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The richest man in Babylon Archives - SISIKUNMI https://www.sisikunmi.com/tag/the-richest-man-in-babylon/ Live. Learn. Inspire Fri, 21 Feb 2020 08:31:18 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 https://www.sisikunmi.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/cropped-cropped-cropped-wp-1604087001228-1-32x32.png The richest man in Babylon Archives - SISIKUNMI https://www.sisikunmi.com/tag/the-richest-man-in-babylon/ 32 32 Money talks || Cures for a lean purse – IV https://www.sisikunmi.com/lifestyle/money-talks-cure-for-a-lean-purse-iv/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=money-talks-cure-for-a-lean-purse-iv https://www.sisikunmi.com/lifestyle/money-talks-cure-for-a-lean-purse-iv/#respond Fri, 15 Nov 2019 12:50:39 +0000 https://sisikunmi.wordpress.com/?p=293 Welcome back! We have now come to the last post in the ‘Cure for a lean purse’ series. It’s been a thrilling journey so far. In case you’re just joining in, you can catch-up on all the saving, investment and retirement tips we’ve discussed so far. Let’s get into the last, but definitely not the least important cure. #7 ‘Increase thy ability to earn’ ‘The more wisdom we know, the more we may earn.’ Arkad. There’s a saying which recently became popular which goes ‘Dangote still they find money’. Mr Aliko Dangote, the richest man in Africa still finding ways to increase and secure his net worth. This is true for most of the richest men in today’s world. Even when their net worth can be unbelievably massive. It doesn’t matter what you ear, you need to increase your ability to earn. Back to curing our lean purses, increasing your ability to earn is an important part of increasing one’s income. Sometimes saving and investing just isn’t enough. I had a discussion with a friend recently where she asked about platforms to invest which will give high ROIs. After listening to her, how she had a lot of responsibilities – personally and family-wise. After listening to her, I told her that what she really needs to do is to find a way to earn more than she does at the moment. So how exactly do we increase our ability to earn? I’ll outline various ways that I have come across. I acknowledge that it might not be so easy to earn more, it is always worth a shot. • Improving your abilities and getting promoted/ asking for a pay raise at work • Getting a side hustle: freelancing, starting a small trading business • Turn a hobby you’re good at into something profitable There are definitely more ways to do these and if you have any, you can please drop them in the comment section below. Increasing your earnings and applying the principles we’ve learnt in this series to whatever income comes from it will significantly help to cure a lean purse. As we end this series on curing a lean purse, I’d like to say that while making and having money is something we all desire, we shouldn’t tie our happiness to it. Odd as it may sound, do your best to be happy at whatever stage you are. Happiness is determined by you, no matter what life throws at you. Also, it takes time to build wealth. As I learnt from the book ‘The millionaire next door’ by Thomas J. Stanley, millionaires are made not necessarily by how much they earn but by how they live. Applying the 7 cures we’ve discussed might not yield results overnight, but if we stay consistently at it, 5, 10, 20 years down the line, we’d be grateful we did. “Wealth is more often the result of a lifestyle of hard work, perseverance, planning, and, most of all, self-discipline.” ― Thomas J. Stanley, The Millionaire Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of America’s Wealthy Thank you for staying with me throughout the 4 posts in the curing a lean purse series. It was a pleasure to write the posts, and knowing that people read and were inspired by them makes my heart full. If this is your first time on the series, you can go here to catch up on all the other posts. Also, subscribe to this blog to get instant personalized updates on new posts. Not all of my posts focus on money issues, but I’m certain that you’ll find the other categories of posts as inspiring. Till next time, Sisikunmi

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]]> https://www.sisikunmi.com/lifestyle/money-talks-cure-for-a-lean-purse-iv/feed/ 0 Money talks || Cures for a lean purse – III https://www.sisikunmi.com/lifestyle/money-talk-cures-for-a-lean-purse-iii/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=money-talk-cures-for-a-lean-purse-iii https://www.sisikunmi.com/lifestyle/money-talk-cures-for-a-lean-purse-iii/#respond Fri, 08 Nov 2019 12:50:04 +0000 https://sisikunmi.wordpress.com/?p=292 Hey people! If you’re just joining in, this is a series of posts on curing a lean purse – teachings on saving and investment in simple, relatable terms. The principles are taken from the book, The Richest Man in Babylon. Even if you have read the book before, I’m sure you’ll still be able to pick a thing or 2 from this post series as we discuss how to apply those principles to our modern life. We’ve discussed four cures already covering saving, budgeting as well as investing. Make sure you subscribe to this blog so as to get new posts delivered straight to your inbox! #5 ‘Make of thy dwelling a profitable investment.’ ‘Thus come many blessings to the man who owneth his own house. And greatly will it reduce his cost of living, making available more of his earnings for pleasures and the gratification of his desires.’ Arkad Owning your own home is an essential part of survival. On the scale of needs, shelter ranks high up there among some of the essentials needs of man. Owning a home is usually a long term plan though (except if you have rich folks who can afford to gift you one). It is easy to get carried away with other cares of life, forgetting to work towards achieving this goal since it is long term. As in the quote above, owning a home reduces the cost of living as you do not have to worry about paying rent or anything like that. Although other expenses come into play, like maintenance and all, it is usually minute when other things are considered. There was a discussion around this recently on Twitter and you can follow it here. #6 ‘Ensure a future income’ ‘The life of every man proceedeth from his childhood to his old age… it behoves a man to make preparations for a suitable income in the days to come, when he is no longer young.’ Arkad As we all know, no one can work forever. Even if you own your own business/company, there will come a time when we have to retire. In our environment, we see a lot of retired folks who are really not thriving. To make it worse, the government sometimes holds on to their pension funds, owing as much as a year or more worth of pension. It would be tragic for anyone who has enjoyed the good things of life in their youth to now have to beg and feed from hand to mouth. This is why it is important to money saved up for these times. Some companies open pension accounts for their employees where a certain amount of their salary is paid monthly. Also, pension accounts can be opened by the individual on his or her own. Another instance where insuring a future income is important is when one loses a job. No one wishes for it but sometimes, people are let go from their jobs. It is usually advised that emergency funds are kept which is estimated to at least 6-9 months worth of the person’s current salary so as to enable him or her stay afloat while in search of new opportunities. Such funds most times take a while to accumulate but starting early helps as you will still have some cash to spare in the event of such occurrences. Savings and investments which were talked about here is also a way to secure an income for the future. For a lean purse to a man no longer able to earn or to a family without its head is a sore tragedy. Arkad That’s all we have for today folks. How are you finding this series? Is it something you’ll like to see more of? Have you been inspired by any of the posts to make some changes to your finances? Let me know in the comment section below. We’ll be having the last post next Friday. If you are yet to subscribe to this blog, kindly do so before leaving. I don’t want you to miss out on any of this awesomeness!

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]]> https://www.sisikunmi.com/lifestyle/money-talk-cures-for-a-lean-purse-iii/feed/ 0 Money talks || Cures for a lean purse – II https://www.sisikunmi.com/lifestyle/money-talks-cures-for-a-lean-purse-ii/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=money-talks-cures-for-a-lean-purse-ii https://www.sisikunmi.com/lifestyle/money-talks-cures-for-a-lean-purse-ii/#comments Fri, 01 Nov 2019 00:48:32 +0000 https://sisikunmi.wordpress.com/?p=291 Hi money-minded peeps! Happy new month!!! Hope you’ve made some personal finance assessments and adjustments since we discussed the first two cures for a lean purse? If you have, awesome! If you are yet to, you’re still on track because now that you have the knowledge, all you need now is the ginger to implement. Here’s something Arkad has to say to you on that note – ‘Wealth, like a tree, grows from a seed. The first copper you save is the seed from which your tree of wealth shall grow. The sooner you plant that seed the sooner the tree grows. And the more faithfully you nourish and water that tree with consistent savings, the sooner may you bask in contentment beneath its shade’. This is the ginger you needed. Oya gbera and get to it ASAP! We’re continuing the discussion on the cures for a lean purse. In case you missed when it was first discussed here, I’ll reintroduce you to what the cures for a lean purse mean. They are a set of rules concerning personal finance outlined in the richest man in Babylon. These rules were narrated by Arkad, the richest man in Babylon who started from nothing in the rich city of Babylon. The rules are said to have guided men in those days towards acquiring and retaining riches. If you are yet to, kindly subscribe to this blog so you can get each new post delivered directly to you. You wouldn’t want to miss any of it. #3 ‘Make thy gold multiply.’ ‘Gold in a purse is gratifying to own and satisfieth a miserly soul but earns nothing. The gold we may retain from our earnings is but the start. The earnings it will make shall build our fortunes.’ Arkad. Saving is not enough. The Yorubas’ say ‘owo la fi n wowo’ meaning ‘it is money we use to look for money.’ This is investment summarized. You can’t be working while your money is chilling in one corner of your cupboard. You have to put it to work! Putting your money means putting your money into investments which will add value to your money. There are various ways to go about this and you don’t have to be earning a whole lot before you start. Building the habit now is a good way to sustain it and be more knowledgeable when the big bucks come. Investing can be low-, medium- or high- risk, depending on how much you are willing to part with and how secure your capital is. Some investment types I’ve come across are money market funds, treasury bills, agricultural investments, legal bonds… Also investing in a start-up or a business. Always remember to sign an agreement with the other part, even they are family/friends. You can check out Subomi Plumptre’s site, where she has a column on investments. #4 ‘Guide your treasure from loss.’ ‘Every owner of gold is tempted by opportunities whereby it would seem that he could make large sums by its investments.’ Arkad. We’ve spoken about how money saved needs to be invested in order to yield more increase. However, it would be an oversight if we do not expound on securing said investments against loss. It is very easy to be swayed by the high returns of investment (ROIs) and get carried away. Investments can be really tricky sometimes. Arkad advises against taking on investments where the capital is not insured however, most investments with high ROIs come with the risk of losing the capital. This is where knowing your level of investment risk comes in. It is determined by your level of income, and personality among other things and it can change over a period. Here’s a calculator I found online to calculate your personal level of risk-taking. It is also recommended that you seek sound investment advice before embarking on any investment. Money business is serious business. ‘A man’s wealth is not in the coins he carries in his purse; it is the income he buildeth, the golden stream that continually floweth into his purse.’ Arkad. I’ll include the 5 laws of gold, from the same book, here as I believe it talks majorly about savings and investments. Five Laws of gold: I. Gold cometh gladly and in increasing quantity to any man who will put by not less than one-tenth of his earnings to create an estate for his future and that of his family. II. Gold laboureth diligently and contentedly for the wise owner who finds for it profitable employment, multiplying even as flocks of the field. III. Gold clingeth to the protection of the cautious owner who invests it under the advice of men wise in its handling. IV. Gold slippeth away from the man who invests it in business or purposes with which he is not familiar or which are not approved by those skilled in its keep. V. Gold flees the man who would force it to impossible earnings or who followeth the alluring advice of tricksters and schemers who trusts it to his own inexperience and romantic desires in investments. That’s the end of today’s lessons. We have 3 cures to go and I hope we’ve started applying these lessons to our finances? See you next Friday as we continue the series!

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]]> https://www.sisikunmi.com/lifestyle/money-talks-cures-for-a-lean-purse-ii/feed/ 4 Money talks || Cures for a lean purse I https://www.sisikunmi.com/lifestyle/money-talks-cures-for-a-lean-purse-i/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=money-talks-cures-for-a-lean-purse-i https://www.sisikunmi.com/lifestyle/money-talks-cures-for-a-lean-purse-i/#comments Fri, 25 Oct 2019 12:40:17 +0000 https://sisikunmi.wordpress.com/?p=239 Hey people! Hope you’ve been well since our last post? In the debut money talks post, I promised to share some tips on savings and investment over the next few weeks. Most of the principles I’ll be sharing are gotten from the time-trusted book, The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason. Babylon is said to have been the wealthiest nation in its time, with lots of wealthy persons inhabiting it. It is also home to one of the seven wonders of the world, the hanging gardens of Babylon. Although I’ve been guided by most of these principles way before I read the book, everything was really broken down here, explaining financial concepts using storytelling. If you want to go deeper than I’ll do in this series of posts, then I’d recommend that you read this book (you can finish it in hours – it’s that short and interesting). In today’s post, we’ll be talking about the cures for a lean purse. The cures for a lean purse are a set of rules concerning personal finance outlined in The Richest Man in Babylon. These rules were narrated by Arkad, the richest man in Babylon who started from nothing in the rich city of Babylon. The rules are said to have guided men in those days towards acquiring and retaining riches. I’ll be sharing some of these rules, expounding a bit on them and how they can be applied to us in this modern day. According to Arkad, there are 7 cures for a lean purse and these will be discussed in bits over the next few posts. If you’re yet to subscribe, kindly do so you wouldn’t miss out on anything. #1 Cure for a lean purse: ‘Start thy purse to fatten.’ How do you fatten your purse? By putting money in it, simple. The idea is to set aside some money at intervals, essentially for savings. As explained in the book, you can see this as paying yourself just like you pay the tailor, restaurant and all others. The way to make this work well is to ensure that you pay yourself first, before any other person. As Arkad tells us in the book, a part of all you earn is yours to keep. Also, rather than setting a particular amount, it’s always better to set a percentage. This helps you adjust the actual amount to suit your income level. For instance, if you’ve been saving 5,000 naira monthly from a 50,000 naira salary when the salary jumps to 100,000 naira, you might find it difficult to adjust your mindset to increase your savings amount and stay at 5,000 naira. However, if you are using a percentage system, it becomes easier to increase your savings. A minimum savings of 10% of your income is usually advised but this can go higher depending on your personal preference. Saving has gotten easier in this age as there are now various platforms which one can use to automate savings. Here is one of such you can check out. You can automate your savings so that you don’t have to worry about forgetting. You also get interests on your savings. I already talked a bit here about the benefits of saving on this kind of platform as opposed to a wooden piggybank or the likes. #2 Cure for a lean purse: ‘Control thy expenditure.‘ The next thing after saving is to ensure that you do all you can to avoid dipping into the savings. This is where budgeting comes in. Some might even argue that budgeting comes before saving. Budgeting is basically controlling your money, telling it where to go and how much can go there. If you don’t control your money, it can go haywire. Once again, the easier way to budget is to set certain percentages of your income rather than having fixed amounts. The 50/30/20 rule of allocating funds is usually advised. I’d rearrange this to 20/50/30 in order of importance. This means 20% of your income goes to savings and investment, 50% goes to your needs (housing feeding, clothing, etc) and the remaining 30% goes to your wants (eating out, games and the likes). You can always determine what your wants and needs are as what can be a need for me might just be a want for you and vice versa. Also, you can adjust the percentages to suit what you want to achieve. There are other ways of budgeting such as spending what is left after saving and putting different amounts in different envelopes. I think all stem from the percentage rule which is still the best in my opinion. Keep this in mind when budgeting – Expenses expand to meet income, so if you’re not careful you’ll lose control over your money. ‘What each of us calls our ‘necessary expenses’ will always grow to equal our incomes unless we protest to the contrary… All men are burdened with more desires than can be gratified.’ Arkad, The Richest Man in Babylon. To make your budgeting easier, you have to know what you spend on which can be done by tracking your expenses. You can decide to track your expenses for a week or more before committing to a fixed budget. Tracking your expenses also helps you plug any leakage in your finances, readjusting your spending to suit your income. There are several applications out there which help with tracking expenses. Some people also use excel spreadsheets to track theirs. Those are the 2 cures for today. I hope this has inspired you to take your personal finances more seriously. Check back next Friday for the next 2 cures, or subscribe to get notified instantly when the post goes up. Just before we sign out for today, here’s something Arkad has for us: ‘Enjoy life while you are here. Do not overstrain or try to save too much. If one-tenth of all you earn is as much as you can comfortably keep, be content to keep this portion. Live otherwise according to your income and let not yourself get niggardly and afraid to spend. Life is good and life is rich with things worthwhile and things to enjoy.’ Arkad, The Richest Man in Babylon. So while we should save and plan for the future, let’s remember to live now, enjoy life. As my friend would say – Chop life, no let life chop you! Do you already follow some of these principles? How has it been? Do you have some tips to share? Let me know in the comments section below. (Your comments add a spark to my day so I’d really like to hear from you!)

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