Review of Richest Man in Babylon, Learn the Secrets of Rich and the Laws of Wealth Building Part One of Three

This is one of the best money books I have ever read, and a golden book that you must read if you want to become rich. I am very surprised and amazed the legendary city of Babylon had such a wise man who had extremely valuable ideas about wealth creation, money making ideas, property investment and other investment ideas in such an ancient time.

The richest man in Babylon city was called Arkad, he was famed for his great wealth, liberality and generosity. One day, his poor friends who had the same masters and played together when they were young came to his house and asked him the SECRET of becoming rich.

His poor friends could not understand why they all worked hard, but Arkand turned out to be the richest man in Babylon enjoying many luxuries, while they were barely able to make ends meet. Arkad replied that they had failed to learn the laws that govern the building of wealth or else they did not observe them. Arkad agreed to tell them the secret of wealth and started with the following story...

Like most people and as with his poor friends, when he started out Arkad was a broken young man. He was a labourer who worked hard to carve clay tablets to make a living. However when he was young he realised the power of wealth and all the good things, happiness and possibilities that wealth could bring to him. So he declared to himself that he would claim his share of the good things of life, rather than stand by and enviously watching others enjoy.

This strong DESIRE for great wealth separated him from his poor friends. If you have Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, you know that desire is the first and one of the thirteen steps to riches. In real life the main reason many people never become rich is that they never seek and desire wealth in the first place.

As Arkad desired wealth, when opportunity arrived he grabbed it immediately. One day the rich money lender came to the shop and asked Arkad to complete his task within two days. However it was a lot of work and he could not finish it on time. When the rich money lender came back he was angry, however Arkad asked him the secret of becoming rich in return for a quick completion, the next day. So they made a deal; when the rich money lender came back again the next day the task was completed as Arkad worked hard over night.

Arkad was quite disappointed when the rich money lender told him the secret. Because he only said A PART OF ALL YOU EARN IS YOURS TO KEEP! In another word is PAY YOURSELF FIRST! He asked Arkad to pay himself first no matter how little he earns and it should not be less than one tenth of his income. Your expenses are other people's income and it is foolish to pay others first and leave yourself with nothing.

The rich money lender also advised Arkad what you save also must earn for you in order to acquire great abundance. This is the idea of save and invest; if you just save and do not invest your money wisely, you are unlikely to become rich. This is the wealth philosophy of money making money.