Book Review: Wealth 101

I found this book at Goodwill. I like looking at the book selection they have. You'd be surprised at what you can find if you just take the time to look.

There are always a multitude of diet books and "how-to" books on their shelves. I always look around for books that talk about wealth or autobiographies of people who have made massive amounts of money. These are the books I want to read. I want to educate myself in what works for others.

I have found that if I can take in what works for them, I can usually figure out something that might work for me. I have heard it said, "Take what information you can, add the good stuff to your life. Whatever works, keep doing, then throw the rest out." I am not sure who said that, probably from some Jim Rohn Conference I listened to at one time or another.

"Wealth101: Wealth Is Much More Than Money" is the full title of this book written by Peter McWilliams. I like the way this book is built. It is not focused on money. It their definition, wealth is not the abundance of money, it is about the abundance and quality of life, your life. In fact, the book doesn't start talking about getting more money till the last 80 pages or so.

What makes this book so interesting is that it is packed with quotes from the most successful and wealthy people in the entire history of our planet. They quote everyone from Jesus to Gandhi, to Ganges Kahn to thousands of other people. They touch on everything from creating balance in your life to worry to keeping yourself motivated. There is so much great information packed in this book, I am probably going to have to read through it again, maybe even several times.

There is Plenty of Money

We make money everyday. I don't mean that we earn money, I mean that we create money out of thin air. If you think about it, we look at the things around us and figure out how we can turn those things into something useful or a service that is helpful. Then people give us their money for that thing or service. Hence we are making money from stuff that was not there before.

Banks make money out of thin air as well. Let's say you make $100 and deposit into your account. The bank is allowed to lend 90% of that deposit to other people for their needs. Businesses will borrow money from the bank to pay their employees till the receive money from their clients. Their employees will deposit that money into their accounts. That means the bank has $190 on their books, $90 of which does not really exist. Now they do have th records stating the $90 in loans and they will get a return as the loanees pay back their debt. The thing is the bank can continue to loan out 90% of the deposits they receive. That means they can loan out $81 of that $90, putting $271 on the books from that original $100. Each of those dollars the bank is making interest on. That is also the reason it would be a bad thing if there was a run on the banks. There is no way the banks could ever give everyone the money they have in their accounts.

You can create money from your thoughts. People all over the world are blogging, and if they are doing it right, they are earning some kind of income from that ads on their blogs. The trick is to write about something people want to read about. If you are hear reading this you are helping me out just because the ads are on this page. If you see an ad for something you are interested in and you click on the ad, then I make even more money.

To make money out of thin air, all you have to do is look around and find a way to make something valuable out of the resources you already have available.