Why Money is important in life ?
Money is important because it enables you to have more control over your life, more freedom to carve out your own path and less constraints on your choices.
Money is needed because it means being able to give your children the best– the best education, the best health care, the best start in life.
Money is important because having money means that you are not dependent on being employed, living paycheck to paycheck and having to put up with abuse by your boss or others , because you badly need your job or work to meet your immediate requirements.
Money is needed because it enables you to give back to your community, to pick the charities and causes you believe in and support them.
Having money enables you to live life to the fullest, enjoy adventures and textures , tastes and worldly possessions.
Financial Independance will enables you to choose the activities closer to your heart such as pursuing learning and mid-life education of your choice, travel , buying artifacts, wellness and yoga, induging in charities of your choice and many more.
How Money or Wealth is created ?
The Journey of the wealth creation is the process comprising of owning multiple revenue streams that are under your control. There are several approaches to accumulating and creating wealth . You can develop these streams and can increase the income you already have, add a second source of income, and develop a passive revenue channel by Investing in Real Estate, Stock Market or Bonds etc .
Another important aspect of our life is Debt or a Mortagae Home Loan or Any Loan.
" Loans or Debt Servicing is a Modern Day Slavery " .
Its one of the biggest obstacles towards building wealth, and if you’re in debt you’ve got to eliminate it. Two steps to get out of debt fast is to get rid of your credit cards and put at least 10% or more of your take home income towards paying down your debt.
Spending less than you earn is also a key prerequisite for debt elimination.
Simple Mantra of Wealth Creation -
”Work more. Save more. Spend less. Waste less. You’ll be out of debt and on your way to building real wealth in a short time. ”
The Richest Man in Babylon is a 1926 book by George S. Clason, acclaimed as a modern-day classic, this celebrated bestseller offers an understanding of—and a solution to—your personal financial problems that will guide you through a lifetime. This is the book that holds the secrets to keeping your money—and making more.
This Book provides financial advices and guidelines through a collection of parables set 8,000 years ago in ancient Babylon. The book remains in print almost a century after the parables were originally published, and is regarded as a classic of personal wealth creation.
The parables are told by a fictional Babylonian character called Arkad, a poor scribe who became the "richest man in Babylon". Included in Arkad's advice are the "Seven Cures" (or how to generate money and wealth), and the "Five Laws of Gold" (or how to protect and invest wealth). A core part of Arkad's advice is around "paying yourself first", "living within your means", "investing in what you know", the importance of "long-term saving", and "home ownership".
This book groups the parables into general themes of advice, and particularly "The Seven Cures" and the "Five Laws of Gold".Some themes can overlap (e.g. The First Cure is similar to the First Law of Gold).
Seven Cures For a Lean Purse
The First Cure: Start thy purse to fattening.
Arkad advises on saving 10% of your annual income to start building up your wealth (or purse): "For every ten coins thou placest within thy purse take out for use but nine. Thy purse will start to fatten at once and its increasing weight will feel good in thy hand and bring satisfaction to they soul"
2. The Second Cure: Control thy expenditures.
Arkad advises against luxury expenditures that ultimately become confused as necessities: "The gold we may retain from our earnings is but the start", and, "What each of us calls our 'necessary expenses' will always grow to equal our incomes unless we protest to the contrary", and, "Confuse not the necessary expenses with thy desires".
3. The Third Cure: Make thy gold multiply.
Arkad advises to invest and to compound the investment return from these savings: "The earnings it will make shall build our fortunes ... Learn to make your treasure work for you. Make it your slave. Make its children and its children's children work for you".
4. The Fourth Cure: Guard thy treasures from loss.
Arkad advises against taking a risk of loss and investing get-rich-quick schemes: "Is it wise to be intrigued by larger earnings when thy principal may be lost? I say not. The penalty of risk is probable loss. Study carefully, before parting with thy treasure, each assurance that it may be safely reclaimed. Be not misled by thine own romantic desires to make wealth rapidly".
5. The Fifth Cure: Make of thy dwelling a profitable investment.
Arkad advises buying versus renting your principal residence, and using your residence to establish a business: "I recommend that every man own the roof that sheltereth him and his", and, "Nor is it beyond the ability of any well-intentioned man to own his home".
6. The Sixth : Cure: Insure a future income.
Arkad advises on having a pension and future retirement income: "Therefore do I say that it is duty of a man to make preparations for a suitable income in the days to come, when he is no longer young, and to make preparations for his family should he be no longer with them to comfort and support them".
7. The Seventh Cure: Increase thy ability to earn.
Arkad advises to keep developing your own skills to increase your investing wisdom and also to increase your earnings power:
"The more of wisdom we know, the more we may earn", and, "That man who seeks to learn more of his craft shall be richly rewarded".
The Five Laws of Gold
The First Law of Gold.
Gold cometh 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.
Arkad's advice here is very similar the First Cure, which is that saving is the start to building Wealth.
2. The Second Law of Gold.
Gold laboreth diligently and contentedly for the wise owner who finds for it profitable employment, multiplying even as the flocks of the field.
Arkad's advice here is very similar the Third Cure, which is that these savings can themselves growth and compound your wealth.
3. The Third Law of Gold.
Gold clingeth to the protection of the cautious owner who invests it under the advice of men, wise in its handling
Arkad's advice here is similar the Fourth Cure, which is about being patient and having a long-term view.
4.The Fourth Law of Gold.
Gold slippeth away from the man who invests it in businesses or purposes with which he is not familiar or which are not approved by those skilled in its keep.
Arkad's advice here is about investing in what you know about and understand.
5.The Fifth Law of Gold.
Gold flees the man who would force it to impossible earnings or who followeth the alluring advice of tricksters and schemers or who trusts it to his own inexperience and romantic desires in investment.
Arkad's advice here is about avoiding get-rich-quick or very aggressive wealth creation strategies.
Other parables
The final chapters of the 1926 book cover individual parables:
The Gold Lender of Babylon. Better a little caution than a great regret.
The Walls of Babylon. We cannot afford to be without adequate protection.
The Camel Trader of Babylon. Where the determination is, a way can be found.
You can get more details on wealth Accumulation at
15 Rules of Money
Epilogue
“Wealth consists not in having great possessions but in having few wants”, is one of the finest quotes, having few wants is probably the best insurance against greediness, because it’s human nature to keep wanting more, and the more you have, the more you want.
It’s a simple psychological process:
You have the basics (shelter, food, clothes) and are fairly happy, although you do worry about dealing with emergency situations;
you become wealthier, and you enjoy the extra luxuries very much for a few months, but then it becomes your new “normal.”
Now, surrounded by wealthier people, you look around, and you feel unhappy. They have more than you. You want more.
But when you get more, you’re unhappy again.
So , One should have burning desire to become rich and wealthier, but containing wants and not becoming greedy and helping others, who are in need , is the essence of life.
In Summary , these are some of rules, principles and laws those governed the Wealth Creation in the times of Babylon and these stands true even to day in the 21st century.
In Nutshell, Financial Independence will enables one to live the life of our choice.
MM Rao
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