I have always found books on personal finance exceptionally boring and have avoided reading them because of this.

This book however takes the form of stories from Babylonian citizens each touching on an aspect of personal finance (save 10% of your earnings, don’t rent but rather own property and invest your money wisely so it may grow etc etc)

None of this is new to me however sometimes you need a reminder to jolt you out of bad financial habits.
I can highly recommend this and will be buying it as a Christmas present for a few people this year.

Thanks for the recommendation Linda

"And when youth comes to age for advice he receives the wisdom of years. But too often does youth think that age knows only the wisdom of days that are gone, and therefore profits not. But remember this, the sun that shines today is the sun that shone when thy father was born, and will still be shining when thy last grandchild shall pass into the darkness."
There are unconditional and eternal certainties that pass throughout the centuries. There are valuable lessons that pass from generation to generation worthwhile learning. Times have changed, and regardless of the socio-economic environment, there are certain states of mind that are unchangeable for a stable lifestyle.
George S. Clason wrote this book through a collection of ancient parables, set 8,000 years ago in ancient Babylon. Babylon, according to ancient documents, was a prospering and rich city. The citizens of this city mastered the ability to create and grow wealth. They appreciated the value of money and practised valuable principles in acquiring wealth.
The book starts with the main idea of the seven cures for a lean purse. Wealth is not attained in a short period of time. It takes time, patience and determination. This main concept tells that one should save one-tenth of the income, invest in the future, secure a future income and control significant expenditures. Later on, the author presents the "Five laws of Gold". In this chapter, it's presented the "How-to" use gold in a wise manner. In a later part of the book, it's presented a metaphorical tale about determination ("Where the Determination Is, the Way Can be Found."). The book carries on with inscriptions concerning "The clay tablets of Babylon". In these tablets, one can find practical examples of people who prospered, in a wise way. The book finished with three symbolic stories: "Meet the goddess of good luck" ("Men of Action are Favored by The Goddess of Good Luck"), "The Walls of Babylon" and "The luckiest man in Babylon". The last two stories teach relevant lessons about wealth protection and opportunity.
The author provides a comprehensive guide to understand and acquire some financial stability. Clason presents ancient "financial habits" through stories from that period. One must take into account that there are no secret formulas in order to attain wealth. It all depends upon our state of mind which requires determination, focus and commitment. Furthermore, understanding how the economic system works is always a huge step in order to acquire a decent financial solidity.
"The richest man in Babylon" is a recommendable book for those who need some practical and proper ideas for steady financial growth. The main ideas for wealth are there, but it all depends on ourselves. The socio-economic environment has changed throughout the centuries. We live in a more complex economic situation compared to Clason's time. However, all decisions and habits we take every day will have a deep impact on us in the future.
In the age of debt, credit card and bank loans, having a better economic perception is the beginning of financial freedom. Overall, this book teaches valuable lessons that can be adapted in our current lives for a better financial outcome.

Rating: 4/5 stars

What in the name of crap was that?!

Why does this book have such a high rating on Goodreads? How can a person who's read literally any other book, fiction or otherwise---even a school textbook, really---want to give it a rating any higher than 1?

It has such basic financial advice. Here, let me save you the trouble of reading this book:
1. Control your unnecessary desires
2. Save a portion of your income
3. Protect it from bad investments
4. Invest your money wisely
5. Let your money multiply
6. Don't borrow more than you can repay
7. Don't spend more than you earn (already a repetition of the second idea)
Done

Just these seven basic ideas are repeated over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again throughout this book. Maybe the author didn't want it to be too short; but it still is. It's much shorter than its *epic* 155-page length. As short as an average Goodreads review.

And I don't know what the original reason was to give this financial advice via a story, but thank god for that! Without the story what would have this book even been about?! And the story is just used to make points. Ugh, why oh why.

Don't waste your time reading this book. There's plenty good academic as well as non-academic finance books out there.

0.1/5

25 Sept. 2019 - Finally read this little classic. It had been on my "To Read" shelf for over 30 years, but a combination of factors finally got me to read it. Very glad I did. What a great little gem. So many people over the years had referred me to this, that I am embarrassed to say it took me so long to get to. However, fortunately, I had read other books and taken other wise soul's advice that covered much of this book's wisdom previously, that I was not unduly harmed by putting it off.

However, for younger readers, or for those who may not have been so lucky as me to have received such good advice early, I highly recommend this easy to read, yet full of profound guidance book and it's simple lessons.

The style may be a bit quaint for some, but I found it very helpful and fun, even in this day and age.

There may be some better arguments for some of the principles, but that is a minor thing.

There may be some arguing with some of the scope or applications of the principles, around the edges, but the basics are solid and will serve as excellent guides through life.

Should be especially good for teenagers and 20-somethings who may never have received these excellent guides to financial independence and success, but if you are older or younger and have the opportunity and desire to check this out -go for it for sure!

Let me just give you the first guide, since it is so important, and leads to the others:

"A part of all you ear is yours to keep. It should be not less than a tenth no matter how little you earn. It can be as much more as you can afford. Pay yourself first."

Simple. Difficult at first to implement. But the more it becomes a simple habit, the easier and more rewarding it gets. Go for it.

هذا الكتاب الصوتي الأول لي لهذا العام.

بلا شك ! الكتاب يحتاج لتطبيع لنضمن فاعليته ..
سوف أحاول تطبيع ما فيه.

الكتاب ذو لغة سلسة وسهلة جداً .. وممتعة أيضا ومحفزة بكل ممتاز جداً.

Several useful ideas regarding personal finance were completely overshadowed by horrendously faux-ancient prose, massive repetition of the same basic concepts, and poor writing.

And, as a minor sidepoint, there is an inherent subtext to this book that blames the poor for their poverty and expresses the concept that a person can simply "work harder" and succeed massively. The concept that everyone can of course set aside 1/10th of their take-home income is also an interesting one when you consider both the gender pay gap and the racial pay gap -- women and minorities are being literally robbed of their abilities to grow their wealth.

The concepts of saving money steadily, beginning savings early, and investing money in safe venues while avoiding gambling and get-rich-quick schemes are useful. But the "Babylonian parable" style of the book was horrifically bad, the level of page padding was shocking, and frankly there are much better and more relevant books out there that manage to convey financial common sense without a side-helping of hatred for the poor. I suggest reading Elizabeth Warren's excellent book "The Two-Income Trap" instead.

This book was really good! Loved some of the short stories in it. I hope I can follow whatever mentioned in this book, not just for a week, but a lot longer xD!!!

ما يميز الكتاب بأنه مختصر ويوصل الأهداف بأسلوب قصصي بسيط.. مقارنةً بالعديد من الكتب التي يسعى مؤلفها لفرض نظريته الاقتصادية عن طريق التكرار والإطالة واللف والدوران حول محورها، يأتي أغنى رجل في بابل ليكون مباشر وبسيط..

أهداف الكتاب تستطيع إختصارها بأكثر من وجه.. فربما تلخصها بثلاثة أو إثنان أو لربما هداف واحد كإدخار العشر.. وذلك لو ابعدنا النقاط المعلومة بالضرورة والتي تعتبر أساسيات لا أظنها تغيب عن أي عاقل.. كأن تحافظ على مالك وتعمل بكد من أجله والاستشارة لأصحاب الاختصاص وو و من النصائح الابتدائية..

أركاد أغنى وجل في بابل تعلم من ألجاميش " احتفظ بجزء من إيراداتك، لا يقل عن العُشر.." ولكنه في النهاية ورث ألجاميش وكانت إنطلاقة ثروته من ورث وليس مدخرات..!

هناك سطحية في وصف متع الحياة والصرف عليها وحصرها بالملابس والمجوهرات.. أنا لا أدعي بأن ذلك من المتع المستحقة للتبذير ولكن الحياة فيها من المتع والملذات الكثير الذي يغريك للصرف والاستمتاع بالمال الذي تعمل وتتعب من أجله.. أقول بأنه من السطحية حصر الاستمتاع فقط باللباس والمجوهرات..

بشكل عام الكتاب جيد.. ويوصى بقراءته للمهتمين بالثراء.. لكن أرى بأن الكتاب قد أخذ سمعة أكبر من حجمه..

كتاب أغنى رجل في بابل

A very sound book leaving you with a feeling that resembles having a genuine touch on the ancient wisdom.

There are several principles being suggested on the book regarding a wealthy path wrapped in story telling of wise men of that time.

Another interesting thing for me as someone who's native tongue is not english was an old form of the English that was being used long long ago.

I really enjoyed the book and would recommend to anyone who is determined to form her/his thoughts around shooting for the moon.

"The Richest Man in Babylon" is one of the most interesting and valuable books on financial planning I came across. I'm on this journey to discover some good books on finances, and its definitely worth a read. This is coming from someone who has no idea on how to manage money, but the lessons mentioned in the book are great for people who don't know where to begin!

This book combines fine storytelling with sound financial advice, which is one of the most fascinating aspects of it. The book draws inspiration from the ancient city of Babylon, which used to be the wealthiest city in its time. The people in Babylon used to be clever and wealthy financiers and merchants.

While digging up the remains of Babylon, archaeologists found clay tablets that had writings that explained how people lived back in the day. It also mentioned rules that the ancient people used to gain control of their finances. These rules or laws applicable six thousand years ago in Babylon can be used even today as the basic principles regarding money don't change.

The best part about this book is that it doesn't have any technical jargon or complex ideas about how to manage your money. What you get are simple and easy to implement rules or habits you can integrate into your life that will benefit you in the long run. Combine that with exciting storytelling, you get an excellent value-for-your-money guide on finance.

All in all, I highly recommend this book!

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این کتاب شامل مجموعه داستان کوتاه خیالی در رابطه با روش کسب و نگهداری ثروت در شهر بابل در هزاران سال پیش است ،روش هایی که در جامعه ی امروزی هم قابل استفاده اند
من تعریف این کتاب رو زیاد شنیده بودم ولی حقیقتا من رو زیاد راضی نکرد ، با اون همه تعریفی که ازش شنیده بودم انتظار کتاب بهتری رو داشتم.

بخشی از کتاب:

خیلی از مردم بابل خانواده های خود را در محل های ناشایست نگهداری می کنند.آنها اجاره بهای سنگینی را به صاحب خانه های سخت گیر برای خانه هایی می پردازند که حتی همسرانشان در آن خانه جایی برای پرورش چند گلدان گل که باعث شادی دلشان شود ندارند و بچه هایشان جایی جز کوچه های کثیف برای بازی کردن ندارند... داشتن یک خانه از حد و توانایی یک انسان با ارداه خارج نیست .آیا شاه بزرگمان دیوار های بابل را انقدر تا دوردست نکشیده که زمین های خالی با قیمت مناسب برای خرید در آن پیدا شود؟ همچنین به شما میگویم شاگردانم که وام دهندگان از تصمیم کسانی که قصد خرید خانه را دارند،استقبال می کنند و به آنها وام می دهد...بعدا وقتی که خانه ساخته شد شما می توانید اقساط وام دهنده را به جای کرایه ای که قبلا به صاحبخانه می دادید،بپردازید.به خاطر هر پرداخت به وام دهنده مقداری از بدهی شما به او کم می شود و پس از چند سال اقساط شما تمام می شود. آنگاه قلب شما شاد می شود زیرا شما خودتان برای خودتان یک ملک ارزشمند دارید و تنها هزینه ی آن مالیات به پادشاه است...واین امر به طور قابل توجهی هزینه های زندگی شما را کاهش می دهد .وباعث تخصیص بیشتر درآمد هایتان به خوشی های زندگی و برآورده ساختن آرزو های بزرگتان میشود.این پنجمین درمان جیب خالی بود:صاحب خانه خودتان باشید
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