One of my goals here at Your Value Worth is to discuss topics that help you grow personally and present basic wealth-building concepts to help you succeed financially.

Recently I read The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason to compare the relevance of its content to today’s principles of building wealth. This classic financial book was published in 1926 and has sold over 2 million copies.

While this is an older book, there are still some lessons to be learned even today. In this article, I will review The Richest Man in Babylon by providing a summary of key themes taken from the book and contrasting them with how they apply to us today.

I hope to provide you with a basic view of the concepts in this book and help you gain knowledge for your development.

Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

A brief background of Babylon

The Richest Man in Babylon is based on ancient times and provides a historical view of how it developed and maintained a strong wall of protection for the city. As a result, Babylon was wealthy and prosperous during its time.

Many short stories are presented as parables to describe how a young man named Arkad, who was unwise with managing money early on in his youth, became the wealthiest man in Babylon. Arkad teaches others the basic principles he learned to build wealth so that they, in turn, can teach others.

Key themes to lessons learned

• Save 10 percent of the money you earn
• Make it a habit to pay yourself first before paying anyone else
• Live within a budget and don’t spend what you can not afford
• Invest your money in things that can grow over time
• Take time to research before deciding to invest or spend your money
• Take out insurance to protect you from unforeseen circumstances
• Create generational wealth to pass on to your family

How do these themes apply today?

The primary themes presented in this book are still sound principles that can apply to us today. For example, there are examples of how Arkad and his wife disciplined themselves to work together and stick to their budget. It also uses concepts of finding opportunities in places that some people may view as risky. Taking a risk meaning to take a chance to invest in something or start a business for example.

However, proper research, getting advice from a trusted expert, and gaining more experience can help you make wiser decisions.

Compare these older principles to current, up-to-date solutions presented in newer books. For example, there are books such as The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas J Stanley, Ph.D and William D. Danko, Ph.D, or Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki. The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham.

Current principles now expand on concepts for using real estate investments, stock investments, starting a business, and creating multiple income streams to grow wealth. We may need to save more than 10 percent of what we earn due to the higher cost of living and other economic factors that can affect our wealth over time.

A few takeaways

This is a short book that can be read within about 2-3 hours and provides different parables on how to become financially successful. It is not designed to help you get rich overnight.

This book provides basic principles for saving money and building wealth that is easy to understand. These parables reinforce simple steps to build wealth in different life situations. In some ways, the stories are redundant by repeating these principles. However, you can apply these principles to your life or use them to build your knowledge.

This book can help anyone new to investments or wanting to get started with building wealth how to apply the concepts and principles to get started. It also can help young people in their early teens as an introduction to building wealth principles.

Conclusion

In conclusion, The Richest Man in Babylon is a book that can benefit almost anyone at different stages of their life. For a beginner, it can provide insight into saving for your future. However, it may not have the same value or importance for a novice or advanced investor. It is a great book to add to your book collection or just for learning basic principles for building wealth.

Thank you for your time in reviewing this article. As always, I welcome your feedback and comments.