Could I say ‘no’ to 2 million dollars?
Well a bit more than 2 million actually! What is at stake is the very tempting sum of $2,201,920: this is almost exactly how much the chairman of the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), Sir Philip Hampton’s, was reported to have refused to accept as a bonus. On the other hand, the boss of the same bank, Stephen Hester, has reputedly decided to accept a bonus of $1,514,606. These reports of the bonuses that bankers are continuing to pay themselves are causing public distrust and outrage, and political debate. Continue reading
Principled money posts of the week #6: about opportunities, women and weight loss; no handbags please!
Today is the last Sunday before the holydays and things are starting to slow down; well at least for some. Most people are getting ready: shopping, planning and cleaning. One side effect is that the blogosphere is saturated with giveaways, promotions and the like. Some of these are really hot but still…This may be a good way to attract attention (and visits) and to increase Alexa rankings but it is a wasted opportunity when it comes to quiet reflection, presence and looking into the future. Continue reading
The Money Principle Brain Teasers
I am following several blogs on money and related matters; these are mainly American so not everything discussed is relevant to our British, or for that matter European, situation. Sometimes when I read on matters of personal finance, finance generally and finance management interesting questions pop out. So, I decided that these deserve a discussion here – they are brain teasers because answering or deciding on a side may involve some research, knowledge and certainly thinking. These do not go beyond what we usually do when faced with important and potentially life transforming choices.
The Money Principle brain teaser for this weekend is the following:
“Only the poorest and the richest can easily increase their income.” Continue reading
Clason, George S., The Richest Man in Babylon
Interested in Money? Let us go back to Babylon
George Samuel Clason was a very interesting man. He was born in 1874 in the US and his first passion was maps; he started the Clason Map Company and published the first road atlas of the United States and Canada. He is best known, however, for writing a series of pamphlets on financial success, management and frugal living. They were written as parables and set in ancient Babylon. Intended to support the development of financial awareness and basic education amongst ‘normal’, working Americans these were widely distributed by banks and insurance companies. Shortly before and during the Great Depression these pamphlets reached millions of Americans; today they have become a modern day classic. They share simple and easy to implement principles of personal finance management which have not lost their power.
All parables are set in ancient Babylon which is the cradle of banking, finance and simple but sound finance principles. Clason offers an overview of the development of Babylon which whilst rather schematic as a historical account provides the background to the stories and encapsulates one of their main messages: your financial destiny is in your own hands. To achieve success you have to learn to recognise opportunities and act on them.
This is a book brimming with nuggets of money wisdom. But the ones that I have set myself the task to master are the three rules of financial success: Continue reading
