The wisdom in The Richest Man in Babylon is timeless and lays a solid foundation for learning to save and invest for the future.

Considering the myriad subjects one studies in school, it is ironic that one of the most important subjects of all – money – is hardly ever covered. While a well-rounded education in history, mathematics, art, athletics, science, and other subjects certainly is important, money arguably has a more direct application to our lives than any of these other subjects. It touches virtually every aspect of our lives, yet few of us have been educated in its management and multiplication.  The Richest Man in Babylon is a great primer on the subject of money and I highly encourage everybody to grab a copy and read it. Though originally published in the 1920s, it’s wisdom is timeless and it is written in a fun and easy-to-understand style.

The book revolves around Arkad, an extremely wealthy man living in the days of ancient Babylon.  In chapter two, some old friends from Arkad’s younger days come to him and lament that they had the same education and worked just as hard as he did, yet they had nothing and he had more wealth than they could imagine. Why should fate favor Arkad over themselves, they ask? Arkad’s response is that their relative poverty has less to do with fate than it does their failure to learn and observe the laws of building wealth.  Like any other pursuit in life, building wealth requires knowledge and application. One cannot expect to become a successful doctor or teacher without an education, right? The same is true for building wealth. (more…)