Today we are going to look at two books by David Chilton. He is a Canadian author, venture capitalist and financial advisor. I was first introduced to his work while listening to The Money Guy Show and they brought up the first book. Being a financial mutant, I decided to look up the book and thought it was just another typical finance book but it blew me away.

The Wealthy Barber is written in story form just like The Richest Man In Babylon. The main character, David is about to have his first child and goes to his father for financial advice. His father points him in the direction of Roy the wealthy barber. David decides to visit Roy and bring his sister and his best friend along for the ride. Other than getting haircuts the gang learns pretty solid financial advice from the barber. Each one has different income levels and Roy caters to each one and gives them appropriate investment vehicles. I would recommend this book for someone who is just starting in the world of finance. Roy's lessons are timeless and are easy to understand. There's no talk about load, P/E, capital gains so if you are well versed in the world of finance this isn't for you.

The Wealthy Barber Returns was written in 2011 and is the spiritual successor to the original. There is no Roy or easy-to-follow steps of finance. This book kind of feels like a finance lecture because the author is just going over a wide range of topics. Much of the information in this book, unfortunately only applies to those who live in Canada. I understand that the author is Canadian and this book was written after the crash of 2008, so it focuses more on what not to do with money; however, because of this I can't recommend this book. In one of its chapters, the sequel addresses how simple the advice in the original was “Save first. Spend the rest. Good. Spend first. Save the rest. Bad.” Did I just insert an excerpt of an excerpt, yes I did. A perfect comparison for this book series is Dave Ramsey's work. The original Wealthy Barber is an essential beginner finance book just like The Total Money Make Over, whereas the sequel is essentially The Dave Ramsey Show. You get financial advice, but it's scattered and there are a bunch of rants (I have no problem with The Dave Ramsey Show or its format).

If you are just starting your financial journey or have someone in your life who is at the starting line then the original book is a no-brainer. If you follow the core principles that are laid out, then just like Roy you can be wealthy and maybe even a barber. If you've read the book and want to learn more, then skip the sequel and pick up another book such as John Bogle's The Little Book of Common Sense Investing. I'm not going to go into full details of that book today, but, John Bogle (AKA Jack Bogle) founded Vanguard and created the first index fund. But for the answer you have all asked yourself, is The Wealthy Barber a better book than A Way to Wealth by Ben Franklin or The Richest Man In Babylon by George Classon. No, because the other two books are books that should be picked up yearly because there is always a hidden nugget waiting to be found.