Knowledge is power. If you’re reading this blog, then chances are you serious about the journey to financial freedom. Fortunately, lots of incredible books have been written by people who have walked this path, and their combined wisdom and insights can help us navigate this path. I have read hundreds of books over the last few years ranging in topic from entrepreneurship, personal finance, economics, and trading. Here I provide a list of 5 really good books that deal with the topic of money.

Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki

This book is not necessarily very advanced in its information, but does provide great insights for people just beginning on the journey to financial independence. Basically, Kiyosaki communicates the primary differences between people who accumulate liabilities and those who accumulate assets. Asset accumulation is truly the path of wealth creation. Getting that principle fixed in one’s mind is reason enough to read this book. He also talks about business specifics such as how a company can access business cash advances and other forms of credit.

The Four Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss

This is one of my all-time favorites. Ferriss was a young entrepreneur making tons of cash, but draining away his life and energy, as he slaved away 80 hours per week. After several years of this crazy lifestyle, he reached the end of his rope. He abruptly decided to cut relationship with his most problematic, time-consuming clients, automate as much of his business as possible, and travel the world. He did it, and his business started making more money than ever, increasing his net working capital. After he traveled the world for over a year, managing his company from remote locations, he came back to the States and wrote this book, which details how he did it. He also discusses how you can start your company with or without business cash advances. It’s inspiring, practical, and informative.

Fooled By Randomness by Nassim Taleb

Now, this book is not necessarily about money, per se, but I feel that it is essential reading for anyone interested in success, specifically financial or business success. Taleb spent his life as a quantitative trader on Wall Street, and he watched countless people rise and fall, financially. In this book, he communicates his ideas of how much of a role randomness plays in our lives, and how to approach life from a risk/reward perspective. Again, this is not necessarily the most practical book, but just check the reviews on Amazon, and you will see that it’s worth reading.

Think & Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill

When it comes to finding true, financial independence, writing out a very clear, detailed plan concerning how you will do this is essential. Hill’s book has been a classic for over 70 years. In it, he offers readers incredible insights into how they can formulate a plan for the accumulation of riches. Hill was charged by Andrew Carnegie in the early 20th century to interview the richest, most successful people in America in order to identify common characteristics. Hill noticed that nearly every person he interviewed had grasped hold of the power of intentional thought, planning, and other tools. In Think & Grow Rich, he communicates his findings in compelling fashion.

Your Money Or Your Life by Vicki Robin

This book is utterly practical. Robin communicates a 9 step plan that involves taking a retrospective look at how you have managed finances in the past, how you are managing them currently, and the books ends with specific, practical advice on how to proceed and write out a plan for financial success. She also discusses how to find your net working capital each month. This book has helped inspire thousands of people to begin on their journey to financial freedom, but the beauty of this book is that it is not simply inspirational with no substance—the practical steps and guidance are extremely effective.

• Money talks; hence you must save it.

Money talks, hence we all should plan our finances properly by creating investments. Those of you looking for short term investments must look for cash investments. Such investments will create the foundation of the investment pyramid and represent the least volatile asset category.

Experts say that people looking for short term investments consider cash investments to be the safest and reliable method. They often look it as a tool to strengthen their liquidity position and financial security. Cash investments generate lower return than other investments options. Savings and checking accounts are an example of cash investment or a short term deposit that is good for six months maturity period.

Maximize the performance of short term investments. Money defines your position in the society. You should concentrate on maximizing the short term cash investments’ performance to get the maximum investments.

Short term cash strategies are designed keeping in mind that the investor will need their money in the near future for some emergency needs. Therefore they will invest their money on deposits that have lower risks and are readily available.

Short term cash investments yield greater returns. It can be done by taking advantage of the four structural inefficiencies on the yield curve. The term premiums on the investments can be increased by expanding their portfolio’s duration.

Prefer greater spreads for getting higher liquidity premiums on the bonds. Securities such as floating rate, callable corporate securities, and adjustable rate mortgages are not readily bought in the secondary market and therefore pay their investors higher yield premiums. Since these securities have short durations and comprise only a small portion of the entire portfolio, investors can hold them to maturity with minimum risks. A careful bled of selected bonds into the portfolio increase the possibility of higher yields and lowers risks on account of diversification.

• Money talks, so build it well.

If you are thinking of opening a bank savings account that earns the highest interest rate, you will be considered as a savvy investor. You may want to save money for your home, family, education or any unexpected emergency, this kind of savings account will be very helpful for you in the long terms. You not only get to earn high interests but have the money safe and available in your bank account.

Standard big bank savings accounts don’t offer high interest rates on the savings account. You will get to earn better interest rates from online banks, brick and mortar banks, credit unions and other institutions that are paying interest hovering around 5 percent and better and very important point to be kept in mind, most of them are free from any fee. Thus, these kinds of accounts offer a high annual yield than standard savings account.

One question that you may have in your mind is how these kinds of institutions are able to offer great rates? The online banks especially offer better interest rates from the brick and mortar banks because they don’t have any overhead on them. The savings is thus passed along to you in the form of high interest rates. Because of the stiff competition in the banking industry, traditional banks have entered the fray by developing online savings products of their own. This allows them to offer high yield savings accounts.

It is an ideal time for you to open high interest savings bank account in those institutions that offer higher interest rates. You will be able to find good number of institutions because the banking market is going through a lot of competition and they have to offer best deals to attract the investors. Go online and compare the interest rates with different institutions. You will know the rates offered, limitations and terms of services with a click of the mouse.

In order to stay in the market, most banks are offering a variety range of products and services. There is usually no minimum balance fee, easy online access, direct deposit, free on line banking that allows you to view your balance, transfer funds, convenient fee free, ATM transactions and checking account options. You also get the features of setting up external banking that allows you transfer funds from one account to another with different banks.

Be sure to understand the terms of services of the financial institution before opening an account with them. Some may have limitations or restrictions that may not cater to your needs. Due to the competitive market, there is no reason you should invest your money foolishly at lower interest rates or give your business just to any bank around. Always do your research thoroughly and make the best decisions before investing your money. You may find that it is prudent to move your money into a high interest rate savings account online or offline that yields better financial results.

Most of us have always heard about this hype of making huge amount of money with real estates. If you are really interested on this, the difficult part is to know how to separate the hype from the reality. Perhaps, you might have heard about making money from buying property that are foreclosed or repossessed by the bank. You think of buying it for a lower amount and then wish to sell it at a higher profit. The question comes whether this is a feasible way of making money in the real estate market? Yes, absolutely. It’s a nice way to get started.

Never buy this idea of going into a business of buying a foreclosed property with the thought that you can put a coat of paint on a house and sell it at a high profit. Think of the fact that when a house is going through a foreclosure, the reason behind it would be that the owner of the house was not able to keep up with the mortgage payments. It might also mean that the owner could not meet up with the costs of home repairs and regular maintenance. Before you buy a foreclosed home, check the condition of the property and think whether its worth to put your money on it. You may be able to buy a foreclosed property at a very low price but consider some other important facts like the maintenance costs when you are trying to sell, repair costs, and the neighborhood the house is in. What seems to be a great deal in the beginning might turn out to nothing more than a money pit after some time.

The other thing that you might want to consider is whether you should sign up for the services that will keep you updated with the list of foreclosures on a regular basis, or you want to do the research by yourself only. A reputable company that offers you the list of foreclosed properties will save you enough time but they are not going to offer such services for free. “Reputable” is the keyword here. There are several online advertisements, promotions in the newspaper or even on the television that will say that you will become rich through their foreclosure programs or lists, but the unfortunate fact is many of these companies do not deliver what they promise. It takes a lot of time, patience and tremendous amount of investigation to find a reputable company. Most of the time, you will find out that the list provided by these companies are outdated and after giving a considerable thought, you will realize that you could have found these foreclosed properties on your own in a much more timely, and less expensive, manner.

The best thing will be to call your local banks or mortgage companies and ask if they have the list of their foreclosures. You may find that everyone will not be willing to offer you the list because they don’t know anything about you. But if you present yourself in a professional manner, they will be happy to work with you.

How about making money from the hobby that you love the most? Whether you knit, or write, or do photography, or do gardening, you can make money from anything that you love to do. I believe earning money from a hobby is a nice way to get paid because you will love to do it anyway. I am writing this article to help you explore how to turn a hobby into a source of side income. Here are some ground rules for making money:

• Be focused on something that you love the most

If you are passionate about something, there’s nothing wrong to pursue it. Don’t choose a hobby thinking that it will allow you to make money because in that case there won’t be any passion left towards the hobby. Let the side income resulting from your hobby be a secondary factor.

I am fond of writing. I was struggling with debt in the past. I started reading personal finance books and then started documenting everything in my website. This way I have a good website and it helps in earning money. This is a side income but the primary thing was learning when I was in debt and putting it on the website. I don’t mind the revenue that is generated through this website. Keep your hobby as fun. Don’t let it become a chore.

• Be creative

If you are not sure how to get started and decide about a hobby that will help in generating money, come outside the nutshell. Think about the skills that you have which others don’t? Go through the definition of the term “hobby” broadly. There is something in you which you only can do it and others can’t. And people will be willing to pay you for the services that you can offer.

I have a friend who loves to cook. She turned this hobby into a part-time job as a personal chef. She prepares meals when she gets orders in bulk. She is always enthusiastic to spend a few hours of her day preparing a week long menu for people who are ready to pay her handsome amount for her hard work and time devoted.

There’s another friend who loves to travel a lot. One day he realized that he could subsidize his journeys by writing about the places he visited, and by taking photographs. Now, he is often going to different places on all expense paid vacations. He is into something that he will do anyhow and has never to spend a dime.

• Don’t force it

Your hobby is not going to make you rich in a day. Or in some cases, it won’t pay you enough that you decide to quit your day job. So don’t force yourself into something that can become a strain on you after some time.

• Don’t underestimate your ability

Its always easy to discount your abilities. When you have a deep love for something, your prolonged experience can make you more knowledgeable and skilled that you somehow don’t appreciate. Start doing something on a small scale. Then, there is enough time to make it large. Don’t sell yourself short.

• Market yourself

This can be quite tough at times. You need to have customers to be actually able to earn. But like I said earlier, most people have a tendency to underestimate their abilities, and because of this, they somehow can not do self-promotion. There is no shame if you are talking to your friends and discussing about your money making hobby with your friends, family or neighbors. You don’t have to force yourself to make a point. Just find the right time to say about your hobby and insert it in your conversation. If you have decided to turn your woodworking hobby into cash, mention it to anyone who is interested to buy a book shelf or anything similar to that. You will find a way to earn from your hobby.

Marketing can be subtle, but it’s an absolute necessity if you hope to earn money from your hobby. People need to know you’re available before they can hire you.

• Hone your skill

Practice, practice, practice. The more time and energy you’re willing to devote to your hobby, you are better trained. And there is possibility of making more money. For example, if you are nurturing into photography and are willing to make hundred images a day, you can improve your skills quickly, because you will find a way to learn about composition and figuring out the perfect image. Chances are that you will become a professional photographer someday or even if you don’t, you will actually be able to sell images to stock photo agencies, or enter (and win) photography contests.

• Conclusion

Some people are born with natural talents and the rest of us have to work hard. Always remember the fact that whether you make money from your hobby or not, enjoy the time you spend with it. Hobbies really do a lot in making life more fun and meaningful.