I have started reading George Clason's book, first published in the 1920s. Although it goes on for many pages, it essentially contains a few core tenets for the acquisition and maintenance of wealth. These are established early and then expanded on throughout the book. Here's the essence of it, distilled:

Lo, money is plentiful for those whom understand the simple rules of its acquisition.

Everyone has ambitions to accomplish and desires to gratify, stretching out in front of them. To realise them, one needs to be successful with money. The timeless guidelines and principles that George S. Clason details in The Richest Man in Babylon lay the foundation for that success.

"Success means accomplishments as the result of our own efforts and abilities. Proper preparation is the key to our success. Our acts can be no wiser than our thoughts. Our thinking can be no wiser than our understanding.

"This book of cures for lean purses has been termed a guide to financial understanding. That, indeed, is its purpose: to offer those who are ambitious for financial success an insight which will aid them to acquire money, to keep money and to make their surpluses earn more money.
 — Foreward

This is not a book of "get rich quick" schemes; it's a guide to handling and managing your money in a responsible and sensible fashion, throughout your lifetime, so that it works for you instead of you for it.

"We have been contented subjects of our kind. We have been satisfied to work long hours and spend our earnings freely. We have earned much coin in the years that have passed, yet to know the joys that come from wealth, we must dream about them. Bah! Are we more than dumb sheep? We live in the richest city in all the world. The travellers do say none equals it in wealth. About us is much display of wealth, but of it we ourselves have naught. After half a lifetime of hard labour, thou, my best of friends, hast an empty purse and sayest to me, “May I borrow such a trifle as two shekels until after the noblemen's feast this night?” Then, what do I reply? Do I say, “Here is my purse; its contents will I gladly share?” No, I admit that my purse is as empty as thine. What is the matter? Why cannot we acquire silver and gold—more than enough for food and robes?
[...]
"I am willing to work for these things with all the strength in my back, with all the skill in my hands, with all the cunning in my mind, but I wish my labours to be fairly rewarded. What is the matter with us? Again I ask you! Why cannot we have our just share of the good things so plentiful for those who have the gold with which to buy them?
[...]
"We do not wish to go on year after year, living slavish lives: Working, working, working, getting nowhere!"
  — The Man Who Desired Gold

I have no issue with working hard for long stretches, employing all my knowledge and skill, to earn a decent living. However, I want my efforts to be fairly rewarded. I also don't want everything that comes in to go out just as quickly. Hoarding fiat is pointless, because it quickly devalues, so I must convert it to cryptocurrencies (such as Bitcoin and Litecoin) if I am to see any long-term gains. However, I given that crypto is still so new in comparison to the incumbent fiat, I cannot yet reasonably expect to be paid in crypto. Instead, I must fiat farm, convert such fiat as I can to crypto and apply the principles of financial success to that also. If it worked for TradFi thousands of years ago, there is no reason why it can't work for the cryptosphere, right?.

"If you have not acquired more than a bare existence in the years since your youth, it is because you either have failed to learn the laws that govern the building of wealth, or else you do not observe them.
[...]
"I found the road to wealth when I decided that a part of all I earned was mine to keep. And so will you."
 — The Richest Man in Babylon

Not all of what you earn is yours to keep, because you have bills you must pay and expenses you must cover. The key is to not let one's expenses consume all of one's income, paying everyone but oneself. That way, one labours for others but not for oneself.

Seven Cures for an Empty Purse

If you can follow these guidelines and do these seven things throughout your career, you will become wealthy. The sooner you start, the better.

1. Start thy purse to fattening: Put aside at least one tenth of everything you earn (no matter how much), so that it may work for you. If you can afford to stash more, then you should do so, as much as possible. Do this every time that money comes in, before it goes out again.

2. Control/Limit thy expenditures: Pay yourself first. Only once you have put aside enough for yourself can you afford to pay others. It doesn't work the other way around. Additionally, do not spend your hoard freely, on fine things you don't actually need, but on necessities only. Expenses will always grow to meet income, unless one is careful to guard against this. One's expenses are not the same as one's desires (of which one has more than income can ever satisfy and which must be discarded).

3. Make thine gold multiply: While having money set aside in a safe store is satisfying, it doesn't earn anything and grow while it is there. Invest it, at a compound rate, but do so with caution and wisdom. (Reinvest the interest that you earn, so that it will earn you more interest in turn.)

4. Guard thine treasures from loss: Do not take financial advice from those who are not financial advisors. Do not invest with those who are not investors. (Seek only the advice of those whose experience gives them the competence to give it.) Invest carefully. A sure thing with a modest return is better than a large return at great risk of loss. Those who seek to gain wealth quickly will lose it just as quickly.

5. Make of thy dwelling a profitable investment: If you can set aside much of your income without detriment to yourself or well-being, your hoard will grow much faster. Also, one should not pay for one's dwelling more than it is worth, especially if one is renting it. (Do not rent a place if you can afford to buy it, even with a loan you can pay back at higher than the agreed rate, because real estate is valuable. Also, do not buy a place that is larger than you need, because that is an unnecessary expense.) Own your own home, if you can.

6. Insure a future income: One day, you will also be old and unable to work for an income. You need to have money put aside for that period of your life. Make investments with an eye to payouts in the future, so that you may provide for yourself when you have no other income streams. Purchasing and renting out real estate is a good way to do this. Additionally, invest some money at a high interest rate (at least 20% a year) for the long term. Contribute to it regularly (at least as often as one receives income).

7. Increase thy ability to earn: Wishing to become wealthy is an abstract and vague desire that has no purpose. Wishing to earn a certain and identifiable amount more than one currently does is a focused and achievable goal. Invest your energy, talents and time in expanding your knowledge and improving your skills, so that you become more capable of doing your job more effectively and more efficiently. That way, you may get more done and thus earn more.

Wealth lies not in the value of what one has in safekeeping, but in building that store through a reliable income, from multiple streams.

Wealth is accumulated first in small sums, then in larger ones. Only when it gathers in large sums should you allow yourself to enjoy the fruits of your labour, but always in moderation and with restraint. Above all things, never spend as much as (or more than) your income allows, or you will again be poor.

The standard disclaimer about my not being a financial advisor or broker applies here.

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