rich man story.

 In old Babylon, there once lived a very rich man named Arkad.Far and wide he was famed for his great wealth.

Also he was famed for his liberality. He was generous in his charities. He was generous with his family. He was liberal in his own expenses.

But nevertheless each year his wealth increased more rapidly than he spent it.“

If there is one book that many people have heard about but not many people have read, it’s The Richest Man In Babylon by George S. Clason.

Babylon was once the most successful and richest kingdom on planet earth, there were rich homes, palaces, and giant stone walls.

But this city also known for something else: Being the birthplace of modern finance.

They used money to exchange goods, they traded property, and had highly developed forms of borrowing and lending.

Everyone in the land was allowed to make money freely like we do today, even slaves were allowed to have a side gig and eventually buy their freedom.

This ancient city inspired George S. Clason to write finance and wealth fables that took place in Babylonia, the stories were very popular at the time and were even handed out by banks and insurance companies to teach people about why they should save their money and work hard.

They would later be collected into a book called The Richest Man In Babylon.

The first story in the book is about two friends, a chariot builder and a musician, talking about how they are having trouble making ends meet and wanting more for themselves and their families.

After wondering if there could be another way, they begin to talk about a man they grew up with named Arkad who was now considered the richest man in babylon.

They decide to go see their old friend and ask for his advice.

They asked him how fate has come to make him rich, but he immediately gets mad and says “fate” had nothing to do with it.

Arkad lets them know that they have only remained poor because they failed to learn the laws that govern the building of wealth.

As a young boy Arkad noticed that even if money didn’t create happiness, it certainly raised the quality of life for people that had it.

With wealth you could have nice furnishings, quality clothing, travel, and eat expensive food. He decided he wasn’t going to live as a poor man and would make himself “a guest at the banquet of good things.”

Although he didn’t come from a rich family and therefore had no inheritance, he put himself in a position to study the ways of wealth.

His first job was as a scribe, he worked long and hard writing laws and other things on clay tablets.

After working on a particularly hard overnight job for a money lender, Arkad asked the client if he could teach him some of the secrets of money.

Paying Yourself First

 

The man agreed and in morning he shared one principle: “A part of what you earn must be yours to keep.”

Arkad thought he had been swindled, “Wasn’t all of what you earned yours to keep?”

“Living expenses quickly eat up what you’ve earned, which means that you become a slave to your work and earn merely to survive,” the money lender observed.

What he was getting at is that if you set aside 10% of your earnings, and mark it off as “not for expenditure,” over time this amount builds and starts making money for you.

And it doesn’t even matter how much money you start with, as long as you obey the rule of paying yourself first.

Soon you won’t even notice this small amount is gone.

Arkad eventually grew his savings to a pleasing amount, and this satisfied the money lender who even asked Arkad to run some of his big estate (even sharing the profits).

Those who know the laws of money seek one another out, while many say they know all about the laws of money, the principles don’t work for them because they don’t put them into action.

Don’t mistake the money lender’s advice as permission to be a cheapskate, he tells Arkad to enjoy his life and not to stress over the amount he’s saving as long as he keeps the nest egg growing.

 

The Choice Between Gold Or Wisdom

 

Eventually Arkad has a son named Nomasir (No-Mah-Seer) who is all grown up and ready to inherit his dad’s large fortune.

But Arkad wants Nomasir to first go out into the world and learn how to make money on his own.

Arkad gives Nomasir three bags of gold as a head start and a tablet with “the five laws of gold” etched into them.

Nomasir ignores the tablet and spends a large amount of the gold on horse bets (which he loses) and then he opens a shop with someone who has no idea how to run a shop (it closes down).

But as his situation gets desperate, he recalls the five laws on the clay tablet:

1.     Money comes to those who save

2.     Money multiplies for those who invest it

3.     Money stays with the person who entrusts it to wise people

4.     Money is lost when invested in things with which you are not familiar

5.     Money is lost at a fast rate by pursuing get-rich quick schemes

After seeing that he basically violated every law, Nomasir decides to learn them by heart. He earns money patiently and invests it wisely.

He returns to his father Arkad after 10 years, who throws a feast in his son’s honor.

Nomasir lays three large bags of gold on the table, one for the amount money his dad gave him, and another two for the wisdom on the tablets. He says to the people at the party:

“Without wisdom, gold is quickly lost by those who have it, but with wisdom, gold can be secured by those who have it not.”

You can look at lottery winners for an example of people who gain money in a short amount of time and lose it just as quickly.

The five laws help build a large amount of wealth, and also to keep you from losing it.

Live Within Your Means

 

Paying yourself first is such and important principle to have especially in our economy of high debt, at the same time you should pay off any debt you accumulate.

Save 10% for yourself, Pay 20% to your debtors and live off the rest. Many of us don’t save because we are constantly thinking about our enormous debts, but once you see the enormous pile of cash you’re growing then you will be motivated to save more and more.

“Touch not one tenth that is fattening the purse.”

Interestingly, the book changes it’s setting to the modern day where an archaeologist discovers the tablets and sends them to a professor for translation.

The professor and his wife apply the 2,000 year old knowledge to their lives and change their financial situation drastically.

“Who would believe there could be such a difference in results between following a financial plan and just drifting along?” said the professor.

The richest man in babylon got that way by living within his means, anyone can get rich by living on 80 percent of their income and saving/investing the rest.

 

In Conclusion

The richest man in babylon won’t win any awards for it’s writing style but it is a classic for a reason, this book will lay the mental foundation necessary to become rich, it shows you things you won’t learn in school.

Everyone should devote time to learn how to save and invest.

They should learn the value of having a strong work ethic and why you should be someone who makes money work for you instead of the other way around.

Even if you think it might be too late for you, you still have a chance to enjoy the rest of your life.

The seeking of self-improvement will be richly rewarded.