The Best Books About Financial Literacy Written By Women

If, like much of the internet in 2024, you were "looking for a man in finance," consider this an intervention. You don't need a middleman to wealth. Why settle for someone else's when you can build your own? You're more than capable of handling money yourself.

The system hasn't exactly rolled out the red carpet for women when it comes to money. We take on more student loan debt, pay higher interest rates, get denied mortgages more often than men, and are more likely to receive questionable financial advice. And despite the conversation about equality, the gender pay gap is still standing stubbornly strong, with 2025 research from Handelsbanken Wealth & Asset Management confirming it's not budging anytime soon.

On average, and across every age group, more women than men say they have little to no understanding of investments, mortgages, pensions, and insurance. But it needn't be this way — as proven by the millennials and Gen Z who are making finances fun. We believe it's time to channel your inner Cher: forget looking for the rich man, be the rich man.

Money makes the world go round, until a crash spends it spinning out of control. To truly understand finance today, learn from the meltdowns of the past. History is littered with economic disasters, and in "The Great Crashes," Dr. Linda Yueh expertly traces the Wall Street Crash of 1929 to the Covid-19 crash — with stops at Japan's 1990s real estate collapse, the dot-com bubble, and, of course, the global financial crisis of 2008. But what will the next one be? Yueh also offers a glimpse of what could be in store for our purses in the future. 

She's more than qualified to do so. As a world-renowned economist and Oxford professor, Yueh brings her expertise to this trusty primer — a savvy, fact-packed guide to ten of history's biggest financial wipeouts. With her perceptive take on cyclical patterns and a gift for making complex concepts clear, she breaks down what happened, where it all went wrong, and the lessons we can take away to weather uncertain financial storms.

They say don't judge a book by its cover, but when it comes to "Money: A User's Guide," you absolutely should. The cover of Laura Whateley's modern money manual has been masterfully designed to look like a credit card. But instead of maxing out your balance, this book will help you manage it. 

It's not just the cover that won us over. Inside, Whateley breaks personal finance into three clear sections. The first covers the nuts and bolts: budgeting, savings, mortgages, pensions, even your rights at work. But money isn't just about numbers — it's emotional. And Whateley recognises that in part two. She tackles how finances shape relationships (because sometimes you need to realistically tackle financial inequality), from joint accounts with a partner to those awkward money conversations with friends. She also interrogates the impact of debt, overspending, and financial anxiety, all to make space for the very real connection between money and mental health.

Claer Barrett's "What They Don't Teach You About Money" is as clear and accessible as personal finance gets, making it the perfect handbook for anyone looking to demystify their bank balance without a finance degree. Even when money talk feels impenetrable, intimidating, soul-sucking or just plain dull.

Split into digestible sections, this is a comprehensive book that confronts all the million-dollar questions: how debt spirals, why we overspend, what makes money such an emotional topic, who to trust your future funds with, and where to spend your money. Barrett also offers practical, actionable advice you can use, from breaking bad money habits, steering clear of debt traps, investing wisely, or making your income stretch further.

As a columnist and consumer editor at the Financial Times, as well as the host of the newspaper's "Money Clinic" podcast, Barrett knows her notes from her nonsense. But don't expect dry lectures or condescending advice. Her writing is lighthearted and wise, cutting through financial fine print with advice you can bank on.

Ditch debt, save money, and build real wealth. That's the promise of Bola Sokunbi's "Clever Girl Finance." This book shares its name with the global financial education platform Sokunbi built to empower women to achieve what she dubs "financial wellness," and take control of their futures.

Sokunbi delivers more than generic money tips, offering practical advice designed to build a real plan for financial independence. When she set out to write "Clever Girl Finance," Bola spotted a glaring gap in the market; plenty of books had been written by white men, but very few by women, and even fewer by women of color. As she told Forbes in her profile, "I wanted to create something that would have been so good for me to have when I was that fresh girl out of college, or even when I was that newly engaged woman, or when I was a new mom or about to be a mom trying to figure out how to plan my kid's savings."

If you connect with Sokunbi's advice, there's more where that came from. Her series expands into specialized guides, including "The Side Hustle Guide" for boosting your income, or "Grow Your Money," for mastering investing. Her latest, "Choosing to Prosper," is a look at her own journey to financial independence; living proof that her advice works.

Do you ever feel like you should be a millionaire by now? We think you should too, and so does Rachel Rodgers. As the CEO and founder of Hello Seven, she's on a mission to help women, people of color, and members of the LGBTQ+ community — basically, any group that has historically been shut out of wealth-building opportunities — build seven-figure businesses and claim their financial power.

Rogers trained as a lawyer, launching her practice specializing in intellectual property law for small business owners. But along the way, she realized a simple truth: "more money equals more options." With her book, "We Should All Be Millionaires," Rodgers wants you to change your mindset about money through her real-world examples, practical strategies, and must-know insights. She hands you a permission slip to dream bigger, whether that means owning a home, securing your children's future, or finally indulging in the luxury items you've always wanted to splurge on.

But her mission goes beyond personal luxury. She understands that wealth in the right hands can create a positive impact in our communities. Speaking on the "Balanced Black Girl" podcast — a thoughtful, grounding show that puts women of color at the center of the wellness conversation — she said: "You could write cheques that change the world if you say yes to making more money ... don't put a ceiling on yourself." (35:20). 

You are worthy. And according to Nancy Levin, your belief in your self-worth might just be the foundation of your financial abundance. In "Worthy," Levin flips the script on traditional financial advice, arguing that wealth isn't just about what's in your bank account — it's about what's in your head. She asks the questions that need answering: what stories are you telling yourself about money? How has self-doubt held your finances hostage? Are you ready to see yourself as deserving of real wealth? "You can't fix a financial problem with money," she warns. "You can only fix a financial problem by fixing yourself."

Exactly how to fix yourself is spelled out with clarity and purpose by Levin in this book. She offers a 10-step plan to untangle the messy, deeply personal emotions tied to wealth. Through guided exercises and journal prompts, she pushes you to challenge your old money narratives, and start seeing abundance as something within reach. It's not a pipe dream; you are allowed to claim this reality. The best investment you'll ever make is the one in yourself, and you're worth every dollar.

The only thing better than an expert telling you how to start investing and making money is having three experts do it. Anna-Sophie Hartvigsen, Camilla Falkenberg, and Emma Due Bitz founded "Female Invest" together to close the gender wealth gap: the disparity in overall wealth between men and women. Their work, "Girls Just Wanna Have Funds," is a self-proclaimed feminist guide that sets out to address this chasm. Here, you can reclaim what the authors call your "financial identity," and build a process based on your newfound financial knowledge and confidence.

The trio unpack the money topics that matter, like everyday money basics and handling finances in relationships. They also lay out exactly what you need to know to start growing your fortune, so you can invest without hesitation and keep the cash working for you.

For all the qualms women are conditioned to feel around money, the data tells a very different story. Research from the Women's Budget Group suggests that women are better at investing than men; They trade less impulsively, maintain stronger investment discipline, build more diverse portfolios, are less swayed by market panic, demonstrate more strategy in their financial decisions, and even tend to run more profitable businesses. In other words, the system may have discouraged women from stepping into wealth-building, but when they do, they excel. So, what are you waiting for?

When it comes to money, women deserve more than outdated advice and one-size-fits-all financial strategies handed down by people who have never faced financial hurdles. We need proper solutions that acknowledge the realities we face, and help us build wealth. This list has been curated with this in mind. These books have been written by women, for women — rooted in lived experience and tailored to the challenges women deal with when it comes to money. The writers behind them are experts who know how to make your money work for you, and they strip away the jargon to simplify complex concepts.

For too long, women have been told to budget better and spend less on lattes. Enough is enough; it's time we make more than just ends meet. Each of these titles offers a different angle, but with a united goal: helping women take control of their money, and their lives.