Customer Reviews

The Richest Man in Babylon: Now Revised and Updated for the 21st Century

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I read the Revised version (1995) and really enjoyed that. I purchased the 21st Century edition and was really disappointed. Some key ideas that I thought were very important like "don't get so consumed with acquiring wealth that you forget to enjoy life" were taken out of this edition. Also an entire chapter was removed that taught the importance of hard work. Not only that but the layout of book is much less aesthetically pleasing, making it more difficult to read. So I wouldn't buy this edition. I highly recommend the revised edition (yellow cover).

I have read a lot of finance books by a lot of different authors: Bach, Chatzky, Orman, Kiyosaki just to name a few, but the "Richest Man in Babylon" is the simplest, most clear cut. It also has the least ego (thank you Eckhart Tolle). Simple is good in my case. I don't like a lot of fancy words clouding my understanding of finance. Clason repeats what a lot of other finance experts say, but the difference is that Clason said it first. So he wins. And the book is short.

The "Thou"s and "thy"s are a bit silly and annoying, I admit--but you get used to it and after a while--it's fun. The financial basics told thru parables (i.e. bible-esque tales). I read a few parts out loud to my husband and he was cracking up.

Richest Man in Babylon in a Nutshell:

Pay yourself 1st: Save 10% of your income.
Pay your debtors: 20% of your income
Live off 70% of your income.

7 Cures for a lean purse:
1st CURE: Start thy purse to fattening.
Save 10 % of what you earn.

2nd CURE: Control thy expenditures.
Budget your income.

3rd CURE: Make thy gold multiply.
Invest

4th CURE: Guard thy treasures from loss.
Study your investments to reduce risk. Make sure you are FDIC insured.

5th CURE: Make of thy dwelling a profitable investment.
Own your home.

6th CURE: Insure a future income.
Invest for old age.

7th CURE: Increase thy ability to earn.
Acquire education and experience to increase income.

Fave quote: A part of all I earn is mine to keep.

If you loved it: Think and Grow Rich, The Automatic Millionaire

If you hated it: Rich Dad Poor Dad

How do you place a price on brilliance? This short read is outstanding and I would recommend it to anyone including every junior or senior high school student in the United States. More books like this one and all of the Og Mandino books or any of the Napolean Hill books. And, let's not forget W. Clement Stone books.

Our society is so obsessed with rich people, but we only pay attention to their expensive mansions, cars, and lifestyles. But few of us notice how these people got there. Their expensive possessions are the end result. So, what do we do? We borrow and spend to accumulate possessions so that we can be seen as wealthy. If you truly want to know how to build wealth, read this book first.

I absolutely loved it. I have read many books on personal finance, but this one gets the point across really well. The author teaches financial lessons through short stories. The main ideas behind this book are paying yourself the first 10% of your paycheck, spending less than you earn, and letting your money work for you. This is such a simple concept, but at the same time extremely hard for people to execute. Since this book was first written in 1929, I have to warn readers that it is written in old English so it might be a tough read for some people.

- Mariusz Skonieczny, author of Why Are We So Clueless about the Stock Market? Learn how to invest your money, how to pick stocks, and how to make money in the stock market

I have one of the

1995 editions. The author has updated and expanded the 2007 edition. I liked it well enough that I bought 4 more copies for my college age grandchildren. In fable form he tells how to pay yourself first,and let your wealth grow by reinvesting the interest.
In this addition he also tells how to get out of debt honorably.
He has much good wisdom for younger folks to follow

This book is an absolute must for anyone wanting to create more monetary wealth in their lives.

I have read many poor books and good books on; investing strategies, think and grow rich type of books and laws of wealth type books since 1985. I have used what I learnt from my extensive reading, coupled with academic qualifications, business and psychology experience, to create a consulting company, teaching seminars to corporations in strategic thinking, marketing, goal setting and business development. I also use the principles to help individuals, by guiding them as a Life Coach, teaching people cognitive methods to help goal set and enhance their lives beyond what they could do on their own. As such, I read as many books as I can on a variety of subjects to enhance my knowledge. I can honestly say, that with all that experience, this book will help everyone who reads it to to create a firm and solid financial foundation in their lives.

This book sets out 10 basic and simple principles, so that the reader can create more monetary wealth in their lives. The 10 principles are woven into a story, based upon the teachings of the Richest Man In Babylon, which makes it kind of fun to read. Its a book that was recommended by the late and great Jim Rohn. Tony Robbins, Brian Tracy etc., base a lot of their work on these 10 simple principles. I have read both the original and this newly revised edition and can say that this book is slightly easier to read. Yes it is repetitive in parts, but so what if it is. Keep repeating the golden principles until we get the ideas into our heads and enacted, so we can live a great life from the unearned, multiple streams of incomes this book helps you find.

A great and fabulous read, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

I was introduced to this small paperback by a fellow traveler onboard an American Airlines flight to Dallas/Fort Worth. We shared books and this is the book he gave me. On my flight to Los Angeles, I read the book and discovered that it was not such a small book afterall. The information it contained was larger than life, it made life easier. The fundamental practices it explained made good sense to me and I started applying the priciples of good business to my life...and it was a real eye openner. Upon my arrival to Los Angeles, I gave the book to my nephew, who also started to use the priciples found in the "small" paperback and now ,even with the recession, is slowly making a good life for himself. I purchased three more copies and sent them to my daughters for Christmas and they are reading it and hopefully will apply these basic but life securing priciples found in this book. So now having said all this, what is the real key to the success of the richest man in Babylon? It is steadfastness, and confidence in the priciples found in the book. Start small, but grow, there are NO fast solutions to life, but being steadfast and confident in yourself that you will be secure in your life, you will make it. Am I a millionaire? pray no, but I am comfortable and happy in my life and that is what we all really seek....

I wish I knew the principles taught in this book when I was young. I would be a millionaire/billionaire by now. This book should be offered in High School, so our entire nation can grow up and age wonderfully being enriched with sound principles and abundant wealth!

This book is a wonderful mentor for me. The ideas are great and very useful. I enjoy reading this book a lot and working on to implementing some of the ideas in my life.

I love finance and reading up on money matter. This is an excellent book to start reading and educating yourself on Financial Literacy.

I love reading this type of inspiration books. I love to make comments and writing about finance and money [...]

Enjoy

Great book to learn basic money management. If your looking for personal development and understanding how to create wealth this is a great book to start with. It should be part of every persons library who is really interested in educating himself to become wealthy.