Fifth installment of the lessons from The Richest Man in Babylon – entitled the Gold Lender of Babylon, featuring lessons about lending money.
financial planning
Meet the Goddess of Good Luck: The Richest Man in Babylon, Pt. 3 of 9
This is the third in a series of articles reviewing the lessons found in the definitive classic, The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason. If you’d like to start at the very beginning (a very good place to start!) – you can find the first article here. Meet the Goddess of Good Luck In this chapter, Arkad is asked by a student about how to attract good luck. It is noted that people may work side-by-side with one another, and one may have good luck while another does not. The students are questioned about times when they had experienced good fortune to perhaps find out the way that good luck came upon them. One student found a wallet full of money – but could not reckon how to continue finding more wallets. Another noted that Arkad himself had been seen at the horse races, betting on the grays. […]
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The Richest Man in Babylon: Pt. 1 of 9
I’m re-re-reading a classic, George S. Clason’s The Richest Man in Babylon. As a result, I’ve decided to re-do and refresh my review of the lessons in the book (last updated in 2009) – not a book review, mind you, but going through each of the lessons in the book in its entirety. There are nine parts to my review, and I’ll be releasing a new part every week over the coming 8 weeks. What’s very interesting about this book is that the lessons aren’t anything new. Perhaps it’s fanciful to assume that these very conversations were being had in ancient Babylon, but the basic lessons have been around for ages and they still apply! Yes, there may be new tax legislation all the time, and from time to time a groundbreaking product may take the stage, but all in all the way to gather and maintain wealth is unchanged […]
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What Can a Broker Do For You?
You have choices when it comes to investing. You can go directly to a mutual fund company (such as Vanguard or T. Rowe Price) and choose investments yourself, or you can use a fee-only financial advisor to assist you in choosing investments. One of the most common methods is to work with a broker. Brokers are companies like Edward Jones, plus many, many other companies, including insurance company brokerage divisions, banks, and the like. What’s the Difference? You’re probably wondering – what’s the difference between a broker and, for example, a fee-only advisor? You’re right to be confused, because until you start working with one or the other and you know what the difference is, they look pretty much the same from the outside. Here’s the difference: Brokers are salesmen. It is their job to sell you an investment product, and that’s how the broker gets paid. They are required […]
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Have Confidence – In Good Times and Bad
Note: this is a re-working of a note I received in email some time ago… it’s not necessarily about money or investing, but rather success in all things. It is particularly applicable to financial matters, I think, as it is critical to maintain confidence in your plans, both in prosperity and adversity. Confidence is one of your most important success ingredients. With it, you can achieve most anything. Without it, there is no psychological pill that can make you succeed. Faith is the ability to believe even when you have no reason to. Faith is necessary sometimes to move forward and do something you don’t know if you can do, or when the world around you is telling you that you cannot. This is also when a trusted guide can be useful to help you figure out what is valid and what is not. Experience gives you the proof you […]
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Trust Me, You’re Gonna Like This – The See-Through Trust as a Beneficiary
One area that often gets short shrift in discussions of IRAs and beneficiary designation is the use of a trust as the beneficiary. Part of the reason behind this may be the perceived complexity of trusts in general; at any rate, it’s not as complicated as it sounds, and it can be beneficial, depending upon your circumstances. We’re specifically discussing the “see-through” trust here, as this type of trust is most appropriate for IRA and Qualified Retirement Plan beneficiary designations. The See-Through Trust as a Beneficiary If you designate a trust as the beneficiary of your IRA or Qualified Retirement Plan (QRP), the trust should be set up with certain properties associated with it: the trust must be valid under the plan owner’s state’s law; the trust must be irrevocable upon the plan owner’s death; the trust beneficiaries must be identifiable; ALL of the trust beneficiaries must be individuals (cannot […]
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Pension Payout: Annuitize or Rollover (Cash)?
If you happen to be in one of those jobs (there can only be a handful left at this point, right?) that has a traditional pension plan, you may be faced with an important decision. When you’re ready to retire (did I just hear angels singing?) – you have to decide if you’ll take annuitized payments, or if you cash out the plan and roll it over to an IRA. These “traditional” pension plans are referred to as defined benefit (or DB) plans – meaning that your benefit is defined as a determined amount. This benefit is usually based on a combination of your longevity in the job, plus your ending salary. You’re probably familiar with these computations: an example is a pension that is 2% per year of employment, multiplied by the average of your final five years of salary. So if you worked at a job for 25 […]
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Principles of Pollex – Saving 10% of Income
(In case you are confused by the headline: a principle is a rule, and pollex is an obscure term for thumb. Therefore, we’re talking about Rules of Thumb.) I like rules of thumb, as a rule of thumb… I think we all generally want difficult issues in our lives to be boiled down to a simple, easy-to-understand statement. These rules of thumb are everywhere, all around us. Heck, there’s even a whole website dedicated to rules of thumb, where you can find rules on all kinds of subjects, as diverse as how to outrun a crocodile to changing your answers on a test. Save 10% of Your Income Let’s start with one of the basics you might hear regularly: Save 10% of your income. Like most all rules of thumb, this one is very general in nature, but it provides a good starting point. This starting point is best for […]
Sterling Raskie, MSFS, CFP®, ChFC®
The latest in our Owner’s Manual series, A 401(k) Owner’s Manual, was published in January 2020 and is available on 
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And if you’ve come here to learn about queuing waterfowl, I apologize for the confusion. You may want to discuss your question with Lester, my loyal watchduck and self-proclaimed “advisor’s advisor”.