Our 11 Favorite Financial Therapy and Relationship Books From 2024
Dec 19, 2024
Dear Healthy Love and Money Community,
2024 has been an incredible year for the growth of financial therapy, financial psychology, and relationship sciences.
Our community is seeing:
- Increased financial peace in their relationships
- Empowerment regarding their retirement investments
- More fairness when it comes to how money is managed and spent
- A greater sense of direction in what to do next with their money
- Pride in their love and money life (often for the first time)
- A restoration of hope that all their hard work has paid off
- Taxes that are current and being paid quarterly (hello entrepreneurs!)
- Spending that is more in alignment with values and financial resources
We feel privileged to witness and contribute to these achievements.
Reading as Part of Therapy
For us, books are a significant tool for learning, healing, and growth in our own lives and in those of the people we serve. This is bibliotherapy, which has been shown to have positive benefits across multiple psychological stresses.
Reading books on healthy relationships and money can spark new ideas and ways to approach old and familiar challenges within and between the people you care about most.
We are so excited to share books that have changed our lives this year and will be valuable resources on your love and money journey for 2025.
If you don’t see a favorite book on this list, send us an email at [email protected]. We are always looking for great books to recommend.
Listed below (in no particular order) are some of our favorite books from 2024 that will help you love and launch well into 2025. You will notice many of the authors have also been guests on the Healthy Love and Money podcast. We’ve shared links to the podcast when applicable.
Our Favorite Books
Wealthily Ever After: How To Talk About Money In A Relationship by Sarit Amitay
This book moved me as Sarit is from Israel and traveled to San Diego, CA for the Financial Therapy Association conference to share her book with the community of financial therapists. We corresponded a few times before the conference, but her story was even more compelling in person. She had often struggled in her own life to feel empowered by her finances but she overcame this and wanted to help others.
Her book contains optimistic stories of couples working through their money differences. You will be inspired and equipped with simple and profound exercises to help you work more effectively with your loved ones.
From the first pages, this book brought me to tears of relief. Ellen invites readers to write a letter from money to themselves, being open to hearing what money would say. This is a deeply therapeutic practice — to imagine that money is its own person and wants a relationship with you. What type of relationship would money want to have with you — one full of shame, disgust, anxiety, and resentment, or one where money is excited and proud of you for how you treat it? Ellen draws deeply on our personal relationship with money.
When I interviewed Ellen on the Healthy Love and Money Podcast, she shared that her intuition was telling her “Money loves me.”
Secure Relating: Holding Your Own in an Insecure World by Sue Marriott and Ann Kelley
Sue and Ann are some of the most passionate advocates for attachment theory and helping spread the message of secure relating. Their inspiring, informative podcast Therapist Uncensored interviews leading researchers and practitioners from around the world on the topic of attachment theory.
Their new book brings together the essential ideas every person needs to understand in an accessible way, such as why they experience their intimate relationships the way they do and (more importantly) what they can do to enjoy a deeper connection in their most important relationships. When they wrote “True independence is a fantasy,” it lit me up and reminded all of us that we are interdependent.
For all of us who have strained, painful, or cut-off relationships with our siblings, this is a must-read. It’s full of empathy and wisdom that will help you no longer feel alone in your experience related to your sibling(s).
When it comes to navigating our financial world, we have many clients who are adversely impacted by hurt and broken sibling relationships. This can especially show up as parents age and need more care. Each sibling's presence and absence is felt. The time, money, and energy that goes into caring for aging parents can be a real strain. Fern honestly shares her own experiences about her failures and successes in restoring her sibling relationship. I too have struggled to sort through what is a loving, responsible relationship with my brother as our lives have turned out radically different.
We invite you to slow down and take the time to reflect on your own relationship with your siblings through this courageous book. Listen to the Health and Money Podcast interview with Fern to go further.
Astonishing is the best word to describe this transformational workbook on attachment theory. Even after years of reading about attachment theory, working through the exercises in this workbook helped me gain a deeper understanding of myself and my wife, freeing me to be more open-hearted and feel secure in my relationship with her.
At Healthy Love and Money, we know that secure relating is the foundation of making shared financial decisions. This expansive workbook is beautifully designed and will lead you through exploring your deepest relationship patterns. Use it on your own or with your therapist. Remember, when you talk about money with your loved ones, you are using your attachment system whether you know it or not. The healthier your attachment system, the healthier your money talks.
Eli also shared her incredible wisdom and perspective on the Healthy Love and Money Podcast.
Admittedly, when I first learned about child-free couples, I got angry and frustrated. Of course, this shows my own bias as a father of three boys. After meeting Jay and interviewing him on the Healthy Love and Money Podcast, I realized just what a large part of society lives child-free and how different their financial planning needs are.
Upon further reflection, I realized that about 30% of Healthy Love and Money clients are childfree — some by choice and some by circumstance. Either way, they have unique financial planning needs. This book highlights, honors, and gives clear guidance on how to think about your financial life and make informed decisions on how to live an amazing child-free life.
Part of Aja's identity is that she will be serving as the 2025 president of The Financial Therapy Association. I framed this recognition based on her incredible book, specifically Chapter 8: You Are What You Do. This opens up a time for self-reflection and redirection on how we hold our identity.
All of us in our working years, have a deep, complex, winding relationship with work and identity. She says, “What someone does for work and how they make money no longer quantifies who they are as a whole person. Unfortunately, many people have yet to receive this memo.” Aja helps untangle this reality and leads us to a fuller picture of our identity and why the words we use to describe ourselves and the work we do matter.
Wealth in the Key of Life: Finding Your Financial Harmony by Preston Cherry
For anyone who loves music and poetry, this personal finance and financial well-being book will strike a chord with you. At the same time, you don’t have to be a music lover or poetry buff to fall in love with this book.
Preston is a deep thinker who can translate difficult psychological and life philosophy topics into easily approachable mental tools to help us live life more abundantly. One of the biggest takeaways from his book is his four T self-audit, which shows readers where they are on the journey of integrating finances into life, not the other way around. Bringing balance, wisdom, and a broader perspective to money and the meaning of life, this book will give you plenty to embrace and cherish about the life you are living and continue to develop.
Dr. Preston Cherry and I had a great time on the Healthy Love and Money Podcast, talking about his book and how it stems from his own life journey with money.
If you have been hanging out in the Healthy Love and Money community for any period of time, then you know we love the topic of financial intimacy. That’s why we were so excited to receive and read Adam’s new book on financial intimacy. He brings an incredible perspective as a former tax law attorney, trained conflict mediator, and certified financial therapist. Financial Intimacy for Couples doesn’t disappoint. While many money books are written for individuals to address their relationship with money, this book clearly has couples in mind and will equip them with the essential knowledge, skills, and abilities to work through the thorniest of money topics, leading them to deeper levels of financial intimacy.
Adam’s Healthy Love and Money podcast interview talking about financial intimacy will be live in late December 2024. You won’t want to miss it.
Normally I don’t love anything harsh. But you know what they say — don’t judge a book by its cover. I have known Dr. Brad Klontz for over 10 years and followed his work for a long time. His earlier book Mind Over Money was one of the first books I read by a therapist on money. I found it so incredibly helpful so I knew I needed to give this new book a shot.
Start Thinking Rich adds depth and breadth to our understanding of what we can do to become empowered and freed up to make money, build wealth, and enjoy meaningful relationships. While each heading starts with what may feel like a harsh truth to those who hold that belief, Brad and Adrian walk through the psychology of that belief and how it can limit you from achieving your goals. They do so with intelligence, empathy, and a desire to help, not leaving you feeling stupid or ashamed. When I interviewed Brad for the Healthy Love and Money Podcast about the book, he explained (like any great therapist) that he is meeting people where they are. Some people feel like they need the harsh truth to get their attention, and then he offers a supportive, facilitative response.
In Chapter 3, Brad and Adrian ask what would you do if you had a million dollars dropped in your lap. How you answer that will reveal your wealth mindset. Check out the book to learn more.
Vicky writes with deep, therapeutic insight that has helped me look at some otherwise uncomfortable topics that affect a much larger number of us than we realize. Her book is organized around financial topics that are not covered in polite company; two of my favorite chapters are on greed and stealing, topics that many of my clients uncomfortably dance around in financial therapy and financial planning. Her insights on the origins of these topics and the ways to address the implications create a positive path forward. Not to be missed are also her keen insights on the nature of financial secrets and what you can do to increase financial transparency in your intimate relationships.
What Did You Love Reading In 2024?
We want to know. Send us an email at [email protected] or connect with us on Instagram.
Let us know:
What did you love?
What has changed in your life and relationship with money?
Why would someone else love reading it?
Here’s to a meaningful 2025 full of Healthy Love and Money!
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