A Gift from My Father

A Gift from My Father

One of the best gifts my father ever gave me was a wedding present of $1,000 worth of stock in Puget Sound Energy, a regulated utility in Washington State. He told me of his own experience consistently putting a little bit of money into his own Puget Sound Energy account each month.

That was 17 years ago. I followed his example, and after he died in 2006 I cashed in my Puget Sound Energy shares, by then a turkey of a stock paying less interest than Vanguard money market funds. But the total in that account had ballooned to $78,000. Dad’s real gift was a lesson in the value of disciplined investing.

The Golden Rule of achieving prosperity through disciplined investing was set forth more than eight decades ago in a bestselling book that enthralls readers even today.

“A part of all you earn is yours to keep.” That’s what George Clason wrote in his classic guide to personal finance entitled The Richest Man in Babylon. Clason’s book of parables about thrift, saving, and hard work became the blueprint for nearly every personal finance book written since—and his ideas continue to be successfully repackaged and rewritten.

Clason advises readers to “pay yourself first.” By this he meant to religiously set aside at least ten percent of all income, from every source, before paying bills or any other obligations. This discipline of saving is the real secret of wealth—the Golden Rule of prosperity.

Following the Golden Rule consistently is far more important than what you invest in (as the Puget Sound Energy experience taught me). And the key to consistency is discipline. Discipline will make you prosperous.

So thanks, Mr. Clason, for teaching us the Golden Rule. And thanks, Dad, for the gift of Discipline.

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