title: The Best Resources for Developers to Learn Finance
slug: best-resources-developers-learn-finance
meta: Find out the best free and low cost finance newsletters, websites and books for developers to learn financial literacy.
category: post
date: 2020-03-08
modified: 2020-03-08
newsletter: True
headerimage: /img/visuals/email-post-header.jpg
headeralt: Python programming language and Full Stack Python logos.


Software developers should understand the basics of finance not only 
to manage their own money but also to understand how businesses' software 
projects are funded. 

Understanding how other people who work in accounting, finance and project 
management think about business and finance in particular can help you make 
better architectural decisions when trying to build maintainable systems.
Code is only one aspect of a large software project so working with others
and viewing the world through their discipline will help you immensely as
you advance your career.


## Newsletters & Podcasts on Finance
The fastest way to take a first step in improving your financial literacy
is to subscribe to a few free newsletters that regularly hit your inbox,
or a podcast if listening better fits your daily routine. I read and listen
to each of the following newsletters and podcasts to pick up on unfamiliar
topics then do more of my own research if I do not understand what they
are talking or writing about.

* [Money Stuff by Matt Levine of Bloomberg](https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/authors/ARbTQlRLRjE/matthew-s-levine)
  ([newsletter sign up form](https://link.mail.bloombergbusiness.com/join/4wm/moneystuff-signup))
  is a hilarious must-read daily newsletter that covers the world of
  finance and breaks down many absurd situations such as financial
  fraud, insider trading, or competing interests in credit default swaps.
  Amazingly, the author stays out of political topics, which I find very
  refreshing because many other journalists seem to force their own biases 
  about finance down your throat even if you do not want their opinions.
  
* [Endless Metrics](https://endlessmetrics.substack.com) explains financial
  topics in a way that's easy for anyone without a finance background to 
  understand. For example, 
  [what the heck is GDP and how do you read a GDP chart?](https://endlessmetrics.substack.com/p/reading-a-gdp-chart). 
  What I love most about this newsletter is that the author will often 
  venture into finance-related topics he's interested in and then explain 
  those subjects while grounding them with useful charts and data.
  This analytic approach closely matches how my developer brain processes
  information!

* [Points of Return by John Auther](https://www.bloomberg.com/authors/AT2bBytfUHQ/john-authers)
  ([newsletter sign up form](http://link.mail.bloombergbusiness.com/join/4wm/opinion-authers-signup)).
  This author is incredibly knowledgeable about finance and typically 
  provides a solid grounding in long-term fundamentals rather than the
  short-term hyperbole that is pervasive in cable television financial
  journalism.

* [Odd Lots](https://www.bloomberg.com/podcasts/odd_lots) covers kind
  of whatever topics the hosts find interesting such as pandemic bonds, 
  repo market disruption, sovereign debt restructuring and emerging 
  markets. That's why it's so good - the hosts bring on an expert in that 
  topic and ask a ton of great questions because they want to learn
  what's going on for themselves. You follow along with them as they
  try to understand some of the oft-esoteric subject areas of finance.


## Books, Websites and Magazines for Finance
Newsletters and podcasts are great for prodding you into discovering
topics you did not know you needed to learn. When you discover something
that you want to go deeper on in finance, here are a few of my favorite
books and websites that range from the very basics of finance to broader
macroeconomic data trends.

* I learned most of my basic finance knowledge when I read 
  [Financial Intelligence for IT Professionals](https://www.amazon.com/Financial-Intelligence-Professionals-Really-Numbers/dp/1422119149)
  in graduate school ([go Hoos](https://www.virginia.edu/)!). The book
  is well-written, straightforward and accessible, particularly because
  it clearly targets its software developer audience.

* [Don't Quit Your Day Job](https://dqydj.com) uses a ton of metrics
  and statistics to ground their articles on financial topics that
  are often relevant specifically to software developers. For example,
  the article on 
  [How Many Developers are There in America, and Where Do They Live?](https://dqydj.com/number-of-developers-in-america-and-per-state/)
  is fascinating and especially useful because they explain their
  data sources and analysis methodology.

* [Money Magazine](https://money.com/) can be useful to pick up in paper 
  edition for a few months to understand personal finance basics. After a 
  few months you'll discover the articles and topics tend to recycle so 
  there are diminishing returns to reading it after you have familiarized 
  yourself with most of the topics.

* [Longtermtrends](https://www.longtermtrends.net/) aggregates long term
  high-level financial data and displays it. I find looking at these
  charts gets me away from the day-to-day "oh the stock market is down"
  and towards thinking about what happens when you invest money over many 
  years or decades.


## Specific Articles on Financial Topics
The following individual articles I have found to be both well-written and
extremely useful for specific scenarios such as evaluating stock-based
equity compensation, or negotiating your salary.

* [Salary negotiation](https://www.kalzumeus.com/2012/01/23/salary-negotiation/)

* [Stock Options](https://blog.alexmaccaw.com/an-engineers-guide-to-stock-options)

* [Open Guide to Equity Compensation](https://github.com/jlevy/og-equity-compensation)


