- 7 Ancient Rules to Become Wealthy
- The Art of Seizing the Opportunity
- Without Wisdom, Gold Will Be Lost
- Help Others to Attract Wealth
- The God is the Most Important
The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason is an interesting and easy-to-read book that explains the fundamentals of becoming wealthy and leading a fuller life in the story format. The city of Babylon is described as a mash-up of dazzling wealth and terrible poverty, packed together without a plan or a system within the city's protective walls. This description, a blend of luxury and widespread poverty is also typical of every city we see in today's world, developed or developing.
The first section of the book discusses how, despite living in a wealthy nation, we always dream of becoming wealthy and hoping to find money inexplicably some way. It is true that even with tireless effort and hard work, we might never make enough money to live comfortably. This is due to the fact that achieving wealth is not a random attempt but rather, it calls for us to study the fundamentals, become experts at them, and relentlessly pursue them. For example, we must speak with wealthy or successful individuals. According to the author, we have to learn how to look for things to obtain them.
We don't become wealthy because we either don't understand the rules governing wealth accumulation or we ignore them completely. We must discover how others get gold rather than working without a carefully thought-out plan.The author provides an argument that we should set aside a portion of our earnings for our own future needs. He claims that he discovered the path to prosperity when he determined that he should keep a portion of everything he earned. This amount ought to account for ten percent or more of our total income.
7 Ancient Rules to Become Wealthy
Those who desire wealth should establish a saving habit by living within their means and seeking the knowledgeable. Through an ancient narrative, seven rules for working to become wealthy are shared by Arkad, a wise and wealthy man from Babylon. These universally applicable principles still hold true even today:
Start thy purse to fattening: This is done by contributing a small portion of earnings (keeping one-tenth of all income) for future use. “Wealth is like a tree that grows from a tiny seed”.
Control thy expenditures: The remaining nine-tenths of the earnings should be set aside for the daily expenses and enjoyments. The things that we all call our necessary expenses will always grow to equal our income unless we protest to the contrary. Furthermore, each of us with our families does have more desires than our earnings can gratify, but we must learn to budget the necessary expenses.
Make thy gold multiply: We must control our expenditures to protect our growing treasure. We must also consider means to invest our treasure or savings in such a manner that it grows or multiplies.
Guard thy treasures from loss: The first sound principle of investment is security for the principal. We must learn to invest only in things that are safe and retrievable. Consulting with wise men and securing the advice of those experienced in the business is essential.
Make of thy dwelling a profitable investment: We need to invest in a home as a way to reduce the cost of living and provide ample space for the family to enjoy interacting and playing together, especially the children.
Insure a future income: We all need to make preparation for a suitable retirement income in the days to come when we are no longer young. We also need to make preparations for our families should we be no longer with them to support and comfort them. We may buy houses or lands for that purpose.
Increase thy ability to earn: We must develop better skills, control our desires, and plan well. Desires must be simple and definite; they must not be too many, too confusing or beyond a man’s training to accomplish.
The Art of Seizing the Opportunity
George claims that good fortune and luck are not coincidental. Those who seize opportunities tend to have good fortune. In other words, the person who sees opportunities and grabs them quickly will have the ability to accumulate greater wealth. Opportunity comes and goes without warning - if we don't take advantage of it quickly, it will disappear tomorrow. People who are inclined to put things off miss out on opportunities. To get involved in the high riches of Babylon, a man must first conquer his own spirit of delay. It is essential to look for opportunities if one wants to draw luck into their life. Chance rarely comes in any other form than that of good luck.
Also, the author uses an old story to illustrate the rules of wiser investing. Wealth finds its way to those who understand its rules and are prepared to follow them. To build a secure future for oneself and one's family, one needs to save aside ten percent of one's salary. If the funds are allocated wisely and invested well, they will compound exponentially. But if money is put into ventures or goals the owner is not familiar with or does not have the foresight to know about, it might swiftly disappear.
Without Wisdom, Gold Will Be Lost
Furthermore, George discusses the part wisdom plays in generating wealth. "Those who possess gold will soon lose it without wisdom, but gold can be secured with wisdom," he states. (page 68). A rise in wealth results from applying wisdom to investing decisions. According to the author, Babylon's wealth resulted from its people's knowledge. People needed to understand how to get rich, so success and wealth were the result of using the rule of gold together with intelligence.
The author explains how starting and growing the field of riches and wealth may be accomplished by adhering to the principle of debt payback. First and foremost, since an area of expertise may expand, one must be proficient about it. Secondly, he has to retain ten percent of the profits for himself. One of the book's main ideas or concepts is this. The author next discusses living expenditures and how one should only use 70% of one's income for them. This will eventually result in fewer loans, lower expenses and the repayment of creditors for the remaining twenty percent of revenue.
Help Others to Attract Wealth
The book has multiple hidden metaphors that suggest accumulating riches should be morally righteous as well as, to some extent, altruistic. For example, the author claims that to fulfill their desires, people must find morally righteous means to do so. He adds that giving generously to charity is a requirement for wealth. One of the most prosperous individuals in Babylon, Arkad, demonstrated this by voluntarily assisting in the training of others upon the king's request.
The God is the Most Important
One of the book's problems is that, despite heavily quoting the Bible, the author seems to be saying that material prosperity is the source of all happiness and joy. He contends that having wealth gives you power and makes a lot of things feasible. This is somewhat accurate because, as we all know, wealth and money can solve a lot of issues. However, the Bible tells us that the only way to find true happiness is via a relationship with God. Building magnificent temples for their gods and expansive irrigation systems for the city were two of the things the king of Babylon accomplished with the wealth of the city, both of which were beneficial to the advancement of society.
In conclusion, the book is largely filled with narratively presented financial advice. It revolves around a few wealthy Babylonian citizens named Arkad and Dabasir, who appeared content to instruct and mentor others on how to become rich. The book deserves praise for being easy to understand and avoiding the fancy terms and financial jargon that are frequently used in the business world these days.
