I assume that many of you are looking at your personal finances due to a new year and the tax man that will soon be knocking. Many may be asking themselves - "How can I do well while doing good in today's economy?" Well this is what I certainly am doing for my own personal reasons. Not only am I an advocate of sustainability management when it comes to business but also when it applies to personal finance. It certainly seems strange to think about investing as the unemployment rate hangs at 10%, foreclosures continue and penny pinching seems to be all the rage. And I find it so peculiar how we all relate to money. Money is supposed to be a unit of exchange for objects and services. It is not something to be a slave to. But why are we such slaves to it? Where does all the emotional baggage come from that surrounds it? What if we look at it money with different perspective? Would that give us some better ideas, attitudes and insight? This is what I have done and here are some great books I have recently read that I would recommend to anyone to read who is considering a new direction to take for their financial future and outlook on what to value.

The Cure For Money Madness - Spencer Sherman
spence spoke at the 2009 LOHAS Forum about his new process for curing what he termed 'Money Madness'. He had sufferred from it and noticed it in his clients, too: those irrational feelings about money that make otherwise rational adults behave foolishly—buying high, selling low, overspending, lying to their spouses, equating their self-worth with their net worth. Money madness stresses us out, poisons our relationships, and keeps us from making as much money as we can. So Spencer invented the cure. Now, in The Cure for Money Madness, he gives us the tools that have helped thousands of people find greater peace of mind—and make more money.

accorind to Spencer, money madness comes from unproductive messages that we received long ago such as, “It takes money to make money.” or “Paying rent is just throwing money down the drain.” “Don’t talk about money.” When you challenge the messages, you can transform all aspects of your money life: earning, spending, saving, investing, giving, borrowing. More money will flow to you. Your relationships will improve. You’ll enjoy your money more. And you’ll be more generous, too.

In The Cure for Money Madness, you’ll discover:

How much your money madness has been costing you
How wealthy you truly are, by using the revolutionary Actual Net WorthTM statement
How “small and boring” can help you outperform the top investors—without watching the market
How to communicate about money in ways that create deeper connections with your spouse, parents, children, friends, and colleagues
How to know what is truly enough

Money madness keeps us from living as richly as we might and enjoying the wealth we have. In these tough economic times, The Cure for Money Madness transforms fear and stress into prosperity and peace.

I like this book because I can relate to it through the emotions that I have experienced that are attached to money and there are very simple steps to follow that Spencer has put together to get to not only the root of the emotions for reprogramming but also a roadmap to financial freedom.


Slow Money - Woody Tasch

Another presenter at LOHAS, the ultimate green conference. Woody has seen a lot regarding asset management. This book talks about large picture and  presents the path for bringing money back down to earth- philosophically, strategically, and pragmatically- and with an entrepreneurial spirit that is informed by decades of work by the thousands of CEOs, investors, grantmakers, food producers, and consumers who are seeding the restorative economy.

This is the path toward a financial system that serves people and place as much at it serves industry sectors and markets. To discover this path and to begin to walk down it: That is the mission of Slow Money. This mission emerges from Woody Tasch’s decades of work as a venture capitalist, foundation treasurer, and entrepreneur, whose explorations shed new light on a truer, more beautiful, more prudent kind of fiduciary responsibility—a fiduciary responsibility that is not stuck in the industrial concepts of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, but which reflects the economic, social, and environmental realities of the twenty-first century.

These explorations take us from the jokes of his father to the insights of his son, from the boardrooms of foundations and start-up companies to the farm fields of Vermont, from gopher holes in New Mexico to the possibilities of an alternative stock exchange, from Carlo Petrini to Muhammad Yunus, from Thoreau to Soros.

    * Could there ever be an alternative stock exchange dedicated to slow, small, and local?
    * Could a million American families get their food from CSAs?
    * What if you had to invest 50 percent of your assets within 50 miles of where you live?

Such questions—at the heart of Slow Money—are the first step on our path to a new economy and a new culture. Inquiries into Slow Money is a call to action for designing capital markets built around—not extraction and consumption but—preservation and restoration. Is it a movement or is it an investment strategy? The answer is yes.

I enjoyed this book because it provides clarity and reason behind alternatives that can happen if we look at our current broken financial systems that chase quarterly earnings instead of measuring full wealth beyond dollars. It put me in a very calm and peaceful state of mind and made me appreciate the simple things more. It has started a movement that I am all behind and am hopeful it will lead the path to sustainable green business.




Your Money or Your Life - Joe Dominguez, Vicki Robin, Monique Tilford

This is a book I read a while back that really gave me the best roadmap to savings that I had ever had at a time when I really need it. I was in a large debt hole and after reading I was able to have a blueprint of a savings plan and goals that I was able to accomplish. Thier program is a simple yet powerful one that I did successfully. And if I can do it anyone can.

Do you spend more than you earn? Does making a living feel more like making a dying? Do you dislike your job but can't afford to leave it? Is money fragmenting your time, your relationship with family and friends? If so, Your Money or Your Life is for you.

If you are looking for a serious, no-bones-about-it approach to simplicity and financial independence, we recommend that you read and follow the nine-step program outlined in Your Money or Your Life, by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin with Monique Tilford.

There is simply no better, step-by-step program available than this. It has helped thousands of people simplify their lifestyle and dramatically change their relationship with money.

Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin took back their lives by gaining control of their money. They both gave up successful — and stressful — careers in order to live more deliberately and meaningfully. Now, in this inspiring and empowering book, they explain their nine-step program that shows you how to:

    * get out of debt and develop savings
    * reorder material priorities and live well for less
    * resolve inner conflicts between values and lifestyles
    * convert problems into opportunities to learn new skills
    * attain a wholeness of livelihood and lifestyle
    * save the planet while saving money
    * and much more

WHY READ THIS BOOK?

Ask yourself these questions:

    * Do you have enough money?
    * Are you spending enough time with your family and friends?
    * Do you come home from your job full of life?
    * Do you have time to participate in things you believe are worthwhile?
    * If you were laid off from your job, would you see it as an opportunity?
    * Are you satisfied with the contribution you have made to the world?
    * Are you at peace with money?
    * Does your job reflect your values?
    * Do you have enough savings to see you through six months of normal living expenses?
    * Is your life whole? Do all the pieces — your job, your expenditures, your relationships, your values — fit together?

If you answered "no" to even one of these questions, this book is for you.





More Than Money; Questions Every MBA Needs to Answer - Mark Albion

I really like this one as it is a quick read with powerful insight for those new grads. Can MBAs, often cast as risk-averse conflicted achievers caught in the MBA trap of "I'll make money now and then...", find their true happiness and achieve their destiny in the midst of societal and peer pressures?

Absolutely--if you recognize that what you thought were your safest career choices actually may be your riskiest. How so? Your safest choices keep you on your destiny path; your riskiest ones take you away from it.

How do you know? More Than Money offers four questions and twelve principles to keep you on your path and tools to help you measure where you are and what you need to do to fulfill your destiny.

I highly recommend this book to MBA students or to those who know new MBA's and give it to them as a gift.

These are a mixed and diverse grouping of books and some may value some more than others. If you have any other books or experiences on personal finance or understanding our societal relationship with money I would love to know about them. Please share.