“Money is plentiful for those who understand the simple laws that govern its acquisition.” George S. Clason

In these harsh economic times, there are many people who believe that it’s almost impossible for them to become get ahead financially. They focus on their shrinking spending power and their apparent inability to achieve their goals and declare, “I give up!”

What most people fail to recognize that it’s not really their lack of money that’s keeping them broke, it’s their lack of financial literacy that’s holding them back. According to Wikipedia, financial literacy is the ability of individuals to make appropriate decisions in managing their personal finances.

You can actually learn how to manage your money effectively, multiply your money to create wealth, and maintain your money to preserve it for future generations.

So where can you obtain an education on financial literacy? The bad news is that the art and science of managing money is not taught in schools, although it should be. The good news is that the information is still available if you look for it.

There are hundreds of books and CDs, dozens of television shows, workshops and seminars, and countless resource sites on the Internet that can supply you with valuable information on money.

One perennial favourite in the financial literacy library is George S. Clason’s masterpiece The Richest Man In Babylon. This book has been hailed as the ‘greatest of all inspirational works on the subject of thrift, financial planning and personal wealth.’ The book’s parables reveal many truths about acquiring and keeping money that are guaranteed to bring financial success to the diligent student.

Let’s look at what Clason has to say about wealth creation in the chapter The Five Laws of Gold:

Law #1: 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.

Here we see the concepts of ‘pay yourself first’ and ‘save one-tenth of what you earn’ reinforced. This law explains that you don’t need a shortcut to wealth; as steady and consistent savings will earn enough interest over time to create a sizeable estate. As we say in Jamaica ‘One one coco full basket.’ It also speaks to the importance of planning for the future instead of spending all we earn as if there will be no tomorrow.

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Law #2: Gold laboreth diligently and contentedly for the wise owner who finds for it profitable employment, multiplying even as the flocks of the field.

The law could be simply stated as ‘cash is king’. Your money will work hard for you when you take advantage of prudent opportunities to put it to good use. That is why persons with an entrepreneurial mindset can take even the smallest amount of money and turn it over to create wealth. Clason emphasises that the owner must be wise in seeking avenues to invest this money.

Law #3:   Gold clingeth to the protection of the cautious owner who invests it under the advice of men wise in its handling.

Clason takes his investing lesson a step further by advising you to seek proper financial advice. He stresses that it’s important not to jeopardize your treasure but to “preserve it in safety and enjoy in contentment its consistent increase.” The old adage ‘a fool and his money are soon parted’ comes to mind as he declares that the careless owner of gold will lose it.

Law #4: Gold slippeth away from the man who invests it in businesses or purposes with which he is not familiar or which are not approved by those skilled in its keep.

Many business people who have suffered losses will readily understand this advice. Stick to the areas in which you have some experience or talent, and don’t try to make your fortune where you lack knowledge. As Clason says, “the inexperienced owner of gold who invests it in businesses with which he is not familiar, too often finds his judgment imperfect, and pays with his treasure for his inexperience.”

Law#5: Gold flees the man who would force it to impossible earnings or who followeth the alluring advice of tricksters and schemers or who trusts it to his own inexperience and romantic desires in investment.

It seems that the lure of get-rich-quick schemes will always be with us, and the end result will unfortunately always be the same. Perhaps the Financial Services Commission should have borrowed from Clason’s eloquent prose in its campaign against the unregulated financial institutions: “Fanciful propositions that thrill like adventure tales always come to the new owner of gold. These appear to endow his treasure with magic powers that will enable it to make impossible earnings. Yet heed ye the wise men for verily they know the risks that lurk behind every plan to make great wealth suddenly.”

Clason points out that these laws of gold are not hidden secrets but “truths which every man must first learn and then follow.” Will you take heed and abide by his advice?