The Richest Man In Babylon - Book Review

By eric | Jul 7, 2008

I recently finished reading The Richest Man in Babylon and I can’t believe I waited this long to read it. This book should have been required reading in ALL school curriculum. This book is short, sweet and too the point. With a total of 160 pages and well written short stories once you get past the King James Dialect the book is written in it’s a real fast read. My Total time investing in the book was a little over an hour and a half. The book is written in a series of parables which take place in ancient Babylon. It highlights the rules of the richest man in Babylon in his handling of gold, The mind of a freeman versus a slave when it comes to debt. Towards the end of the book a plan for facing your debt, confronting your debtors and paying them back in due time. Of particular enjoyment was the lessons some of the characters faced. One particular character was learning to make his “gold have children”, He saved 10% of his income for a year and invested it with a brick maker who was to purchase exotic jewels from a distant land. Only later did he realize the jewels were merely glass with no value. The lesson he learned was to not invest his money with a man who knew nothing of the trade he pursued. This book is highly recommended for anyone who has not read it. Even if you know everything there is to know of personal finance, I recommend this book. The book is inexpensive and can be read on a two hour plane ride if you put forth the effort. Go ahead, pick up the book and enjoy.

Have you read this book yet? What are your thoughts on it?

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