The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason is a personal finance classic. The book was written in 1926 and provides simple, but impactful lessons on how to get on the path to wealth. Here are some of the lessons I took away from The Richest Man in Babylon.
Seek Wealth
If you're not creating a goal, then you have nothing to chase. You have nothing to compare your progress against. The first step in creating wealth is seeking it.
Investing in Yourself
In order to grow your wealth, you need to grow as a person. You need to learn more. You need to exercise and take care of yourself. Learning more opens you up to understanding more and taking advantage of opportunities. If you take care of yourself with diet and exercise, then you're able to grow your wealth more and use less of it to pay for healthcare.
Act
Learning and growing is great and vital, but it means nothing if you don't act. So once you accumulate some knowledge, act.
Get Good Advice
"Advice is one thing that is freely given away, but watch that you only take what is worth having." - George S. Clason
Invest Your Money
You can save as much money as you'd like, but you need to put it to work. If you saved $10,000 per year for 30 years, you'd end up with $300,000. If you saved that much money for that much time, but invested it in an asset (assets) that returned 6% per year, you'd end up with $838,000.
Live Below Your Means
You can't invest your money if you have no money to invest. One sure way to have money to save and invest is to live below your means. What that means is you spend less than you make. To piggyback on that point, cutting expenses that aren't necessary is how you keep your spending below what you make.
Avoid Risky Investments
This goes hand in hand with the "investing in yourself." The more you learn, the better a student you'll be. The better student you are, the more due diligence you'll perform when selecting your investments.
Buy Protection
Insurance makes a difference. You need to protect your assets, your ability to earn an income, and your life if you have a family and/or a business.
It's Not the End All Be All
Money is a tool and should be treated as such. Don't let it be your sole focus. Live your life. Spend time with the people you love and do things you enjoy.
Conclusion
The Richest Man in Babylon is a great book and I think anyone who wants to improve their financial situation should read this book.