The Fourth Cure for A Lean Account Balance

Hello Private Lender nation and welcome to episode 130 of the Private Lender Podcast, I’m your host, Keith Baker and I’d like to thank you for sharing your time with me today. 

If you’re looking for practical tips and advice on how to keep your money safe as a Private Lender, then you are in the right place. But if you want to learn from my mistakes so you can avoid them, well then pull up a chair and pour yourself a drink my friend, because this podcast is just for you!

In today’s episode, we will continue with our monthly lesson from the book the Richest Man in Babylon. Today’s lesson is the 4th cure for a lean account, but before we get to the heart of the matter, first I need to do a little housekeeping.

 1 - Have you joined the Private Lender Podcast Facebook group? Well why not? Head over to the show notes for the link or simply search Facebook groups for the Private Lender Podcast.

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2 – And most important of all, the Private Lender Academy is launching in just a few weeks and if you would like to get on the list for pre-launch bonuses like discount codes, then head over to PrivateLenderAcademy.com and click on “Apply Now”: provide some background on your investing experience and goals

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The Private Lender Academy is slated to launch after July 4th weekend!

OK, the housekeeping is finished and now it’s time to get down to the brass tacks of today’s episode: the 4th cure for a lean account.

And like so many lessons in life that we should heed, the principle is quite simple, but we humans seem to have trouble with the execution. The 4th cure for a lean purse points precisely to the first Core Value of a Private Lender: ROI1 - Return of Investment.

Let’s get to it, and listen to what Arkad tells his students:

“Misfortune loves a shining mark. Gold in a man’s purse must be guarded with firmness, else it be lost. Thus it is wise that we must first secure small amounts and learn to protect them before the Gods entrust us with larger ones.

Every owner of gold is tempted by opportunities whereby it would seem that he could make large sums by its investment in most plausible projects. Often friends and relatives are eagerly entering such investment and urge him to follow.

The first sound principle of investment is security for your principle (Return OF Investment). Is it wise to be intrigued by larger earnings when your principle could be lost? I say not. The penalty of risk is probable loss. Study carefully, before parting your money, each assurance that it may be safely reclaimed. Do not be misled by your own romantic desires to make wealth rapidly.

Before you loan it to any man assure yourself of his ability to repay and his reputation for doing so, that you may not unwittingly be making him a present of your hard-earned money.

Before you entrust it as an investment in any field acquaint yourself with the dangers which may threaten it.

My own first investment was a tragedy to me at the time. The guarded savings of one year did I entrust to a brickmaster who was traveling over the far seas and in the city of Tyre agreed to buy for me the rare jewels of the Phoenicians. These we would sell upon his return and divide the profits. The Phoenicians were scoundrels and sold him bits of glass. My money was lost. Today, my training would show me at once the mistake I made of entrusting a...