Wealth

Wealth is something that can continuously provide us with money while we are asleep and not working. Things like assets, stocks, dividends, and so on.

How to Build Your Own Wealth

1. Save. The Babylonian wealthy recommend saving one-tenth of your income; of course, that is a relatively low standard.
   1. Save more money as long as it doesn’t affect your life too much. Keep doing the right things.
   2. It’s not about being overly frugal; enjoying life is also something you should do.
2. Next, protect your wealth.
   1. Learn to ask professionals about professional matters.
   2. Don’t trust others too easily; don’t blindly follow advice from unsuccessful people; don’t invest in industries you’re unfamiliar with.
3. Learn to put wealth to work for you.
   1. Learn to invest, learn to save, learn to run small businesses, and so on.
   2. In modern society, the barriers to investing are getting higher and higher. When investing in a business, don’t put in everything you own. A normal, potentially profitable venture won’t make you gamble your entire net worth.
   3. Low-return investments are far more satisfying than high-risk investments. ## Seven Principles of Financial Freedom Financial freedom is a relative concept. If your material desires are low, then the amount you need won’t be much. If your desires are high, you must learn to live with them. Because the more wealth you have, the more your desires expand—then you will never truly be financially free.
4. First, find a way to fill your money bag (the threshold for financial freedom).
5. Control your expenses reasonably.
   1. Desires will expand to occupy any space you leave them.
   2. Make a budget for your spending and cut what you don’t need.
6. Keep your gold growing.
   1. A person’s wealth doesn’t depend on how much income they’ve accumulated, but on how much money keeps flowing in continuously.
7. Prevent the loss of wealth.
   1. Don’t trust others too easily; don’t lend money to people who lack credibility or the ability to repay.
   2. Keep investment risk reasonable; don’t invest in areas you’re unfamiliar with.
8. Own your own house (at the core, this is about having drive and a sense of responsibility).
9. Prepare in advance for future life.

10. Make yourself more capable of earning money.

    1. Raise your income level and improve your professional skills.
    2. Learn other investing skills.
    3. Learn all knowledge with a hunger and thirst. ## The Five Laws of Gold The goddess of luck favors those who see opportunities and are willing to act. Learn to distinguish opportunities from scammers.
11. Gold is willing to enter the homes of such people: they save one-tenth or more of the gold they earn and spend it for the future needs of themselves and their families. In this way, their gold will grow more and more.
12. Gold willingly and diligently serves such people: they wisely discover that gold can be used as a tool for profit. If used well, the speed at which gold brings them gains can be several times greater than the speed at which fields produce grain.
13. Gold is willing to remain in the hands of such people: they guard their gold carefully, listen to the advice of the wise, and make good use of it.
14. Such people will lose their gold: they invest in an industry they do not understand, or their investment intent is something experts do not approve of.
15. If a person pays out gold in this way, they will lose it and never regain it: they follow advice that cannot possibly yield profit or fall for a swindler’s lure, or they have no experience at all and rely on their naive investment notions. ## Principles for Lending Money

Lend

1. Only lend to people who have collateral; the collateral’s value must be higher than the amount lent.
2. People who have a skill or a stable income.
3. For those who have neither collateral nor a skill nor a stable income, there must be a guarantor; check whether the guarantor meets the principles above. ### Do Not Lend
4. Do not lend to people who are depressed.
5. Do not lend to people who want to squander money.
6. Do not lend to young people who are ambitious but do not think things through.

Lending money should be done only on the premise that your own life remains safe and worry-free; lending must not expose you to more risk. You must not lend money while taking on the risk yourself.

Only by being careful and cautious will you avoid bitter regret. For both the lender and the borrower, this saying applies equally.

Where There’s a Will, There’s a Way

1. When you hold faith in your heart, even if your environment is terrible, you will still have a chance to succeed.
2. A strong character can be felt in how someone gets along with others, and it also makes it more likely that benefactors will help you.
3. Those who owe debts and refuse to repay do not deserve respect; such people are no different from slaves in ancient times. ## Work Creates Wealth
4. Diligent labor and an optimistic, progressive attitude are our wealth, and also our magic weapon for getting out of the mire.
5. Diligent labor is not for anything else; it is for our future.
6. Work should not be blind labor; rather, you should seek work that helps you grow.