Library · curated, ranked, honestly annotated
The library
Updated 2026-10-28 · Sources: 10 · Top 25 · 35 books · 14 channels · 8 courses · 12 podcasts · 21-entry registry
No site teaches everything well, and this one doesn't try. This shelf pairs a Christian spine (Alcorn, Blue, Burkett, Ramsey, FaithFi, Compass) with the best doctrinally neutral secular teaching on the mechanics: index investing, behavioral finance, budgeting. Roughly, the Christian resources supply the why (stewardship, generosity, contentment) and the secular ones supply much of the how.
Curation policy: no affiliate links, no paid placement, and no resource listed as a favor. Where we disagree with a listed resource, we say so on the entry; see the caveats on Rich Dad Poor Dad below. Every item comes from our research file of verified titles; prices and course details were spot-checked, not exhaustively audited, so confirm them before you buy. Two shelves sit beside this one. Further reading is official pages (CFPB, HUD, the courts, Investor.gov, the IRS) with their addresses checked. Videos are outside explainers whose titles and channels were checked. They are linked, not embedded, because no one on the project has watched them end to end.
The Top 25
If you only follow a handful of outside resources, follow these, in this order.
- 1. FaithFi (site, Faith & Finance podcast, app)
The closest existing ministry to this site's mission, a daily content engine in the Larry Burkett lineage.
- 2. The Treasure Principle, by Randy Alcorn
The one short book every visitor should read on giving.
- 3. Money, Possessions, and Eternity, by Randy Alcorn
The comprehensive biblical reference worth citing on nearly every money topic.
- 4. Financial Peace University, by Ramsey Solutions
The best-known Christian money course, with local church classes nationwide.
- 5. The Total Money Makeover, by Dave Ramsey
The practical debt-payoff plan most readers will actually follow.
- 6. Compass Financial Ministry courses
The deepest Scripture-based money curriculum; an ideal church partner.
- 7. Khan Academy: Financial Literacy
Free, neutral, complete self-study for teens and adults.
- 8. NGPF (Next Gen Personal Finance)
The free gold standard for teaching money to grades 6 to 12; homeschool-friendly.
- 9. Two Cents (PBS Digital Studios)
The best embeddable video series: CFP-hosted, ad-free, teen-friendly.
- 10. The Psychology of Money, by Morgan Housel
The modern behavior-first classic; bridges naturally to heart-level biblical teaching.
- 11. The Richest Man in Babylon, by George S. Clason
Parable format that mirrors biblical wisdom literature; readable at almost any age.
- 12. Master Your Money, by Ron Blue
The Christian financial-planning framework for adults building a full plan.
- 13. The Ramsey Show / Highlights (YouTube, podcast)
An endless library of short caller Q&A clips on debt, budgeting, and giving.
- 14. The Simple Path to Wealth, by JL Collins
The clearest investing on-ramp for beginners, written as letters to a daughter.
- 15. The Millionaire Next Door, by Stanley & Danko
A data-backed case for frugality that echoes Proverbs.
- 16. Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger, by Ronald J. Sider
Keeps the whole conversation honest on poverty, justice, and global generosity.
- 17. Ben Felix (YouTube)
The evidence-based investing counterweight to hype; protects readers from bad products.
- 18. The Plain Bagel (YouTube)
Trustworthy scam-and-hype debunking for the discernment-minded.
- 19. The Money Guy Show (YouTube, podcast)
CFP-grade "order of operations" content for the accumulation years.
- 20. Your Money Counts, by Howard Dayton
The small-group intro book to recommend to churches.
- 21. Crash Course Economics
The "understand the system" layer for students.
- 22. Planet Money (NPR)
Engaging economics storytelling for curious learners.
- 23. The Money Challenge for Teens, by Art Rainer
The best Christian teen money book; anchors the youth reading list.
- 24. Behavioral Finance: Duke University (Coursera)
Free academic backing for the claim that money problems are heart problems first.
- 25. Rich Dad Poor Dad, by Robert Kiyosaki
Listed because readers will ask. Read our caveats below before reading it.
Books: Christian
- Money, Possessions, and Eternity
The comprehensive theology-of-money reference: stewardship, generosity, materialism, debt, retirement. The doctrinal backbone of this genre.
- The Treasure Principle
A short, giftable case that giving is the path to joy: you can't take it with you, but you can send it on ahead.
- Managing God's Money
The condensed, practical companion to Money, Possessions, and Eternity.
- Master Your Money
A CFP's biblical financial-planning framework: spending plans, margin, investing, estate. The Christian-planning classic.
- Debt-Free Living
The pioneer of Christian financial teaching on escaping debt biblically.
- Complete Financial Guide for Young Couples
A lifetime approach to spending, saving, and investing for newlyweds.
- The Total Money Makeover
The Baby Steps: the most widely used practical debt-payoff system in the church.
- Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger
The challenging counterweight on affluence, poverty, and justice, first published in 1978. It balances prosperity-leaning teaching.
- Wealth, Riches & Money
Distinguishes the biblical concepts of wealth, riches, and money; heart-level teaching on provision.
- Five Wealth Secrets 96% of Us Don't Know
Accessible biblical wealth principles: earn, save, give, multiply.
- The Genius of Generosity
A short, motivating case that generosity is the gateway to intimacy with God.
- Your Money Counts
From Compass's founder; the standard small-group introduction to biblical finance.
- The Money Challenge: 30 Days of Discovering God's Design
A 30-day practical and devotional on-ramp; Teens and Marriage editions exist too.
- God and Money
Two Harvard MBAs on giving frameworks, including "finish lines" for income and wealth.
- Business by the Book
Burkett applied to the owner rather than the household: hiring, paying, borrowing, and what a Christian business owes the people inside it. Listed on the donor registry with its attribution not independently confirmed, so treat the details as a starting point.
- 7 Key Principles for Christian Investing
A free booklet from Sound Mind Investing and the easiest on-ramp to biblically responsible investing: the screening question stated plainly before anyone tries to sell you a fund.
Books: Secular
- The Richest Man in Babylon
Parable-style money wisdom ("pay yourself first") that pairs naturally with Proverbs.
- The Psychology of Money
Behavior beats spreadsheets; the best modern book on money and human nature.
- The Millionaire Next Door
Data showing real wealth is built by frugal, ordinary households; anti-materialism with charts.
- I Will Teach You to Be Rich
The best step-by-step automation and systems book for people in their 20s and 30s.
- The Simple Path to Wealth
The clearest case for low-cost index investing, written as letters to a daughter.
- A Random Walk Down Wall Street
The academic case that markets are hard to beat; inoculates readers against stock-picking hype.
- The Bogleheads' Guide to Investing
Practical index-fund investing from the Vanguard/Bogle community.
- The Intelligent Investor
The value-investing classic and Buffett's foundation: margin of safety and Mr. Market.
- Rich Dad Poor Dad
Massively influential on the assets-versus-liabilities mindset, but read with caveats. Its anecdotes are disputed, and its enthusiasm for debt-leveraged real estate conflicts with the Bible's caution about debt. We reference it critically; we don't endorse it.
- Your Money or Your Life
Money as life energy; aligns surprisingly well with contentment and simplicity themes.
- Thinking, Fast and Slow
The source material behind most of the behavioural-bias teaching on this site: anchoring, loss aversion, overconfidence. Slow going in places, and worth it: it explains why knowing the right thing to do with money is not the same as doing it.
Books: Kids & Teens
- Lemonade in Winter
Story-based counting-money and entrepreneurship lessons.
- Money Ninja
Savings goals and delayed gratification in a fun growth-mindset frame.
- Finance 101 for Kids
Earning, budgeting, and credit basics in kid language.
- Get to Know: Money
An easy-to-digest primer on how money works.
- How to Money
A visual guide to finance basics for teens.
- How to Turn $100 into $1,000,000
An earn-save-invest workbook from the Biz Kid$ creators: goals, budgets, a first business.
- The Money Challenge for Teens
Christian: college prep, avoiding debt, and generous living for teenagers.
- The Richest Man in Babylon
Readable enough for motivated teens; its parables mirror biblical wisdom style.
Video channels
A note on embeds: standard YouTube embeds are permitted when the uploader has left embedding enabled, so long as the player is not modified or overlaid. Where a creator disables embedding, we link instead, and either way, watching on the creator’s own channel supports them best.
- The Ramsey Show / Ramsey Show Highlights
A huge library of short caller Q&A clips on debt, budgeting, and giving; reaches over 20 million weekly listeners across radio, podcast, and YouTube. Embeddable.
- FaithFi
Successor to Larry Burkett's Money Matters lineage: the daily Faith & Finance program, studies such as Rich Toward God, and a free app.
- Compass Financial Ministry
Video-driven small-group studies (Navigating and Building Your Finances God's Way) with a Catholic branch as well.
- Living on the Edge
Sermon-style teaching on generosity. Embeddable YouTube clips.
- Two Cents
Emmy-winning personal-finance explainers hosted by two CFPs: short, charming, ad-free. The single best video source for teens and young adults, and it works for kids 10 and up too. YouTube-embeddable; also streams on pbs.org.
- Khan Academy: Financial Literacy playlist
Free, neutral, rigorous video lessons. Embeddable via YouTube; note the noncommercial Creative Commons license.
- Crash Course Economics
Thirty-five fast, animated episodes: the "how the economy works" layer. Embeddable.
- The Plain Bagel
Sober, hype-debunking investing explainers. Embeddable.
- Ben Felix / Money Scope
Evidence-based investing: index funds, expected returns. The most academically grounded channel on this list. Embeddable.
- The Money Guy Show
The "Financial Order of Operations": a useful secular parallel to the Baby Steps. Embeddable.
- The Financial Diet
Money plus lifestyle for young women; approachable budgeting-culture content. Embeddable.
- Humphrey Yang / WhiteBoard Finance
Short-form beginner explainers, good for quick answers.
- Biz Kid$
A kid-hosted entrepreneurship and money show; companion to How to Turn $100 into $1,000,000. Clips on YouTube.
- Warren Buffett's Secret Millionaires Club
Animated shorts teaching kids money basics. On YouTube.
Courses
- Financial Peace University
Nine video lessons plus a workbook, church classes nationwide, a coaching session, and an EveryDollar app trial. The default church small-group course. $79.99 with spouse included ("All Access" about $129), as of 2026; confirm current pricing.
- Navigating / Building Your Finances God's Way
A six-plus-week Bible study with about 25 minutes of homework a day, the deepest Scripture engagement of any course here. Low-cost workbook; a Catholic edition is available.
- FaithFi studies (Rich Toward God and others)
Short devotional-style studies plus a free budgeting app. Free or low-cost.
- Faith & Finances facilitator training
Equips churches to teach money skills in low-income communities, the justice complement to Financial Peace University. Paid training.
- NGPF (Next Gen Personal Finance) curriculum
The leading free grades 6 to 12 curriculum: 65+ lessons and 200+ activities, in semester, nine-week, and middle-school versions.
- Financial Literacy course
Free, self-paced units: budgeting, saving, credit, investing, insurance, taxes, scams. The best free self-study.
- Behavioral Finance
A three-week introduction to the biases in money decisions; pairs well with The Psychology of Money and with biblical teaching on the heart. Free to audit.
- Personal Finance
About five weeks: investments, insurance, credit, retirement; certificate optional. Purdue also offers a ten-module retirement-planning course. Free to audit.
Podcasts
- Faith & Finance
FaithFi's daily radio program and podcast, the direct heir of Larry Burkett's Money Matters (later MoneyWise). The flagship Christian money podcast.
- The Ramsey Show
A daily three-hour call-in with over 20 million weekly listeners: practical debt and budget answers with a Christian frame.
- More Than Money
Fun, practical, biblically based, and strong on generosity.
- The Stewardology Podcast
Biblical stewardship with more theological depth than most.
- Christian Financial Perspectives
Planning-oriented Christian finance.
- Financially Confident Christian
Short daily episodes blending Scripture and practical strategy.
- Planet Money
The best "how the economy actually works" storytelling.
- The Money Guy Show
Order-of-operations wealth building; also on YouTube.
- Afford Anything
You can afford anything, not everything: tradeoffs and behavioral blind spots.
- ChooseFI
A financial-independence playbook told through real people.
- BiggerPockets Money
Broad wealth-building interviews. Note: friendly to real-estate leverage, which sits uneasily beside biblical debt caution; listen with that frame.
- So Money
Career, money, and interviews; strong for women and young professionals.
The registry: organisations, funds, tools and helplines
The shelves above are the things to read and watch. This is the rest of the field: the ministries, the faith-based fund families, the standards bodies whose documents this site's curriculum answers to, the free government calculators worth checking our arithmetic against, and the two places to call when money has stopped being a spreadsheet problem. It is a data file, not an essay, and every entry carries its own verification status in plain sight.
How to read this list
- Link by default. No auto-loading third-party embeds, so no external request fires until a reader asks for it.
- Label Christian / secular so the reader knows whose frame they are entering.
- Linking is not endorsement. We link to people we argue with, and say where we disagree.
- No affiliate links, no paid placement, no referral parameters. Every URL here is a bare canonical address.
- Where we have not read a site ourselves, the entry says so. 'Unverified' is printed on the page, not hidden in a data file.
Link check: 24 live, 1 blocked by bot protection, 0 dead of 25, run 2026-07-25 by the registry's original link checker; not re-run since, so treat the addresses as checked-then, not checked-today. 4 entries are omitted below because the same site is already listed further up this page.
The verified line on each entry is the honest one. Where it says unverified, nobody here has read that site: we are telling you it exists and what it claims to be, and no more than that. No entry is an endorsement, none of these links carries a referral code, and nobody paid to be here.
Ministries and teachers
- Financial Issues Stewardship Ministries (FISM)
Biblically responsible investing is their core distinctive; they also run a syndicated radio and television programme.
Verified: search summary 2026-07-25: site not fetched directly
- Crown Financial Ministries
Reported to have formed in 2000 from Larry Burkett's Christian Financial Concepts and Howard Dayton's Crown Ministries. Small-group curriculum is their strength.
Verified: search summary 2026-07-25: merger history not independently confirmed
- Compass: Finances God's Way
Founded by Howard Dayton. 'Building Your Finances God's Way' carries the heaviest actual Bible-study load of any programme in this list.
Verified: search summary 2026-07-25 · the same ministry our library already lists under Video channels and Courses at compassfinancialministry.org. Two addresses, one organisation, not a second entry.
- Sound Mind Investing
Austin Pryor. Subscription newsletter, investing-focused. Their free '7 Key Principles for Christian Investing' booklet is a reasonable on-ramp to biblically responsible investing.
Verified: search summary 2026-07-25
- Eternal Perspective Ministries (Randy Alcorn)
Randy Alcorn's ministry: home of 'Money, Possessions, and Eternity', 'The Treasure Principle' and 'Managing God's Money', all three of which are on our shelf above.
Verified: search summary 2026-07-25
Blogs
- SeedTime Money
Bob Lotich. Practical blog and podcast; popularised a 10-10-80 framing of giving, saving and living.
Verified: unverified
Professional bodies
- Kingdom Advisors
A membership and certification body for advisers working from a Christian framework. A designation is not a substitute for fee-only compensation. Ask how the adviser is paid before you ask what they believe.
Verified: unverified: designation name not confirmed
Faith-based fund families
- Timothy Plan
One of the longest-running biblically responsible fund families. Listed for reference, not recommended; check current expense ratios and holdings yourself.
Verified: unverified: no holdings or fees inspected
- Eventide Funds
A biblically responsible manager using positive screening rather than exclusions alone. Listed for reference, not recommended.
Verified: unverified: no holdings or fees inspected
- GuideStone
Faith-based retirement and investment provider, historically serving ministers and church staff. Listed for reference, not recommended.
Verified: unverified
- Praxis Mutual Funds
Anabaptist-rooted; emphasises shareholder engagement alongside screening, which is the strongest answer to the 'divestment changes nothing' objection. Listed for reference, not recommended.
Verified: unverified
- Inspire Investing
Biblically responsible ETFs. Listed for reference, not recommended.
Verified: unverified
Channels and podcasts
- The Money Guy Show
Strong on order-of-operations and retirement mechanics. The hosts are described as holding CPA/CFP/CFA credentials; we have not confirmed that ourselves.
Verified: unverified: credentials from a search summary, not confirmed
- Rational Reminder (Ben Felix)
Evidence-based, data-driven, explicitly no stock tips. The best available counterweight to financial entertainment.
Verified: unverified: content not inspected
Reference works
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
Government consumer material, reusable. Publisher of the Financial Well-Being Scale used on our money check, and host of a mirror of the 2021 National Standards.
Verified: unverified: content not inspected
- Bogleheads wiki
The deepest free index-investing knowledge base anywhere. Strongly opinionated toward low-cost passive investing, and transparent about it.
Verified: unverified: content not inspected · link check blocked (403): bot protection, not a dead link
Tools and calculators
- Investor.gov compound interest calculator (SEC)
US government, public domain. Useful as a neutral cross-check against our own compounding math.
Verified: unverified: content not inspected
Standards bodies
- Jump$tart Coalition: National Standards
One of the two standards bodies behind the 2021 National Standards for Personal Financial Education. The standards PDF itself is glyph-encoded and its per-benchmark text could not be extracted.
Verified: earlier build fetched 2026-07-25: page links to the standards PDF
- Council for Economic Education
Co-publisher of the 2021 National Standards for Personal Financial Education.
Verified: earlier build fetched the PDF 2026-07-25: copyright page read
Where to get help
- National Foundation for Credit Counseling
Non-profit credit counselling. Whatever service you use, never pay an upfront fee for debt help.
Verified: unverified: content not inspected
- National Council on Problem Gambling
National non-profit on problem gambling; its own site carries the current helpline, chat and text details. Referenced from the gambling material.
Verified: unverified: site not inspected
On the fund families in particular: they are listed so you know the category exists and who is in it, not because we have inspected a single holding or expense ratio. Nobody here is licensed to advise you, screening is not the same as performance, and a fund that shares your convictions can still be an expensive way to own the market. Read the prospectus.
Reading order, if you want one: start with The Treasure Principle for the heart, add The Psychology of Money for the head, then pick the course (Financial Peace University or Compass) that your church or family will actually finish. Teens start with The Money Challenge for Teens and Two Cents.
Sources
- FaithFi: about the ministry
- Compass Financial Ministry: courses
- Ramsey Solutions: Financial Peace University
- NGPF: free grades 6 to 12 curriculum
- PBS: Two Cents
- The Chalmers Center: Faith & Finances training
- Crash Course: Economics
- Class Central: Duke Behavioral Finance (Coursera)
- Class Central: Purdue Personal Finance (edX)
- Copyright Lately: embedding case law overview