My dad was always pushing me to read finance books. At 9 years old, he pushed me to read The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason. I was laying on my bed, reading the little book when I came across an interesting concept. It said, “Ten percent of all you earn is yours to keep.” I also remember thinking “Well, DUH it’s mine to keep. I made it in the first place.” With this in mind, I asked my dad about it, which spurred an interesting hour-long conversation on money matters.

He pointed out that while we receive all of our paycheck, we then turn around and give it to various people: the Starbucks barista, the grocery store, your university, etc. When he put it that way, I felt completely robbed! Everyone ELSE was getting my hard-earned money! Then it made sense.

Ten percent of every single paycheck is yours to keep. Save it, or make it grow by investing it. Either way, it’s yours for the keeping.

Do you agree with the 10% amount? Do you do something different or better? Let us know with a comment below!

Keep growing.

-College Cents

PS

Get the Richest Man in Babylon at Barnes and Noble for under $2: http://bit.ly/1lmssuS