Adebola AlabiIn life we all have ambitions that we wish to accomplish, righteous desires that we wish to gratify. To bring our ambitions and desires to fulfillment, we need to be successful with money. The financial principles laid out in “The Richest Man in Babylon” can act as a guide to anyone willing to follow them as they move from total lack to possessing abundant financial resources.
Have you ever wondered why the rich get richer and the poor get poorer? Why is it that the top 1% makes much more than the next 90% of the population combined? How did Bill Gate amass over $78 billion? The goal of this book is to teach you how to earn money, keep money, and to make your surpluses earn more money. This book will teach you how to increase your financial net worth. Below are the seven principles highlighted in the book that can help anyone looking to achieve financial independence.
SEVEN PRINCIPLES TO FINANCIAL PROSPERITY
- Pay yourself first: Take one-tenth of what you bring in and save it for the future. You must decide that a part of all you earned is for you to keep. No one can accumulate wealth without saving what they earn.
- Control your expenses: The challenge for most people here is how can they save one-tenth of their income when the entire income is not even sufficient to pay for their expenses? Don’t buy frivolous things even if you have enough money to pay for them. Instead, make sure that you can continue to save one-tenth of what you bring in. Controlling our expenditures enable us to make good use of the money we have left over after we have paid ourselves.
- Make your money work for you: Once you start to build up some savings, invest that money so that it will make more money for you. There are many investment vehicles that can be used to make your money work for you. You should never invest in anything you do not completely understand. There are many ways we can invest our money such as stock markets, real estate, businesses, and so on.
- Protect your money from loss: We must first secure small amounts and learn to protect them before God can entrust us with larger amount. The first sound principle of investment is security of the principal. Don’t take unnecessary risk if you are not sure that your money will be protected.
- Own thy own Home: Our homes are potentially the biggest expense we have to tackle. You can either buy or rent, but you should ensure that your home is very affordable. Make sure you buy or rent a property that you are happy with, in a good location, and you are comfortable paying the rent. Your home is not really an asset; it is an expense and a very high one. As a standard rule in America, make sure you are not spending more than 25% of your income on your mortgage/rent.
- Have a retirement and insurance plan: Everyman should make preparation for a suitable income in the days to come, when he is no longer young, and to make preparation for his family should he be no longer with them to comfort and support them. A 25-year-old earning an annual salary of $40,000 with an annual raise of say 3% will have earned an estimated $3 million if they retire by age 65. That’s about 40 years of working and earning. We should have a retirement plan if we want to retire comfortably. The younger we can start putting money away for our retirement the better. When we start putting money away for retirement early we take advantage of a magical thing called ‘compounding interest ‘.
- Increase your ability to earn: The best way we can increase our earning is by investing in ourselves. We can do that by continually learning and striving to develop ourselves. Work hard, look for opportunities, and educate yourself. Today, a college education is one of the best investments you can make; I’m not saying that it’s a requirement to be successful, but it opens the door to greater possibilities.
The Five Laws of Money from the Richest Man in Babylon
- Money comes gladly and in increasing quantity to any man who will put by not less than one-tenth of his earnings to create an estate for his future and that of his family.
- Money labors diligently and contentedly for the wiser owner who finds for it profitable employment, multiplying even as the flocks of the field.
- Money clings to the protection of the cautious owner who invests it under the advice of men wise in its handling.
- Money slips away from the man who invests it in business or purposes with which he is not familiar or which are not approved by those skilled in its keep.
- Money flees the man who would force it to impossible earnings or who follows the alluring advice of tricksters and schemers or who trusts it to his own inexperience and romantic desires in investment.
Conclusion
God has endowed the earth with abundant resources. There are so many problems and opportunities in the world today. The money rule highlighted in this book is simple, yet so many people ignore the rule. Practice the rules laid out in this book and you will soon be on your way to growth and financial prosperity. Finally I must add, as a Christian, I believe in tithing – 10% of your earning should be given to the work of God.
Book Recommendation: I highly recommend “The Richest Man in Babylon” by George S. Clason. It’s a great book for those wanting to achieve a life of financial freedom. Click below to get your copy.
