Millions of successful investors worldwide began investing after curling up with a good book on personal finances.

Surprisingly, the best seller at the specialist Good Returns Bookshop is Slash Your Taxes Now!, by Peter Sibbald. Sibbald's book has certainly saved me hundreds of dollars, but it isn't my favourite. That honour goes to the Motley Fool series of investment guides.

With so many personal finance books to choose from, which one should you go for? To give you a helping hand, the Herald asked some of New Zealand's financial gurus to name the books that taught them about money.

Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist (Main Street Books), by Roger Lowenstein $40.99

* Recommended by Jeff Matthews, senior financial adviser at Spicers Wealth Management.

"Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist shows if you are pretty smart and you work hard then all things are possible," says Matthews. "I've read it five or six times and it reconfirms to me that there is no such thing as a free lunch. There aren't any easy ways to make money quick. You need to be in it for the long haul.
"This book is a story about the world's greatest investor," says Matthews.

"Warren Buffett's father lost his job and savings in the 1930s Great Depression.

"From an early age, Buffett was obsessed with money-making. His favourite book was One Thousand Ways to Make $1000, which was a lot of money for the 1930s."

By the 1950s, Buffett was managing hundreds of thousands of dollars for friends, family and other businesses. Today, shares in his company, Berkshire Hathaway, sell for US$82,700 ($123,000) each, says Matthews.

"Apart from learning about his investment strategies and some of his great investments, the book gives a great insight into a man who, despite his great wealth, lives in the same modest home he bought in Omaha in 1958 for $31,500.

"Buffett has remained a man of integrity with an honest and unassuming touch."

One Up on Wall Street, by Peter Lynch $34.99

* Recommended by Carmel Fisher - managing director of Fisher Funds Management.

"I often cite One Up on Wall Street as the most important investment book I have read," says Fisher, "largely because I read it at an important time in my career." Fisher had an accounting degree under her belt and knew the theory, but lacked first-hand knowledge from portfolio managers who had actually beaten the market.