精選書評：巴比倫的致富寶典

作者：George S. Clason
出版社：Createspace Independent Pub

• 創造理財經典名言「先支付你自己 Pay yourself first」的作者。
• 本書自出版以來穩居商業暢銷經典的寶座。
• 書中利用寓言故事介紹理財觀念，讓理財規劃簡單易懂好上手。

預估閱讀時間：04:05
文章難度： ★★★☆☆

This book is a personal finance guide written in common-use English that is pleasant to read and filled with great ideas.  This book teaches personal finance using parables set in ancient Babylon, intended to show that its rules and ideas are timeless. Though the book was written in 1926, its ideas have held up extremely well, and the book feels modern and extremely readable. It's written to be accessible to the common American audience.

本書是以日常英文寫成的個人財經指南，讀者可以輕鬆愉快地閱讀許多不同凡響的理財觀念，書中運用了背景時代設定在古巴比倫的寓言故事教導個人理財，同時也意圖讓讀者了解書中的理財規則及觀念超越了時間限制。儘管本書著於1926年，但書中的觀念仍適用於現代生活，讀者將感受到書中觀念非常現代且易讀好上手。這本書的目標是為了能夠普及一般美國讀者而寫的。

The stories are designed to have one or two practical points about money that the stories will demonstrate and reinforce. The book has a few different sets of rules that it shows or teaches directly through its stories, as well overlapping key ideas that help bind the stories together and make them a good source of education. The reader is shown how the keys to financial success haven't changed since ancient times, and that these keys have followed the same basic guidelines for as long as the concept of 'money' has existed.

書中故事都特意放入一至兩個實用的金錢觀念，這些觀念也會藉由故事說明並深入探討。此外，書中幾套不同的規則也會藉由故事闡明，同樣這些規則也會重覆那些能夠幫助銜接故事橋段及寓有教育意義的重要觀念。同時，本書會向讀者說明，從「金錢」的概念存在的一刻起，通往理財成功的關鍵一直都沒有改變，而且這些關鍵也都遵循相同的基礎準則。

This book is strongly recommended for anyone who feels intimidated by personal finance. You may feel a slight sting of regret that you didn't read the book sooner. The book's author did well in creating a fun and approachable guide to personal finance that feels less like "work" than other books on money, and creates an excellent starting point for further reading or personal development in the world of finance.

本書強烈推薦給任何對個人理財感到害怕的人，甚至你可能會後悔沒早點拿起來閱讀。本書不像是其他理財專書，作者成功創造有趣且平易近人個人的理財指南，讓理財不再像是「工作」，同時也塑造優良的理財起跑線，引導讀者加深閱讀範圍或發展個人理財規劃。

The Richest Man in Babylon's Seven Cures for a Lean Purse

1. "For every ten coins into your pouch, remove nine" - Save 1/10 of what you earn for the future.
2. "Control thy expenditures" - Always make sure you can save 1/10 of what you earn.
3. "Put each coin to laboring" - Once you have a savings, invest it.
4. "Guard thy treasures: avoid investments that sound too good to be true"- Only make relatively safe investments.  The book seems to warn against the stock market, though it was written when the stock market was booming -- 1929 would see the beginning of the Great Depression, showing how right the author was.
5. "Make of thy dwelling a profitable investment: own your home" - Owning your home means money can be invested in the home or something else instead of paid to a landlord, though one suspects this 'cure' was, in some ways, more practical before our modern age.
6. "Insure a future income" - Put money away for your retirement and to take care of your family after you pass away.
7. "Improve thy ability to earn" - Always work hard, always look for opportunities, and learn every useful thing that you can.

《巴比倫的致富寶典》七個搶救荷包的教戰守則

1. 「從每十枚放進錢包的硬幣當中，動手取出九個。」存下收入的十分之一以防不時之需。
2. 「控制你的預算。」確保你能存下收入的十分之一。
3. 「勞役每一分錢。」活用你的存款，將錢放進你的投資規劃裡。
4. 「財產守衛者：避免美好而不切實際的投資。」只做相對安全的投資，本書似乎想告誡股票市場的風險性，儘管本書著於股票市場不斷看漲的年代 — 但1929年是經濟大蕭條的開端，更加證實了作者的憂慮與遠見。
5. 「讓你的居住房子成為能賺錢的投資：擁有自己的房子。」擁有屬於你的房子意謂著錢是被投資在房子或其他不動產中，而不是白白付給房東，儘管有人懷疑這個「搶救方案」，某些程度上已經不適用於現代社會。
6. 「確保未來收入或收益。」規劃退休所需的錢，且在身後仍然能夠照顧家人。
7. 「精進你賺錢的實力。」努力工作，把握機會，並且不斷學習有用的技能。

文/ Peter Gibbon

本文收錄於英語島English Island 2019年2月號
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