As you may recall, here are the prerequisite and steps one to four:
(Feel free to refer to the post How to Become the Richest Man or Woman in Your City for more detail on the prerequisite and Steps 1 – 4)

The Prerequisite – A burning desire to create wealth along with the willingness to take the required action steps.

Step 1 – Start your wallet or purse to fattening by with 10% of your earnings that is yours to keep.

Step 2 – Control your expenditures to live comfortably on the remaining 90%.

Step 3 – Make your gold (money) multiply by investing the 10%.

Step 4 – Guard your treasures (money) from loss.

Now let’s learn the details of steps five through seven that complete the path to wealth as practiced by The Richest Man in Babylon.

Step 5 – Make thy dwelling a profitable investment
In the days of Babylon many folks rented unsuitable living quarters. It was true then that renting was a way to throw your money away where building a home through borrowing from the money lender resulted in nearly the same monthly expenditure that creates an investment. So the recommendation was to acquire a nice little home that you could afford where you and your family can live comfortably.

Most of us already see the value of this step and we’ve already acquired a home. The main point I took from George Clason in this step is to purchase a nice little home you can afford. We can’t let our mortgage payment strap us down since we have to live comfortably on the remaining 90%. Also it is important to note that 10% was set aside for investment in addition to the mortgage payment.

When we look at the importance of purchasing a home as well as investing in other income producing assets, I’m reminded of Robert Kiyosaki‘s teachings in his book Rich Dad Poor Dad. Robert says that your home is a liability because it causes money to go out through mortgage payments and upkeep. This is a total opposite of what our banks tell us and what most believe that our home is an asset. So George Clason and Robert Kiyosaki strongly agree that your home is not your best asset and that you must have many more investment assets to have true riches.

Step 6 – Insure a Future Income
You must always be thinking of the future and make preparations for a suitable income in the days to come. Also you must make preparations for your family when you can no longer be there to support them. “No man can afford not to insure a treasure for this old age and the protection of his family, no matter how prosperous his business and investments may be.”, wrote George Clason.

Planning for the future involves making investments that will endure safely for many years. These same investments must be available when the time comes for their use as was anticipated. George Clason and the Richest Man in Babylon also make the point that the earlier you start planning and investing for your future income, the less you will have to invest each year. Notice that there was no mention of planning to depend on social security for future income.

It was very interesting to learn that back in ancient times, the men of Babylon predicted many men paying in a small amount regularly to create a handsome sum for the family of each man who passeth to the beyond. We all certainly know this plan as life insurance. The financial intelligence and wisdom of the people from this ancient period in history is astounding.

Step 7 – Increase Thy Ability to Earn
If you find that your expenditures exceed your income, the only real solution is to increase your capacity to earn more income. Some may think this can to be done by going to your boss to ask for a raise or using loans and credit cards.  The raise request may work, but most likely not, and incurring bad debt is definitely not the solution.

The sure way to increase your ability to earn is to learn more through self-education.  Per George Clason, your financial situation will improve when you seek greater skill so that you can better serve those whose patronage you depend on. Therefore, you must always make progress and be moving forward rather than standing still to be left behind.

This “seventh and last remedy for a lean purse is to cultivate thy own powers, to study and become wiser, to become more skillful, to so act as to respect thyself.” This sounds so close to Jim Rohn‘s teachings to make yourself more valuable to the marketplace through the disciplines of self-development.

I can certainly tell that George Clason‘s book The Richest Man in Babylon made a direct impact on Jim Rohn and he so kindly helped others to benefit as well. I hope you read this book and put it’s wisdom into action for you and your family.

Today I want to let you know the initial steps that were used by the Richest Man in Babylon that allowed him to become so very rich.  First though, I need to mention the prerequisite that I did not mention in my video.  That all important prerequisite is to have a burning desire to become rich and wealthy.  Without that, any set of steps will fail because the desire is not strong enough. That strong desire will make you seek out the knowledge and take the required actions.

The Richest Man in Babylon’s first step to wealth began when he decided that a part of all he earned was his to keep.  Meaning he put aside 10% of all his earnings (his gold) to use that money to make him more money while he adjusted his spending so that he was able to live comfortably on the remaining 90%.  Learning to live on the remaining 90% was the second step.   Once he made the adjustment to spend only 90% of his gold, he felt no real decrease in his lifestyle.  Of course, the clinking gold coins (the 10% set aside for investment) in his purse (aren’t you men glad you can call it a wallet now) probably gave him a new happiness that boosted his outlook like nothing else could.

Now it is very important what you do with the 10%.  Guarding your investment from loss is the fourth step.   In the beginning as he learned by making mistakes, the Richest Man in Babylon invested his first year’s worth of 10% savings with his bricklayer so that they each could buy jewels to resell to the people of the City of Babylon for a large profit.  As you may have guessed, the bricklayer knew nothing about jewels and he was easily tricked into accepting colored pieces of glass in exchange for his and the Richest Man in Babylon’s full 10% investment.   The lesson learned here was that you should never trust a bricklayer’s knowledge about jewels, or, in today’s words, be sure you find an expert in the investment you plan to make or, better yet, become an expert yourself.

What I liked most about this book is that I now know the steps to immense wealth used and proven in ancient times and I love how relevant those steps are in today’s world.  Please take Jim Rohn’s recommendation and join the 3% who’ve read this little book.  Go out and get or borrow (Jim says that only 3% of American’s have a library card; must be the same 3%) the book, The Richest Man in Babylon, and use what you learn from George Clason to become the Richest Man or Woman in your City!