The Seven Cures For A Lean Purse

There is a problem with our educational system, which could be solved by introducing one text That text, by George S. Clayson, is The Richest Man in Babylon.

There's a reason why nobody receives financial education in the public school system. It's because they don't want you to have it. It's a little more complex than I want to go into here, but literally, they do not want you to have financial education.

Without financial education, you make a more docile sheep, and you pay more taxes. But you can still find the info you need! The Richest Man in Babylon is a text that we recommend in our coaching programs for learning financial literacy. It's one we especially recommend in our high-end, $50,000 Destiny Creator intensive courses, for a very good reason.

And in this book we meet Arkad, the richest man in Babylon. This man started off as a youth with no advantages and no money—just like every other Babylonian kid. Early on, he was ambitious. Early on, he discovered the laws of success and followed them.

And there it is for you, too—to discover what is available, the laws of success, and then to have the discipline to follow through with them.

Will it require a little work and effort? Yes, you'll either have discipline now or regrets later. So get friendly with a financial calculator, so you can discover compounding power and what it can do for you.

So, at one point the king approaches Arkad and asks him, "Arkad, will you teach our citizens more about the way to acquire wealth that you have discovered?" Arkad says, "Well, Your Honor, it is learnable. What one has done, others can do. At your request, yes I will."

A fortnight later he finds himself in the Great Hall, in the Temple of Learning. Approximately 100 people are there; there's a spirited discussion going on. They all want to know what the richest man in Babylon has to share with them.

So he teaches them the seven cures which did fatten his own purse, the seven cures for a weak wallet.

The first cure is, “Start thy purse to fattening”. As simple as it sounds, the majority of human beings have never even begun here. It's real simple. Take 10% of your income out, set it aside, and live on nine-tenths of your income.

Live on less than you are making, to get your nest egg started. Then he mentions that he knows that many people will wonder, "How can I live on nine-tenths, when I can't live on ten-tenths?" And his basic reply is, "It's not going to make much difference."

The second cure is, “Control they expenditures”. As you may have heard, often when people get a raise their expenses go up, and they come out no better off. There will always be an abundance of things to spend money on. So, what you want to do is, of course, control your outgo.

Subordinate the passions and pleasures of the present moment against the future that you have designed, with discipline, foresight, and forethought.

As he puts it, “Realize thy most cherished desires by defending them from thy casual wishes.” Have a budget, stay within it, make sure you get your dollar's worth out of everything that you invest in.

The third cure for a lean purse is, “Make thy gold to multiply”. That's right. You started setting some aside, you're controlling your expenses, and now it's time to put your investment money to work. And listen, a person's wealth is not in their purse, it's not in the car they drive, it's in the income that they have coming in. So that's what you want to do: put your money to work.

You start small. For instance, when we're talking about trading, we'll talk about how you even start with paper trading, and then you start with a scratch, whatever that is. You don't start off by putting all your money in investments that you don't know anything about.

With the magic of compounding interest, over time this money will increase.

This, then, Arkad says, is the third cure for a lean purse—to put each coin to laboring, that it may reproduce its kind even as the flocks of the field, and help bring an income a stream of wealth that shall flow constantly into thy purse. Income—a stream of wealth. That it may reproduce its kind even as the flocks of the field.

The fourth cure for a lean purse is, “Guard thy treasures from loss”. I love it, and you know it to be true. Arkad says, "Misfortune loves a shining mark." He says, "Make sure your principal is secure."

It's like Will Rogers once said, "I'm more concerned about return of investment than I am return on investment." And it is so true. Do not get sucked in to rosy-sounding deals. Get the advice of people who know.

The fifth cure is, “Make thy dwelling a profitable investment”. He talks about how good it makes your heart feel to have your own place, in addition to the fact that it's cheaper, and when it's paid off you only have to pay the king—that is, the government—their taxes. You're living practically free. Many blessings come to a person who owns thy own home.

The sixth cure is, “Ensure a future income.” Houses, lands; real estate is one of the best investments to make. Now, you can see that this kind of thing requires a plan over time. We're talking about leveraging over time—five years, 10 years, 20 years, 30 years and more, to become wealthy.

Also, make sure you have insurance to care for your family if you're taken away. Ensure a future income for them, and ensure a future income for yourself. Your allotted path is from childhood to old age, unless the Gods call you prematurely. Provide.

The seventh cure is, “Increase thy ability to earn”. In other words, get more education, take on bigger tasks, make more money, develop more interest in your work.

With that you earn more, and therefore your 10% is more. You have the ability to do more all the way along, and leveraging over time is miraculous.

These, then, are the seven cures for a lean purse, as originally taught by Arkad in the Temple of Learning. Find out more in George S. Clayson's book, The Richest Man in Babylon!