Book · 1926
The Richest Man in Babylon
by George S. Clason
A bricklayer in ancient Babylon is told to keep a tenth of every coin he earns, and Reddit's finance subs still repeat that rule word for word.
What does Reddit think of The Richest Man in Babylon?
Every subreddit that mentions The Richest Man in Babylon here mentions it warmly, which is rare enough in this dataset to flag on its own. r/Bogleheads (↑77) folds it into decades-old advice: live below your means, start now regardless of the percentage. r/financialindependence's ↑88 comment goes further, crediting a high-school teacher who assigned it and then lectured on it for days, calling that a rare case of a curriculum actually mattering later. The book's mechanics get treated as almost incidental. The ↑187 comment cites it for 'pay yourself first,' the ↑88 comment pairs it with Housel's The Psychology of Money as a two-book starter kit, and the ↑68 r/investing comment notes it's just 144 pages of stories carrying that one lesson. Nobody quoted here argues with the advice itself, only about which parable-adjacent title to read alongside it.
Community feedback & reader fit
Themes
- · Pay-yourself-first savings discipline, dressed as an ancient-Babylon parable
- · A recurring 'the book that changed how I saved' origin story
- · Live-below-your-means advice treated as timeless rather than dated
- · A starter-pack pairing with The Psychology of Money for new savers
Common praise
- + The ↑187 comment recommends it directly for 'tips on wealth preservation,' no hedging.
- + The ↑88 comment credits a high-school teacher who assigned it with having 'a huge impact' years later.
- + r/Bogleheads' ↑77 comment cites Clason by name as the reference point for living below your means, decades after reading it.
Common criticism
- − The ↑68 r/investing comment concedes it's 'just stories of saving/investing/spend less than you bring it,' a description that's also an admission there's no deeper framework here.
- − It's almost never recommended alone; the ↑88 comment immediately pairs it with The Psychology of Money, treating it as step one of two, not a complete education.
- − Nobody in the top-upvoted excerpts explains why the ancient-Babylon setting still works decades later, it's just accepted as tradition rather than defended.
Who it's for
Start here if you've never read a finance book and want the pay-yourself-first idea in parable form rather than a spreadsheet; that's the exact route the ↑88 comment took a teenager down. Pair it with The Psychology of Money once you're done, the way the top-upvoted comments here keep doing, and treat the ancient-Babylon setting as flavor, not substance. If you already dollar-cost-average into index funds and read the personal-finance canon, the 144 pages the ↑68 comment describes won't tell you anything new. It's a starter book that four different subreddits agree on, which by itself is worth something.
Mentions over time
Which Reddit comments matter for The Richest Man in Babylon?
The most relevant excerpts across the subreddits where this book is mentioned — opinionated, argued takes first, then top-upvoted mentions. Click through to read the full thread.
“You pay yourself first when you are paid. I recomend reading the richest man in babylon for tips on wealth preservation.
“1. “Comparison is the thief of joy” 2. Read The Richest Man in Babylon 3. Read The Psychology of Money
“I had a history teacher in high school who assigned “richest man in Babylon” and then lectured on it for a few days. In retrospect he was totally hijacking his teaching post to teach us something that he knew to be important. It’s had a huge impact on me. It’s really sad that in most school systems…
“OMG I'm a geezer here as a 50-something. Lessons for any young 'uns reading this: * LBYM. That is, Live Below Your Means. For reference, see Clason's Richest Man in Babylon * Put that money to work now, whatever paltry % of your paltry income and no matter to market condition. Increase both the % …
“The Richest Man in Babylon is only 144 pages and it’s just stories of saving/investing/spend less than you bring it etc. Good stories that bring in the message.
“Do this ^^^ and read "the richest man in Babylon". This amount will not set you up for life but is enough to change it forever if you choose the right path! 🙏
“There's a good book named *The Richest Man in Babylon* that teaches the beginnings of good money management. It's a short book. About 210 pages. That's the equivalent of a 90 minute movie. I highly recommend it. One of the chapters talks about "Never give a brick layer your money to buy jewe…
“In a similar vein: The Richest Man in Babylon The Wealthy Barber Both are quick (somewhat cheesy) reads with very actionable finance lessons. I keep very few books and these a re a few of them, mostly as a visual reminder, though I do thumb thru them every few years.
“This book. This, Bogleheads Guide to Investing, & Richest Man in Babylon changed everything for me
“Read the Richest Man in Babylon. The advice is a hundred years old, but all still valid.
“Ironically I’d never read Richest Man in Babylon until today. It’s kind of not a great book lol. Brings up slavery a really weirdly large amount for one thing. It’s a few hundred pages to basically say “save 10%, invest, and don’t take big risks” sprinkled in with bootstrap themed motivational speec…
“The Simple Path to Wealth The Millionaire Next Door A random walk down Wall Street Psychology of Money These are the books everyone should read. Could also give your kids The Richest Man in Babylon.
“The OG of FI books. Big build up to THE secret of the richest man in Babylon. Turns out to be the simple trick of always paying yourself first (save X%). Maybe there were other fine points but that's the only point that stuck. I tried to get my kids to read it but failed. Would've taken them 10 min…
“I'm putting the millionaire next door on my book list to read. The books that I remember and think about most often are "the richest man in Babylon," "Extreme early retirement," and the classic "your money or your life"... Babylon might be the most impactful for me however.
“/rant Lots of fire post comments of late tend to show jealous tendency. Guess it is a result of our community getting bigger. Any thoughts on how to help those people stuck in the 'why not me' thoughts? I usually suggest "Richest Man in Babylon" as a good book to start with. /end rant.
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Readers also mention
Books that share discussion threads with The Richest Man in Babylon — counted from the comments, not curated.
Guides featuring The Richest Man in Babylon
Ranked best-of lists and editorial guides where this book's tracked mentions place it.
The Richest Man in Babylon — frequently asked
Is The Richest Man in Babylon still worth reading?+
Yes, on the numbers: every subreddit tracking it here, r/financialindependence, r/Bogleheads, r/investing, and r/personalfinance, mentions it warmly, with no dissenting top-upvoted comment in the dataset. The ↑187 comment recommends it directly for wealth-preservation tips, and the ↑77 r/Bogleheads comment still cites it decades after reading it as the reference point for living below your means.
What is the main lesson of The Richest Man in Babylon?+
Pay yourself first, in the ↑187 comment's phrasing: set aside a portion of what you earn before you spend any of it. The ↑68 r/investing comment adds that the entire 144 pages is essentially stories built around that single idea, and nothing in the top-upvoted data disputes it.
Should I read The Richest Man in Babylon before or after The Psychology of Money?+
The order doesn't seem to matter as much as reading both. The ↑88 r/financialindependence comment lists them back-to-back as a two-book starter kit, alongside 'comparison is the thief of joy' as the underlying mindset. Nothing in the displayed excerpts argues for a specific sequence, just that both belong on the same short list.
Is The Richest Man in Babylon too simple to bother with?+
Depends what you want from it. The ↑68 r/investing comment admits it's 'just stories' about saving, spending less, and investing, with no deeper framework attached. If you want mechanics, look elsewhere; if you want the pay-yourself-first idea to actually stick, the ↑88 comment's high-school-teacher anecdote suggests the simplicity is the point, not the flaw.