Ben Franklin's Guide to Wealth by Jack Mingo (2004, Paperback)

This compact book produced by Conari press in 2004 originally sold at Border's Book's for $10.50. CoinMine presents the books here for $1.95. Ben Franklin would approve of the discount.

Of course Franklin, projecting his philosophical bequests upon those following the gifts thrift whilst working all his life against the scourge of penury,
gained the economic nickname Poor Richard.

This book, written by Erin Barett and Jack Mingo, present and expound upon Benjamin Franklin's financial and economic treatises and witticisms. They begin with 10 major platforms originally presented in Poor Richards Almanack, produced by Franlklin and one of his earliest commercial success, and build upon Franklins economic bon mots - presenting lessons for the modern age. The lesson is timeless although the application and mechanics may change somewhat with the decades.

Erin and Jack originally start out with Franklins wise admonishments against wasting time. Laziness and sloth eat away at your treasures as moths to cloth. Take a look around you and realize how few of your fellow countrymen simply do not follow this wise and simple advice. They follow up with lessons on how to mind your daily an financial business utilizing those time-tested methods that have built wealth over the centuries.

Attention to detail and thrift provide the next tow topics for consideration and illumination. These two qualities kept my head above water when I had been failing in all the other topics. This shows the sheer gravitas behind the idea of living within your means and really knowing what - exactly - those means are in every individual case.

Barett and Jack Mingo hone in on the joys and beauty of Living Simply and Breaking the Chains of Debt in the next two chapters. This strategy may enable the authors to realize that Franklins wisdom has now become their own. Their study of the master, through osmosis at a minimum, provided them the foresight to predict that the economic period we are currently entering will reward - nay demand! - these qualities. Wiping out the debt and excess from a society keep the people free as throw off the yokes which bind them toward despots. regrettably, financial and personal paid - individual and collective- form the price we all will pay to some degree for this lesson on how to return to those roots which grew this country fair and strong since the seed- sowing days of the late 1700s.

The book won't make you rich quick or provide the bedrock of economic education that few of us seem to learn until the date of our retirement draws nigh. Nevertheless, the concepts never lose weight and Franklin showed such a powerful wordsmith, packing lessons into mere sentences, that any authors following down his path cannot help but suffer the fate of seeming superfluous and fluffly. Still, the majority of

"Get what you can, and what you get hold; 'tis the stone that will turn all your lead into gold." - Benjamin Franklin.

Here Poor Richard refers to the Philosophers stone - that elusive piece of earth sought by alchemists for its reported attribute which allowed it to turn lead into gold. Franklin wisely counsels here that the truest gold you already hold in your hands, and heart, and head. Keep your attributes humble and pure and wealth will follow. Sage advice.