The Secret of Babylon's Wealthy

“The Richest Man in Babylon” is invoked as the source of the maxim “pay yourself first,” a principle Robert T. Kiyosaki makes central to his account of financial self-discipline. In his use of the book, the phrase means allocating money to assets before paying monthly expenses—not merely repeating a slogan, but learning to direct cash flow against the pressure to spend, borrow, or surrender savings.

The maxim and its purpose

Kiyosaki says the statement “pay yourself first” comes from “The Richest Man in Babylon,” by George Classen, and notes that millions of copies have been sold. Its popularity, in his view, has not made it common practice: many people can repeat the advice while continuing to pay themselves last. He treats that gap between knowing a maxim and acting on it as a problem of personal discipline rather than a shortage of words or information.

The book’s principle is connected to a practical financial distinction. Kiyosaki asks readers to examine income statements and balance sheets, arguing that numbers reveal whether someone actually directs money toward assets. In his diagram, the person who pays themselves first sends part of each month’s income into the asset column before expenses; the person who pays everyone else first may have nothing left. The maxim therefore becomes a way to read a pattern of cash flow, not an abstract exhortation.

Resisting pressure without ignoring obligations

Kiyosaki anticipates that the principle may sound like an instruction to neglect bills. He explicitly distinguishes the two: he says he is not advocating irresponsibility, but argues that paying oneself first requires the internal resolve to prioritize investment rather than automatically yielding to each demand for payment. He describes months when his cash flow fell short of his bills and he continued to follow the rule, despite warnings from his accountant and bookkeeper that creditors might pursue him, his credit rating might suffer, or his electricity might be cut off.

He presents those warnings as a test of self-discipline. Bill collectors, sales clerks, and real-estate agents can all intensify the pressure to pay immediately, charge purchases, or take on debt; in his account, the maxim calls for resisting that pressure long enough to preserve savings and find additional income. He says he generally pays creditors promptly, but does not want to liquidate investments or spend savings merely to quiet consumer-debt pressure. The book’s lesson, as he frames it, is the resolve to withstand the momentary demand rather than let it dictate the financial plan.

Limits and financial structure

Kiyosaki places safeguards around the practice. His first rule is to avoid large debt positions and keep expenses low, building assets before purchasing a large house or an expensive car. He says he has little consumer and “doodad” debt, and explains that his liabilities can exceed those of most people while tenants pay for them. The distinction matters to his argument: paying oneself first is not presented as a license to accumulate obligations without regard for repayment, but as one element of a structure in which assets generate income and ordinary expenses remain manageable.

He also links the principle to how income is earned and taxed. He says his income comes from his asset column through a Nevada corporation, rather than from working for money, which he argues would be taxed differently. The example extends the maxim beyond the monthly household budget: in his model, the goal is to build and protect income-producing assets, then let their cash flow support financial choices.

A broader argument about learning and choice

Elsewhere, Kiyosaki uses the book’s principle to explain why financial literacy requires more than familiarity with advice. Readers need to understand cash flow and be able to distinguish assets from liabilities; otherwise, an apparently responsible routine can leave them paying everyone else first and with no resources set aside for their own future. He connects this pattern to dependence on government support in retirement and argues that financial intelligence includes understanding what a balance sheet and income statement actually show.

The maxim also fits the book’s wider emphasis on resisting inherited habits and preparing for economic uncertainty. Kiyosaki urges readers to acquire financial education, practice with money, and develop the self-control to keep assets growing rather than spend every increase in income. In that framework, “The Richest Man in Babylon” is a compact teaching authority: its remembered phrase supplies a rule, while Kiyosaki’s diagrams and personal examples insist that the rule must be enacted in the movement of money.