5 Great Books For Young South African Investors

Here are some of my favourite investment books I’ve read that I think are essential for young aspiring South African investors:

BECOME YOUR OWN FINANCIAL ADVISOR by WARREN INGRAM

Become Your Own Financial Advisor is Ingram’s first book and breaks down an aspect of everyone’s lives: personal finance. This book explains the need for financial freedom, the different avenues of investment (there are more than just stocks and property) and other personal finance matters like insurance, budgeting and taxes which I don’t remember ever being taught in school. What I enjoyed most about this book was that it was written for South Africans. Ingram uses a number of local examples when writing about different financial matters which makes it easily relatable and applicable to our own economy. If you’re serious about becoming financially secure, I suggest you get your hands on Ingram’s book.

Loot: R198 here

MAKING MONEY OUT OF PROPERTY IN SOUTH AFRICA by JASON LEE

Jason Lee hit the ball out the park with this one! This is by far one of the best real estate books I’ve read to date. This 2005 book was recently updated and republished to fit the provisions of the new Companies Act and Consumer Protection Act. In Making Money Out of Property in South Africa, Lee tackles the real estate industry from all angles and breaks down what it takes to get into and stay in real estate investment. The chapters set out clearly why Lee thinks you should invest in property, how to go about investing in property; finding, assessing and negotiating deals to financing a deal and what to do when building/renovating a property. This book proves why Jason Lee is considered one of South Africa’s real estate gurus and vital for anyone considering investing in property!

Loot: R224 here

RICH DAD POOR DAD by ROBERT KIYOSAKI

This is probably Kiyosaki’s best investment book on the market today. While Kiyosaki doesn’t necessarily write RDPD for a South African audience, the principles taught in his book are easily applicable to the South African context. This book helps readers understand that financial literacy is important and having control over your financial affairs should be prioritized. Before going into some serious investing, I think it is necessary to re-evaluate how you look at your finances and RDPD allows for just that to happen. I’ve reviewed RDPD so if you’d like to read further about what makes this book one the best investment books written, click here.

Loot: R99 here 

HOW TO INVEST LIKE WARREN BUFFETT by ALEC HOGG

My guess is that Alec Hogg, founder of Moneyweb,  wrote this book as soon as he realised that there are many people who want to know how they could apply the principles of Warren Buffett’s investing in a South African context. (I assume you’ve heard of billionaire investor Warren Buffett before yes?)  How To Invest Like Warren Buffett focuses on different aspects of Buffett’s investment techniques and principles that may be applied when making investment decisions. What I liked about this book was that it explained the essence of Buffett’s techniques in terms of value investing and how I could (and should) go about investing in companies on the JSE/stock market. If you’ve ever considered investing in companies on the stock market or hope to replicate Buffett’s climb to success, Hogg’s book is definitely something you should pick up.

Loot: R95 here 

THINK AND GROW RICH by NAPOLEON HILL

While I was typing this post, I thought about doing one on great personal finance books and this classic by Napoleon Hill seemed to fit well into both categories. If you’re interested in investing, you’d soon have gathered that you just can’t become an investor without the right mindset! For all we know, you’re no better than a gambler rolling on beginner’s luck. Think And Grow Rich lists sound principles on investing in whatever your heart desires, whether property, stocks or unit trusts, and how to approach deals to ensures you wont have to be in a constant state of worry. This book was recommended to me by one of my closest friends and I am yet to forget some of these principles. The principles taught in Think And Grow Rich have stood with me throughout my minor investment decisions but I have no doubt that they will carry on through to those big fish in the pond.

Takealot: R125 here 

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You are under no obligation to buy from the online stores listed above. I actually prefer buying books at second-hand bookstores (part 1 and part 2) where I’ve found most of the books in this post.

Have you read any of these books before? Do you know of any other great investment books you think would be great for South Africans? Comment in the post and let me know your thoughts 🙂

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