From the shelf · 102 money books
Does The Richest Man in Babylon hold up?
The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason is one of the 102 money books on The Money Shelf. The shelf links it to 2 of the 22 claims that the book tests against official records from the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia. Each verdict below comes from that test.
Claim 1 · The book makes this claimCompound interest: start early
HoldsIn every case above the 40-year saver ends with more than the 30-year saver for the same monthly sum, by a factor that depends only on the return and the number of years, and the first ten years of deposits supply 41 to 54 per cent of the final balance.
Read the full test →Claim 3 · The book makes this claimPay yourself first: save before you spend
Holds with conditionsThe paper’s own results support pre-committed saving out of future pay rises as a way of raising saving rates among employees who agree to join, and the condition is that the household has income left after essential spending, because the national ratios show only average room.
Read the full test →The Richest Man in Babylon raised the question. The records take it further: every figure dated, every source named, and the arithmetic worked through for three countries.
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