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The Richest Many in Babylon by George S. Clason

This is by far my favorite book on money. I love how the author writes in Shakespearian English and tells stories to illustrate his points. There have been many reviews of this book since it was first printed back in 1926! I do want to share my different take and perspective on it and include it in my book series.

This book is for those seeking to better their financial position. It won’t provide the reader any specific ideas on what companies to invest in or what budgeting software to use. The author does give easy-to-handle rules and guidelines to follow in a general sense that still hold true almost 100 years later!

I’ll break this review up into 3 different posts. This first one going over the beginning section of the book and introducing everyone to THE richest man in Babylon. The second post will go over the rules and guidelines the author provides us about how to acquire riches. The third post will give summaries of the fun and different stories in the book about working hard, learning, and even luck.

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First, I do not espouse the belief that people should acquire money just to have it. I believe that money should be of service to its owner and should be used to better people’s lives in some way. I don’t want to accumulate money just to have it. I want enough to feel safe and secure then I want to spend it on experiences and things that make me happy and simplify my life.

Prior to chapter 1, the author lists why money is important and how it can be used for good. The author lists 4 money statements about this:

Money is the medium by which earthly success is measured.

Money makes possible the enjoyment of the best the earth affords.

Money is plentiful for those who understand the simple laws which govern its acquisition.

Money is governed today by the same laws which controlled it when prosperous men thronged the streets of Babylon, six thousand years ago.

I am in 100% agreement with all of these except the first one. In my belief, success is measured in many different ways today, and do not believe that money is that medium. I believe Life Balance defines a successful life. One in which all parts of my life have equal weight.

The other three I definitely agree with. Money by itself won’t make people happy, it enables those who have it to go and get happiness. I also agree that there are rules around acquiring money, just like there are rules in other things in life (i.e. taxes, insurance, sports).

Finding a Mentor

The book starts out with a man talking with his friend about being poor. Why they continue to work and get nowhere. This first chapter might seem like it is setting up the rest of the story (aka introducing us to THE richest man in Babylon), but I think it holds a very important lesson.

Finding a person who is at a stage in life that we would like to be at and trying to get them to teach us. This person has the life we want, the money we want, and the personality to give back to others that want to learn.

I’m not saying we should think about this person in a jealous mindset, just in one that they are ahead of us in life’s journey and that we want to learn how to get to that same point. Finding a mentor to teach us is critical so that we can learn from other people’s accomplishments and mistakes.

Money Mindset

So much around handling money is about mindset. In the book, the richest man talked about a change in mindset that helped him on his journey to wealth.

A part of all you earn is yours to keep

This is an interesting way of saying not to let others take your hard-earned money. If I earned $1000 in a month, but I have $200 in rent, then the landlord as a claim to $200 of my $1000 or 20% of all I earn. If the cable company and the utility companies charge me a combined $100 a month, then they claim 10% of all I earn.

If I think about my earned money this way, then I can say that my savings of $200 means that I am keeping 20% of all I earn. This is double what the book recommends (one tenth is what it says) but I believe most people have the capacity to save 20% of their earned income if they follow the other rules and guidelines laid out in this book.

In the next post, I’ll go over the “Seven Cures for a Lean Purse” and the “Five Laws of Gold” that provide a step-by-step guide to gaining wealth and knowledge to keep the wealth that we have gained.