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Golden Rules for Making Money (1880)
- archildress 11y agoI love reading things from 150 years ago that are more relevant than ever. Thanks for sharing.
- farooo123 11y agoDidn't the author of this come up with "There is a sucker born every minute" quote
- pjscott 11y agoThat's almost certainly a misattribution: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There%27s_a_sucker_born_every_minute https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There%27s_a_sucker_born_every_...
- cosmolev 11y ago21. THERE ARE NO RULES
- increment_i 11y agoPT Barnum - the pg of the 19th century
- rabidrat 11y agoThis is actually pretty brilliant.
- lr4444lr 11y agoI love this part: The poor spendthrift vagabond says to a rich man: "I have discovered there is enough money in the world for all of us, if it was equally divided; this must be done, and we shall all be happy together." "But," was the response, "if everybody was like you, it would be spent in two months, and what would you do then?" "Oh! divide again; keep dividing, of course!"
- marcoperaza 11y agoReminds me of one of my favorite Maggie Thatcher quotes: "The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money."
- cname 11y agoI don't know why so many people think Socialism is about welfare. Socialism is about who owns and controls the means of production. Read about it here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialism
- marcoperaza 11y agoSocialism in the traditional sense of the word refers to what people today would more likely call communism. Socialism these days refers to social-democratic movements that want redistribution within an at least somewhat capitalist system. She was taking a swipe at the British Labour Party and their counterparts on the continent, all of whom used the label 'socialist' but were really social democrats. Words mean whatever people think they mean. There's a similar phenomenon with the word liberal. Liberal once referred to, and in some contexts still does, politics that advocates for human freedom from all kinds of government coercion. At least in the US, it has taken on a different meaning over the last hundred years. Now it refers to social-democracy.
- coliveira 11y agoThe reason these ideas changed names is because of the political coercion inflicted on socialists. People advocating socialism had to look for other labels that were not tainted with diret connection to oppressive communist regimes.
- jfaucett 11y ago"I don't know why so many people think Socialism is about welfare." Its one of the meanings that the word socialism has come to denote through quotidian usage in media and within Amercian society. Democratic Socialism would likely be a more precise term for these common usage scenarios. see Usage Discussion of socialism at: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/socialism http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/socialism
- vlunkr 11y agoOur credit card driven culture could certainly use his advice on avoiding debt.
- iagooar 11y agoI took a credit once, for buying a car, and will never do it again. Although I never had problems with paying the money back, I was paying a lot more money back to the bank, so when I finished paying the credit off, the car was worth half of the price I bought it, almost having paid double the price because of the credit interests. But the worst part was that it didn't feel right. So now my policy is to never buy anything with money that I don't have (yet). It makes you feel so much better, you feel a truly free person. I don't own my apartment, true, and the money I spend each month on rent could bring me closer to owning one, but I just don't see the point of it. But buying stuff for money you actually have makes your decisions so much better and closer to what you can really afford. Also, there is another component to buying stuff with money you actually have. Recently, I decided to buy a scooter. Not a big "deal", but I didn't want to just spend any savings on it that I have so far, so I put aside money from some freelancing outside my daily job, sold some unused furniture and electronics, and only had to pay around 25% of the price of the scooter from my account. It felt so good, it felt like I deserved it, because I planned for it in advance and didn't have to "compromise" my savings. On the other hand, when I took the loan for the car, I felt bad, I almost felt miserable, as if I was doing something wrong. I can't imagine buying a house for someone else's money. You must feel like a slave.
- ams6110 11y agoYou can make some argument for paying for something over time if you are going to use it over time. A house, or a car, could fall into that category. However a big difference is that a house is an asset which normally appreciates in value, while a car is an expense which depreciates. Buying something on credit that will depreciate (or worse, is a consumable) is something to be very cautious about.
- icebraining 11y agoHave you considered that your personal feelings are preventing you from taking what can actually be a good economical decision? For example, imagine you had taken a loan to buy the scooter, then used the money put aside to pay the installments instead. You might have paid somewhat more for the scooter, but on the other hand, you could actually own the scooter earlier, which might even save you money in the end (for example, if you drove a car instead and therefore spent more in gas and such). Buying a house is similar; the "point" is that you end up saving money, since you stop paying for it, but never stop paying rent. Also, there are incentives (such as tax breaks) that make it cheaper still. Does it mean that you have an extra obligation "tying" you? Sure. But that doesn't mean it's always a bad choice.
- oliv__ 11y agoThank you for posting this. It is profoundly helpful.
- ape4 11y agoYou can tell its from 1880 because of the basic html.
- kristopolous 11y agoThe ASCII version is even in a zip for the benefit of our 19th century brethren with their slow telegraph dialup connections.
- agumonkey 11y agoWait until HTML3 is the new trend.
- clishem 11y agoThe author of 'So Good They Can't Ignore you' (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13525945-so-good-they-can-t-ignore-you http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13525945-so-good-they-can...) basically argues that the first rule he mentions ("Don't mistake your vocation") is a false myth: "In this eye-opening account, Cal Newport debunks the long-held belief that "follow your passion" is good advice. Not only is the cliché flawed-preexisting passions are rare and have little to do with how most people end up loving their work-but it can also be dangerous, leading to anxiety and chronic job hopping."
- ChrisDutrow 11y agoI feel like this a matter of balance. Taken to either extreme, you could end up poor doing something you love. Or paid decent to do something you never got super good at cause you hate it. Probably the best strategy is to select something within the venn diagram of things you like and things that are lucrative.
- sanoli 11y agoAnd depending on the society you live in, you feel more confortable moving further to one side or the other.
- kjksf 11y ago"Don't mistake your vocation" doesn't mean "follow your passion". Paraphrasing, it means "do what you you're naturally good at" "Unless a man enters upon the vocation intended for him by nature, and best suited to his peculiar genius, he cannot succeed".
- Retra 11y agoYou'll still end up moving around until you find out what you're great at. Unless by some freak accident you know from the start. For instance, there's _something_ that I'm probably a world-class genius at - I have enough experience being me to suspect that - but I have a very hard time putting it into words what I do, and an even harder time trying to monetize it.
- ezequiel-garzon 11y agoSNL made a wonderful infomercial in 2006 about point 3: avoid debt. Depending on your location you should be able to watch it in [1] or [2]. During my years in the US it always puzzled me that, upon reaching my credit limit, it would not just increase without any interaction, but sometimes double! American "plastic", as hailed in "The Graduate", was a significant lesson for me. [1] http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/dont-buy-stuff/n12020 http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/dont-buy-stuff/... [2] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3ZJKN_5M44 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3ZJKN_5M44
- chedar 11y agoFor the unlucky that couldn't see it on [1] & [2], here is [3]. [3] https://vimeo.com/145194633 https://vimeo.com/145194633
- tuttifrutti 11y agoI was always puzzled how people in the US are quick to spend on credit, and not worry too much...
- fit2rule 11y agoOne of the great western habits I inherited after living in the US for 15 years, is the use of the credit card for everything, and then just paying a single bill (the credit card) every month. If you do it properly, it can really increase the quality of your life - rewards, points, etc. - and it can also be very, very dangerous for the undisciplined and income-averse ..
- flexie 11y agothe income-averse; I have yet to meet those. work-averse or income-challenged maybe. Or underpaid or poor.
- fit2rule 11y agoBy income-averse, I mean those who are averse to generating the incoming required to pay the current bills, and alas this is a subtle but simple difference between solvency and debt. I never really carried much debt, between payments. But I sure did borrow a lot, to cover my monthly budget.
- 11thEarlOfMar 11y agoSome things never change. Like common sense. This is all true, but it was not all obvious until I'd experienced four or five decades of life lessons. If you think this advice is at all dubious, ask and we'll see if we can explain...
- rokhayakebe 11y agoSome things never change. Like common sense. Epic.
- WavingThe44 11y agoFrom Frenzied Finance (1905): First, there is a fundamental law, from which no one—neither the great nor the small—is exempt. In substance it is: "Every 'Standard Oil' man must wear the 'Standard Oil' collar." This collar is riveted on to each one as he is taken into "the band," and can only be removed with the head of the wearer. Here is the code. The penalty for infringing the following rules is instant "removal." 1. Keep your mouth closed, as silence is gold, and gold is what we exist for. 2. Collect our debts to-day. Pay the other fellow's debts to-morrow. To-day is always here, to-morrow may never come. 3. Conduct all our business so that the buyer and the seller must come to us. Keep the seller waiting; the longer he waits the less he'll take. Hurry the buyer, as his money brings us interest. 4. Make all profitable bargains in the name of "Standard Oil," chancy ones in the names of dummies. "Standard Oil" never goes back on a bargain.[9] 5. Never put "Standard Oil" trades in writing, as your memory and the other fellow's forgetfulness will always be re-enforced with our organization. Never forget our Legal Department is paid by the year, and our land is full of courts and judges. 6. As competition is the life of trade—our trade, and monopoly the death of trade—our competitor's trade, employ both judiciously. 7. Never enter into a "butting" contest with the Government. Our Government is by the people and for the people, and we are the people, and those people who are not us can be hired by us. 8. Always do "right." Right makes might, might makes dollars, dollars make right, and we have the dollars.
- angersock 11y agoPretty good advice, honestly. I'd like to think that the old robber-barons could still teach the current generation a thing or two about how to run a ruthless business.
- cubano 11y agoI personally think robber barons exist all around us. They just have smarter PR and image protection from their big media brethren.
- 77pt77 11y ago> 5. Never put "Standard Oil" trades in writing This is good advice?
- egypturnash 11y agoTwenty chapters of true wisdom, from that great American showman P. T. Barnum. Especially the penultimate chapter, "Don't Blab": > Some men have a foolish habit of telling their business secrets. If they make money they like to tell their neighbors how it was done. Nothing is gained by this, and ofttimes much is lost. Nicely done, Mr. Barnum. I am honored to share a birthday with you.
- Mahn 11y agoIt's interesting how flat human nature stays over time, how advice given 136 years ago is still perfectly applicable today. Over the course of centuries life has changed dramatically, but we still think, worry, feel and act like our ancestors did from a millennium ago. I'd bet you could easily find advice given in the roman empire times that would still be relevant today.
- drjesusphd 11y agohttp://classics.mit.edu/Antoninus/meditations.html http://classics.mit.edu/Antoninus/meditations.html
- jameslk 11y agoI've thought about this a lot on a philosophical level. A person goes through life repeating the same mistakes their parents made and their grandparents made before them, and so on. We spend so much time re-learning things that have already been learned. And doing things that have already been done. Imagine how life could be different if we didn't have to start over each time.
- BWStearns 11y agoI listened to a talk on counterinsurgency given by David Kilcullen (I am about 90% sure, it could have been Nagl), but he asked the audience about whether it was better to learn from experience or from academics. The audience was about evenly split but with a lot of abstainers, and he said academia was the better choice of course, because no on ever died from reading a book. While "teachable moments" in most contexts aren't fatal, the overall point that it's better to learn from other people's mistakes remains the same.
- flyinglizard 11y agoIt's a completely different matter between learning from theory and learning in practice. What's sorely missing from theoretical teaching is context - knowing when and how to apply this knowledge - and the actual experience of using it, which is critical to remembering what was taught. From my experience on this planet, purely theoretical teachings tend to be forgotten in favor of things you've actually used and done.
- zoom6628 11y agoBrilliant, witty and on-the-nail correct. Wish i had read this 30+ years ago. Required reading for those considering a startup or a career.
- znpy 11y agoVery interesting.
- iamgopal 11y agoWow plentY of time that writers and readers had. I wish those days to come again.
- williesleg 11y agoHe's right on. I wonder what he would think with all the liberal politically-correct crap going on today when we're forcing our little flowers to go into STEM programs against their will, or borrowing gobs of cash for a piece of paper saying they're degreed in art history. WTF have we become? And the waste of time called the internet.
- gnarbarian 11y agoHere's my favorite bit: I was recently reading in a London paper an account of a like philosophic pauper who was kicked out of a cheap boarding-house because he could not pay his bill, but he had a roll of papers sticking out of his coat pocket, which, upon examination, proved to be his plan for paying off the national debt of England without the aid of a penny.
- bbcbasic 11y agoYou are given the TL;DR then the fleshed out story after, which is of a manageable size. The English style is very readable for something so old. There was presumably no word-count pressure. I loathe books like How to Win Friends and Influence People that have some meandering and boring story before it gets to the point. This is the 'how to start a startup' for business of the regular type, i.e. no ambition to get loads of capital and become the next Google. Read this once the tech bubble has burst!
- huuu 11y agoI always like the book The Incredible Secret Money Machine very much. The first rule for making money: never do it for the money. A free download is available: http://www.tinaja.com/ebooks/ismm.pdf http://www.tinaja.com/ebooks/ismm.pdf
- atmosx 11y agoI've read only the first chapter yet, but will read the rest because it got me. However there's a hidden idea which equals wealth to happiness which I dislike heavily. That said we can rest assured that while wealth is not connected to happiness (too many things into play to achieve that state), debt sure as hell leads to miserable.
- dschiptsov 11y agoSome of these advices are in harmony with thousands old maxim "fortune favours the prepared", which not only hints that so-called success is much more a result of chance, like almost everything else in the universe, but also correlate with the notions of avoiding a debt, concentration and persistence. But the chance is still the major factor. BTW, the parts of the Patanjali Yoga Sutra, which gives practical advice about the practice - about necessity of an appropriate isolated place, diet, habits with emphasis on sleep cycle, proper state of mind, concentration and persistence - is the best universal advice to achieve anything in life that I am aware of. The word Yoga could be translated as "discipline", and has little to do with asanas, mats, and yoga pants.
- andrewchambers 11y agoCan someone recommend other books like this please?
- cybertronic 11y ago"How To Get Rich" by Felix Dennis
- vldx 11y agoI can second this - straight to the point book written by someone who had already amassed his wealth. Also worth mentioning is "The Millionaire Fastlane" - the title is sleazy, but it had big impact on my mindset when I've read it.
- tmd 11y agoA lot of old-school financial advice seems to focus on the importance of saving and avoidance of debt. It seems reasonable but I always wonder how applicable that is in the modern times with our record-low interest rates. Short look at the tables in [1] suggests that, for example, you could gen 5% after-tax real returns on government bonds in the 19 century. Today, that would be unthinkable. [1] http://efinance.org.cn/cn/fm/The%20Equity%20Premium%20Stock%20and%20Bond%20Returns%20since%201802.pdf http://efinance.org.cn/cn/fm/The%20Equity%20Premium%20Stock%...
- gdubs 11y agoLow interest rates make saving and debt avoidance even more important, since you can't rely as heavily on the market to grow your savings.
- sk5t 11y agoOn the contrary, near-zero interest rates recommend more debt and more risky investments, because (a) debt is cheap, and (b) inflation (stagflation perhaps) will nibble away your savings if you try to ignore the equity markets.
- gdubs 10y agoAh, I can see how it read that way but I wasn't implying that one shouldn't _invest_ their savings.
- joslin01 11y agoWonderful writing. > The inordinate love of money, no doubt, may be and is "the root of all evil," but money itself, when properly used, is not only a "handy thing to have in the house," but affords the gratification of blessing our race by enabling its possessor to enlarge the scope of human happiness and human influence. The desire for wealth is nearly universal, and none can say it is not laudable, provided the possessor of it accepts its responsibilities, and uses it as a friend to humanity. > So in regard to wealth. Go on in confidence, study the rules, and above all things, study human nature; for "the proper study of mankind is man," and you will find that while expanding the intellect and the muscles, your enlarged experience will enable you every day to accumulate more and more principal, which will increase itself by interest and otherwise, until you arrive at a state of independence. > When a man's undivided attention is centered on one object, his mind will constantly be suggesting improvements of value, which would escape him if his brain was occupied by a dozen different subjects at once. Many a fortune has slipped through a man's fingers because he was engaged in too many occupations at a time.
- amelius 11y agoNot sure if these are necessary or sufficient conditions. Probably neither.