This is the first financial planning book I have ever read. I'm glad that I started with this one. It's old and a golden standard when it comes to personal finance.
This amazing book was written by George Samuel Clason in 1926. Though the book was published more than 75 years ago, it stands relevant till today.
I really loved the character of Arkad. Babylon was probably the richest city in the world during its reign as per George. The people of Babylon had great respect for Arkad and his knowledge of financial planning.
Throughout this book we can see various tales of Arkad and the people he met in his trading journey. All of the tales are really creative. If you can sense the underlying meaning, you'll surely love this book.
The most interesting message from the book according to me is "Invest in yourself!".
Most people usually misunderstand this statement. They would think buying something pretty or something of a luxury is investing in themselves. What George truly means is to improve your assets.
If you invest in something that is an asset to you, you are surely investing in yourself as it pays. It can be a good book on self help, a stock or real estate asset or a seminar that can teach you something useful.
Many such thoughts had been carefully written in this book that can help one understand the basics of investing.
The book may not be written in simple English but the meaning is easy to understand. I do however think that non native English speakers might find this book a bit confusing when it comes to interpretation.
I do read Arabian Knights by Richard Burton and sometimes feel that the archaic vocabulary is really too much.
Though The Richest man in Babylon is not that much tough on the vocabulary, it is still puzzling for some. The fables however make it easy to understand everything.
If you ever wanted to start reading a book on Personal Finance, I'd recommend "The Richest man in Babylon" every single time.