The journey to financial wisdom begins in the ancient city of Babylon, where timeless secrets of wealth and prosperity have been passed down through generations.
In our latest blog, we delve into the heart of ‘The Richest Man in Babylon,’ a classic that has enlightened millions with its simple yet profound financial principles.
Join us as we uncover the age-old secrets hidden in its pages, guiding you toward a life of abundance and financial freedom.
This book summary promises to be a treasure trove of wisdom, showing you how to grow wealth and ensure a prosperous future.
Let’s embark on this journey together, where the wisdom of the richest man in Babylon transforms your financial destiny!
George S. Clason, who shares some of the ancient people’s success secrets with us, wrote this book.
The Richest Man In Babylon Book Summary
Babylon was the richest and the most glamorous city in ancient times.
Though it is not near any natural resources or trade routes, it is located beside the Euphrates River in a flat, arid valley.
And this shows us that we should be satisfied with whatever we have. The only thing Babylonians have is fertile soil and water with the best engineers in the world.
This city is nearly 8000 years old and protected with walls.
The people of this city were the first to be regarded as educated, as they were the first to employ technology, money, astronomy, mathematics, and to possess a written language.
7 Simple Money Rules Of Babylonians To Became Rich
So, let’s understand some simple rules related to money.
1. Start Your Purse To Fattening
This means that we should start to make our purses heavy and fat by the weight of the coins we carry. But you may be thinking about how you will turn it into reality.
Just listen to this example and you’ll know.
Suppose you have a hen that lays ten eggs daily and takes 9 out of them, so what do you think happens to the one egg left?
Of course, it will start to increase from 1 to 2, 2 to 3, and so on.
And this can apply to your money as well. If you save one-tenth of it daily, it will start increasing. Thus making your purse fatten with time.
2. Control Your Expenditure
This rule applies not only to controlling your expenditure but also to limiting your unnecessary desires.
This is because as the man developed more, his desires grew. And nowadays, their desire is more than their salary and that’s why many people are suffering from poverty.
As weeds grow in the spaces where some ground is left, your desires also grow where some of your money is left. The man who has just enough money to fulfill his needs is happy.
3. Make Your Gold To Multiply
A man’s wealth is not in the coins he carries but in the income he builds as a farmer did.
When his son was born, the farmer invested his ten silver coins in the moneylender until he turned 20. And every four years, its value will increase by one-fourth.
When his son turned 20, the farmer again went to the moneylender to ask about his money, to which the moneylender replied that as it is compounded, now the 10 silver coins account for 30 and ½ silver coins.
After listening to this, the farmer was delighted and as his son didn’t need the money now, he left them with the moneylender again.
When his son turned 50 and his father died, the moneylender repaid his son 67 silver coins.
This shows us the power of compounding because the ten silver coins the farmer invested multiplied almost 17 times.
4. Guard Your Treasure From Loss
Besides guarding your money, you must remember only to trust good people in their field.
By doing so, you are indirectly guarding your money from the hands of bad people.
For example, An inexperienced man named Arkad, who was making his first investment, trusted a brickmaker named Azmur.
Arkad gave his money to Azmur, who would travel far sea to tire city so that he could bring him rare jewels of the Phoenicians.
But the Phoenicians sold him bits of glass. And he lost his money as well.
In this, e.g. Arkad trusted a man whose field of interest was not money.
If Azmur were a jeweler, he would identify them as bits of glass, not jewels, which could also save Arkad’s money.
5. Make Your Dwelling A Profitable Investment
If we divide our earnings into ten parts, use nine parts for our use, and save & utilize that left 1 part to make it a profitable investment, it will help us fatten our purse.
For example, If a man owns a house for his wife and children, he first has to take a loan from a moneylender to build his house and spend some of his savings.
But when the house is built, he will be able to enjoy the pleasures of having a house, and eventually, he will have to pay back the moneylender for several years.
He will live a happy life when his loan is repaid, and this shows us that he made profitable use of his money and the money that the moneylender gave him.
Now that he has his house, he no longer depends on his loan. He can enjoy the vegetables from his garden.
Read More : 10 Timeless Lessons From The Book Rich Dad Poor Dad
6. Insure A Future Income
We’re all born, and we’ll all die one day if we’re young, and we’ll also age someday.
Preparing for the future is important since we’re young and capable of earning money, but it will be harder to take care of our health and wealth when we get older.
So, if we are earning, then we should invest the surplus we get from it to create a future income.
There are so many ways in which a man can secure his future, like investing it, compounding it, and creating a rental income from it.
7. Increase Your Ability To Earn
In ancient times, clay tablets were used to write things down in Babylon City. And then, a man with his other colleagues carved these tablets for a few copper coins.
After some time, he noticed that his colleagues were paid more than him, but he was determined to earn more than them.
So, he concentrated more on his task, created more interest in his work, and showed persistence. Eventually, he did that too, and now he earns more than his colleagues.
Thus proving that we should increase our earning capacity by such hard work.
5 Laws of Gold To Be Rich
Now, we will study the five laws of gold.
Law-1
Gold comes gladly and in increasing quantity to any man who will put by at least one-tenth of his earnings to create an estate for his future and that of his family.
This means that the man who saves 1% of his income and invests it wisely can make money work for him because no one knows when god will take their life away.
So it always brings you happiness when you can enjoy your life to the fullest, and that can only be possible if we have money. So, by investing in it, you are making it come to you in increasing quantities later.
Law-2
Gold laborers diligently and contentedly for the wise owner who finds it profitable employment, multiplying even as the flocks of the field.
This law states that gold is a willing worker, and it’s even eager to multiply itself when the opportunity comes.
Many of you will say that we are not lucky enough to have this opportunity.
But it is not true; opportunity will also come side by side when money comes. And as time passes, it will also increase.
Law-3
Gold clings to the protection of the cautious owner who invests it under the advice of men wise in its handling.
It means that money constantly tries to find a way to attach itself to a cautious owner who spends it wisely.
Likewise, it will try to escape or flee from its owner, who spends it carelessly.
It also states that a man who takes advice from another man who is an expert in handling money learns not to spend his money, but to save it to enjoy it later.
Law 4
Gold slips away from the man who invests it in businesses or purposes with which he is unfamiliar or which are not approved by those skilled in its keep.
This law states that an inexperienced person who attempts to invest his money without consulting a wise person.
He always thinks that his judgment will get him money is wrong because he will later have to pay for what he did with his money.
Because he is inexperienced and doesn’t know much about investing, he may be wrong in judging good stocks for him to invest and may lose his money later.
So, it is better to listen first to an experienced and wise man rather than regretting your decision later.
Law 5
Gold flees the man who would force it to earn impossible amounts or who follows the advice of tricksters and schemers, or who trusts it to his romantic and inexperienced desires in investment.
This means that people who are new in the field of handling money will always be lured by their desire to spend it.
They don’t know that it’s been said by many wise men earlier that we should also have that much willpower in us.
So that we can’t be lured by money or the desires it can fulfill because the one who spends it indirectly makes his gold flee from him.
How To Manage And Grow Your Money
Now, here are some practical ways in which you can learn to manage your money:
If you follow these practical ways daily, you’ll surely become a millionaire someday.
What you have to do is spend seven-tenth of your earnings and keep the 30% aside. You can use that 70% for your needs, your family & friends, your enjoyment and lastly for your nation.
Please list the people you’re indebted to and write the money you borrowed from them. This will later help you keep a record of your debts, for eg.
- Fahru, the cloth weaver, 2 silver, 6 copper
- Sinjar, the couch maker, 1 silver, and so on……
Count the total money you have to pay to your lenders. And now, use 20% of your income to distribute equally to them all because they have trusted you to repay them later.
In this way, you can also get rid of your indebtedness soon.
Keep that 10% for you and never use it to spend because you never know when you will require it in your bad times.
This will not be a practical way of reducing your debt because when you have paid all your lenders back, it is time for you to have your reward. After all, you deserve it and earned it by your hard work.
So, go and celebrate your victory over your indebtedness. Here are a few more points.
- Ensure a Future Income: Plan for the future. This involves investing in your future and that of your dependents. It includes retirement planning and securing your family’s financial future with instruments like life insurance or wills.
- Increase Your Ability to Earn: Improve your skills and knowledge. Continuously seek ways to improve your professional skills and knowledge, as this can lead to better job opportunities and higher income. This principle advocates lifelong learning and self-improvement.
- Seek Advice Wisely: Be cautious of where and whom you seek advice from. Ensure that you’re taking financial advice from knowledgeable people with a proven track record of success.
These timeless principles, while simple, require discipline and commitment to implement.
Following these guidelines will allow individuals to take control of their current financial situation and open the door to future prosperity and safety.
Thank you for giving your precious time to read our blog. May god bless you with a happy, healthy, and wealthy life.