The 10 Best Finance Movies of the Decade
Movies aren't just for pure entertainment. They offer valuable lessons that you can apply to your personal or professional life, including strategies that can help you manage your money better. Whether you're looking for a thriller, a drama, a documentary, a comedy or a film that offers a greater context of the housing bubble, the stock market and the consequences of financial corruption and crises, here's a look at some of the best finance movies of the last 10 years.
Here are the best finance movies of the decade:
-- "Inside Job"
-- "The Wolf of Wall Street"
-- "Moneyball "
-- "The Big Short "
-- "Margin Call "
-- "Playing with FIRE: The Documentary"
-- "The Gambler"
-- "The Company Men"
-- "In Time"
-- "Too Big to Fail"
[See: 7 Habits You Can Learn From Highly Successful Savers.]
'Inside Job' (2010)
This financial crisis-focused film won an Academy Award in 2011 for best documentary feature. "Inside Job" tops the charts as one of the best movies about the Great Recession. It depicts the endless greed on Wall Street with a series of high-profile interviews about the events leading up to the fall of our economy in 2008.
'The Wolf of Wall Street' (2013)
You know that adrenaline rush you feel while riding a roller coaster? "The Wolf of Wall Street," a high-octane drama, will likely have you on the edge of your seat as you follow the journey of Jordan Belfort, an investment banker on Wall Street who scams his way from the middle class to a mansion and yacht while manipulating the stock market. His greed eventually gets the best of him, leading to financial ruin and jail time. Though this film depicts the excess spending and lavish lifestyle of investment bankers, the underlying message shows a wealthy man who lives an empty life and how money doesn't bring him the happiness he thought it would. There are many financial lessons to take away from this entertaining film.
'Moneyball' (2011)
On the surface, "Moneyball" is about baseball, but the core of this story is figuring out how to do more with less, says Nick Loper, founder of SideHustleNation.com, a go-to resource for people looking to make extra money or start a business in their spare time. Based on Michael Lewis' book: "Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game," this film depicts how the manager of the Oakland Athletics baseball team was able to build a competitive team on a limited budget using a revolutionary strategy to select players that challenged standard recruiting practice. The most important financial lesson that you will take away from this movie is how budgeting and cutting out unnecessary expenses will help you achieve your goals.
"There are some important parallels to the world of personal finance and particularly the pressure to keep up with the Joneses," Loper says. "If instead of winning baseball games, our goal is financial and time freedom, maybe following the conventional wisdom isn't the best path. By spending more strategically and intentionally, I think our household has been able to eke out many Moneyball-style wins, and avoid fruitless lifestyle creep."
'The Big Short' (2015)
Though millions of Americans want to forget about the financial crisis of 2008, films like "The Big Short" help explain how the housing bubble exploded and the ramifications following, with a look into the greed of corrupt lenders.
"This movie is entertaining and has a lot of explanations of what took place behind the scenes that the public was not aware of leading up to the collapse of many of the biggest financial institutions. It's also a great reminder that, in every economy, there are winners and losers," says Krista Goodrich, co-author of "The Boss Lady Investor."
[See: 20 Financial New Year's Resolutions for 2020]
'Margin Call' (2011)
When people think back to the 2008 financial crisis that left millions of Americans jobless, homeless and broke, they may not know exactly what happened or why. However, "Margin Call" answers those questions. This thriller takes place over 24 hours in the high-stakes financial industry just before the housing bubble pops. It shows what a group of key players from an investment firm do, no matter the financial or moral repercussions, when they discover that their mortgage-backed assets hold absolutely no value.
'Playing with FIRE: The Documentary' (2019)
The first documentary about the Financial Independence, Retire Early movement, often referred to as FIRE, "Playing with FIRE" follows multiple people through their journey toward financial independence and early retirement. This film questions societal standards of working a regular 9-to-5 job for 40 years and retiring at the age of 65 or older, and challenges viewers to consider the possibilities of giving up on excessive consumerism in exchange for fewer financial restrictions and more flexibility in their lifestyle, says Steffa Mantilla, owner of Plantsonify, a personal finance blog that educates people on how to get out of personal debt and build wealth.
"Most people never really stop to think about how much money they'd need to leave their job and do one that pays less or no job at all," Mantilla says. This documentary helps viewers realize that financial independence and early retirement is possible.
'The Gambler' (2014)
Gambling is hardly a smart financial habit, but this movie isn't promoting it in a positive way. In fact, the story illustrates the devastating repercussions of being too risky with your money. However, the financial lessons go well beyond gambling. Jarek Grochal, founder of Time in the Market, a personal finance blog, recalls a key scene in which one of the characters, portrayed by John Goodman, explains that people should save money in order to have the freedom of choice later on.
It's a lot easier to leave a job you're not happy with when you're 40 if you've saved 30% of your income every year rather than spending it on a bunch of things that you don't even remember buying, Grochal says.
'The Company Men' (2010)
When you're on the way to the top, you usually don't look back, but there are no guarantees in life. At least this is what viewers learn from "The Company Men." This independent film offers a look at the struggles three men face over the course of a year following a round of corporate downsizing and layoffs. These characters face many hardships throughout the year and financial pressures are at the center of their turmoil.
[See: 15 Little Things That Impact Your Finances.]
'In Time' (2011)
The old saying, "time is money," becomes a stark reality for the characters in this sci-fi thriller, where people stop aging at 25 and have a clock on their arm that counts down how long they have to live. The twist is that you can transfer time between each other, which becomes the society's currency. In this film, the wealthy can live forever, but this can be a blessing and a curse. Jim Wang, founder of Wallet Hacks, a personal finance blog, says that you can draw a parallel to real life as it relates to retirement.
"A lot of people face that same problem in retirement when they lose their identity after leaving a (job) they've been at for 40 years," Wang says. "You have the money to do whatever you want, but there's an emptiness there that was once your work. It's hard to know what to do next."
'Too Big to Fail' (2011)
When the economy collapsed over a decade ago, it wasn't just consumers experiencing the financial wrath. Both large and small companies were left trying to pick up the pieces of their shattered finances. In this important film about the 2008 recession, we learn that there are several important institutions that, if allowed to collapse, would cause complete economic chaos. Thus, these organizations were "Too Big Too Fail," explaining why major companies like AIG, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and the Big Three auto companies received relief funds from the government. In short, this enlightening drama provides insight into how the U.S. economy functions.
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