results. After 30 years of financial planning and working with clients, I'm convinced that we don't focus enough on people and how to get them to change their behavior to achieve the results they want to achieve. There is so much self-sabotage and disconnect between what we want, and what we need to do to get what we want, whether it's saving money or exercising more or anything else that involves self-discipline and behavioral change. This book presents insights on how we can help clients bring about the change they want to see.”

How much can I spend in retirement? by Wade Pfau

Lindsay Bourkoff
Partner, Director of financial planning, Shrier Wealth Management, Los Angeles, California

“The book that I just finished reading is How much can I spend in retirement? by Wade Pfau. The pace of Baby Boomers entering retirement is accelerating, and I believe it's critical for financial advisors to provide concrete advice around retirement spending strategy and, specifically, sustainable portfolio withdrawal rates. If it strikes you as a simple matter, you need to read Wade Pfau! The issues are complex (inflation, starting valuation, and potential sequence-of-returns) and advisors need a solid understanding before offering advice on these matters. Pfau's analysis is deep and comprehensive, and he provides advisors a solid framework that we can apply to one of the toughest questions our clients will ever ask us.”

The Deficit Myth by Stephanie Kelton

Anora Gaudiano
Senior advisor associate, Wealthspire Advisors, New York City

Stephanie Kelton’s The Deficit Myth, more of a macroeconomic book, explains how the US economy works (dispelling our fear of national deficits). Clients often ask us about inflation, given trillions of dollars the government is borrowing to fund the pandemic stimulus. The main thing is to understand is that governments can spend money they don't have, creating deficits. So this is a great reference book to be able to answer questions about inflation, currency and the national debt.

Stamped from the Beginning by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi

Zaneilia Harris
President, Harris & Harris Wealth Management Group, Upper Marlboro, Maryland

“When everything happened this summer with George Floyd, I had to read New York Times bestseller Stamped from the Beginning, by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi, to truly understand all the laws and theories that have been accepted in America that have held back economic progress for African Americans. This wasn’t a business or finance book per se, but in understanding America’s history from a Black researcher and professor, it gave a different perspective than what was taught to me in school. There are parents in schools across America that don’t want children to have access to this book. It helped me understand why America is in the state it is today regarding racial justice, the wealth gap, and reparations for African Americans. History, if you don’t understand it, is doomed to be repeated.

A random walk down Wall Street by Burton Malkiel

Vahan Janjigian
Chief investment officer, Greenwich Wealth Management, Greenwich, Connecticut

“I haven't read any finance books recently. However, there are a number of classic investment books I can recommend, including A Random Walk Down Wall Street, The Little Book of Common Sense Investing, and The Intelligent Investor. All of these books favor low-cost, minimal-trading, value-based strategies so they may not be appealing in the Reddit/Robinhood age. One other book I read many years ago that was very good is called Against the Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk.”

The E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber

Stephanie Mackara
President, wealth advisor, Charleston Investment Advisors, Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina

“I am actually re-reading 2 books. First is The E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber. As we enter a new year, I find it is always good to complement a fresh business plan with tried and true inspiration for growing and scaling the business. I find the E-Myth helps to reinforce sound habits and every time I read it, I take from it something new I can add to the way I manage my business. The second is Family Wealth by John Hughes. It provides sound advice to help advisors, help their clients create, build, and sustain generational wealth.”

This Land is Our Land by Suketu Mehta

Robyn Meredith
Client strategist, BNY Mellon Wealth Management, New York City

“Suketu Mehta’s delightful This Land is Our Land explores the overwhelmingly positive contribution immigrants make to the U.S., supporting the economy – and baby boomers’ social security payments - as boomers retire. My big Covid read was the brilliant new comprehensive American history, These Truths by Harvard Professor Jill Lepore. She takes us from the United States’ origins through the divisions of the Trump era, along the way discussing the historical economic contributions of enslaved people to the U.S. economy. For me as the author of a bestselling book on the global economy, both were a re-grounding in U.S. history and economics.”

Client Psychology by Charles R. Chaffin, ed.

Russell Rivera
President, Voice Wealth Management, New York City

“I’m a big fan of the CFP Board’s Client Psychology. I’m fascinated with how people make decisions with their money and how we as advisors can guide clients, wherever they might be in life or whatever their experiences have been, to reach outcomes that meet both their financial and emotional needs. As much as I believe in trying to teach the rational brain (cortex) to be more dominant than the feeling (limbic) brain, advisors cannot do their jobs well without understanding how to reach people with different experiences so they can actually maximize the utility they get from their money. This book gives practitioners all the background they need to understand why certain clients take the actions they do, how biases can harm the path to success, and what they can do to talk to and service their clients in a more effective manner.”