Rise Of The Financial Ruler. Mr Paul See
2
The Pharaoh’s dream turned out to be rather accurate; the following year saw the Egyptian Stock Exchange Index (ESEI) growing steadily. Every industry seemed to be doing well, and seemed to be outdoing itself with the coming of the new year.
As the ESEI level continued to climb, Egyptians continued to pour shekels into the index believing that it will only keep going higher. This atmosphere of optimism permeated the air of the Egyptian streets, and several households turned wealthy as they bought into the shares of the index earlier than the rest.
Even cobblers and chariot drivers got into the fray and invested their hard-earned savings into the ESEI. Reuben also joined the buying craze as he was recommended by some friends on the latest “sure-win” shares.
“I have some information that the company has made spectacular returns this season! And they are going to announce their results next week. You do not want to miss out on this opportunity because the share price is bound to increase.”
“This company has been making money for the past 10 years, how bad can it possibly do this year?” Reuben’s “share-guru” friends would have proclaimed.
14
Good Years, Year 2
The situation eventually developed to the point where Egyptians were buying shares not because they understood what it meant or its purpose.
They were buying it solely because they believed that someone else will buy these shares from them at a higher price.
Benjamin, however, did not join in with the crowd. He preferred to buy shares of certain companies that he had already been observing over the past 3 years and companies whose operations he understood very well.
He also invested only with money that he was ready to leave untouched for the next 5 years or more as the need to prepare for 7 years of hardships remained deeply etched inside his mind.
However, no one else was complaining or being picky at this moment as some Egyptians were making so much money within such short time frames. Everything seemed blissful and the general happiness level of Egypt rose as the ESEI improved overtime.
The citizens that had paid close attention to the announcement soon forgot about the second part of the premonition.
Slowly, they became complacent and reverted to living extravagantly, enjoying the bountiful harvests that each year brought. Reuben was happy being one of these people.
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Good Years, Year 2
On a positive note, Reuben’s entertainment expenses paid off when he finally managed to find himself a wife. He was optimistic that the future was looking up as he received a pay raise to 3300 of silver.
The promotion, coupled with extra income from his investment in ESEI, bloated his complacency and he decided to throw a grand celebration to commemorate his wedding.
“My family had never had a big celebration before”, he justified to himself, “If I, as a supervisor, don’t throw one, when will we ever?” So, to support the grand wedding, Reuben spent all his savings.
16
Good Years, Year 2
Upon witnessing this, Benjamin concluded to himself that Reuben has not prepared for the major events of his life.
Benjamin flipped open his journal to remind himself,
Life is unpredictable; it is made up of milestone a wiseman could prepare for
Benjamin wanted to tell him that he should not spend all his savings and start from scratch since he was no longer a young man.
Additionally, at that time, most Egyptians were buying up extravagant cottages and huts using the shekels they made from the stock market.
This resulted in rapidly rising home prices which everyone hoped to have a slice of.
As such, many households took out mortgages that, alone, were eating away more than half of their monthly income.
Benjamin did not want to be a wet blanket to Reuben or his relatives.
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Good Years, Year 2
He just jotted down in his journal:
Reuben and his wife continued to notice that property prices were continually rising. By now, they had managed to amass enough funds from friends and family to make the down payment for the hut. So Reuben went down to the simple, quaint hut by the hillside to check it out again. Everything was going according to plan, but just as they were about to close the deal, Reuben was told that the minimum price for down payment had increased and his funds was no longer sufficient as down payment.
This disappointed Reuben very much, but even though he could not close the deal then, he left feeling determined to buy down a house as soon as possible. He knew that the value of houses will continue to appreciate and the sooner he bought one, the more profit he would make from the property’s appreciation.
With this in mind, he borrowed money from more friends, and asked each of his brothers, right down to the youngest one, Benjamin.
Spending within your income is not equivalent to spending within your means
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Good Years, Year 2
Surprisingly, it turned out that the one who had the most cash to spare was in fact Benjamin, who knew that Reuben was in need of a house after his wedding. Seeing how he lacked money for the down payment, Benjamin had predicted that sooner or later, he would come looking to him for a loan. He was prepared, and had set aside 5 percent of his annual income for Reuben.
Out of the money that Benjamin had compartmentalized, 5 percent of his income was to be spent on charity. This portion of Benjamin’s money can be given to anyone that needs it most, and this time it was his brother, Reuben. Even though he gave it to Reuben as a loan, he decided to consider this money as no longer his, and took it as helping his brother in need instead.
The original plan was for Reuben to earn money quickly to repay him back within 3 months. However, as he still had not bought his house, Reuben’s loan period grew to 6 months, then a year…
But Reuben still did not have enough, and asked Benjamin if he had more to spare. Reuben calculated that 5 percent of his yearly income was about 1000 shekels, and told him that that was as much as he could offer him.
When Reuben asked for even more, his answer was simply: “Sorry, I have already made plans for each of my shekels, the rest have other places to attend to.” To such an answer, Reuben had no choice but to back away.
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Good Years, Year 3
Year 3
Camel Travel was seeing excellent growth over the year, and Reuben benefited from the growth as well. He was promoted to a managerial position and had his salary increased to 3650 shekels of silver.
Having borrowed even more money from friends and family, Reuben excitedly went back to the hut in a bid to buy it down. But to his dismay, it had already been bought by another couple!
Reuben knew he had no time to be disappointed, and quickly looked for the next best alternative, the riverside cottage. Fortunately for him, with his salary increment and the borrowings he had made, the 24,000 shekels of silver he had was just enough to make the down payment for that property.
“The hut does