Best Book of the Month: The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason

Welcome to 2014 and the January edition of our Best Book of the Month series. The book we picked for this month is George Samuel Clason`s financial bestseller entitled “The Richest Man in Babylon”.

George S. Clason was a businessman, writer and soldier – he served in the US Army during the Spanish-American war. He is best known for his parables on how to achieve financial success. The most famous parables were compiled into the book “The Richest Man in Babylon”. 

This is one of my favorite finance books because the principles are as applicable today as they were in ancient Babylon thousands of years ago. One of the greatest lessons this book teaches is the primary principle of paying yourself first. Before you start paying others or spending the money you have earned, you need to pay yourself first. Wealthy people know this law and therefore they always pay themselves first. Poor people on the other hand pay themselves last.

“A part of all you earn 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”

Before I share my personal thoughts on January’s best book of the month and highlight the benefits of reading “The richest man in Babylon”, let’s have a look at the following video. I found this review by Brody from The Success University and I thought you’d like to hear a second opinion about the book I’m going to recommend to you. Enjoy the review…

Best Book of the Month Review

Review of “The Richest Man in Babylon”

Three of my favorite quotes from ‘The Richest Man in Babylon’

#1: “Advice is one thing that is freely given away, but watch that you only take what is worth having.”

#2: “Opportunity is a haughty goddess who wastes no time with those who are unprepared”.

#3: “If you desire to help thy friend, do so in a way that will not bring thy friend’s burdens upon thyself.”

Why should you read this book?

• First of all, you will understand why you need to master the fundamental principle of paying yourself first at least 10% from your earnings.

• Second, you will learn how to get out of debt and control your expenditures. If you want to accumulate wealth, you need to keep expenditures down even when your earning power increases.

• Third, you’ll discover the benefits of investing your money to ensure a steady and safe passive income while taking advantage of compounding interest.

• Forth, you’ll understand the importance of protecting your assets – “Guard they treasures from loss” – and keeping track of your financial situation. Wealthy people track their assets and liabilities, poor people don’t.

• Fifth, the Babylonians will teach you how to “increase thy ability to earn”. The best way to increase your earnings is to invest in yourself.

If you are looking for ways to get rid of your debt and control your expenditures while paying yourself first and thus accumulating wealth, you should definitely read this book. It will change the way you think about money and wealth accumulation!

The book is an excellent read for anybody who wants to improve their finances. I’m sure some of the stories you will read in “The Richest Man in Babylon” will be very familiar to you :).

Please feel free to share your thoughts on our best book of the month.