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Summary: Common sense isn't all that common
Review: What you learn is this book all seems simple common sense--don't spend money you don't have, live within your means, don't expect Mom & Dad to underwrite your lifestyle into your forties. But the authors provide extensive (and sometimes scary) data supporting their arguments that make this more than your usual financial self-help book. It isn't unusual to read about some (apparently) rich and famous person declaring bankruptcy out of the blue. And then you hear about the $5.1 million dollar home and the $1.3 million condo in Hawaii and the fleet of Ferraris and the bizarre investements that didn't pan out...It seems easy to say "live within your means" but money problems plague people from all tax brackets. This book shows that these problems come more from a person's approach to money that the pile you actually have. Trouble is, in these days of unparalleled economic growth and stocks trading at like 250 times earnings, folks aren't thinking too hard about managing their money for their future. This book is a good way to get your financial head on straight, be ye a prince or a pauper.
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Summary: To me the authors' findings were so true!
Review: Coming from a wealthy family, I found the authors' findings so accurate. I was born and raised in Asia, but moved to the US many years ago. My father --back in my home country--is a highly successful businessman. He has very little education due to limited resources; however, he built his own business (from the ground up), where everyone in our family works for. It's so amazing that what the authors found as characteristics of the rich in the US also apply to those in the opposite side of the world. Everyone in my family is frugal, very frugal. When I was a kid, I was always taught to save, save and save. My parents did not buy luxuries. I never realized how much of their lifestyle and esp. their attitudes toward money I absorbed from them until I grew up and looked back. Since I was a kid, people always said I was frugal (with a sneering tone). I can confirm one rule that was mentioned in the book as how the rich raised their kids: "Never tell children that their parents are wealthy." I never realized how affluent my family (or at least my parents were) until I was 13 or 14 because we normally didn't even think about luxury and everyone was always told not to spend too much and to take good care of one's belongings so that they lasted for a long time. My father is very strict and he instilled in all of us high discipline. It is very true that children of the affluent who rely on their parents' finances are controlled. The money does not come with no string attached. Actually it comes with a thick tie on it. How accurate the statement, "Nothing is free." is applied esp. in this situation. In all, I think the rich, no matter what part of the world they came from, all share the same values that make them rich. I truly enjoy reading The Millionaire Next Door. In several ways it makes me more fully understand myself and my family.
Rating: 
Summary: A Good Reminder
Review: The writing is dry, sometimes difficult, and the charts and tables nearly impossible to understand. Practical advice is nowhere to be found. Yet everyone who isn't a millionaire and never believed they could be should read this book. I grew up in a working class home, often feeling inferior to those who had more than me. Now I find out that my background can actually tip the scales of wealth in my favor. It's good, too, to see in print evidence that many of the people I'm trying to keep up with on the way to the bank probably didn't earn their status the way I've had to; it was given to them instead. Highly motivating.
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Summary: Should Be Required Reading in High School and College
Review: This book really helped me begin to re-orient my priorities with regard to finance and being self-sufficient. My pre-disposition is definitely to be more on the UAW side of things - it's amazing to me now to look back on the five years (post-college) that I have spent in the work force and realize how little wealth I have in terms of money saved, investments, etc. I realized while reading this book how much money that I have spent and even wasted on high-priced clothes, expensive restaurants, etc. (where does it all go?) I recently got married to someone who is definitely more pre-disposed to be a PAW (of course he's the one who bought the book!) and we agree that this is the most valuable ever spent for financial advice in terms of what you're getting for your money. We are now working on creating a monthly budget (something that this book highly recommends) and investing each month into direct stock plans and Sharebuilder.com so that we don't have to pay excessive brokerage fees. Can't wait until they come out with a sequel!
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Summary: Not too impressive
Review: This book presents some interesting facts and ideas, but not very detail and not too practical at all.
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Summary: The Millionaire Next Door : The Surprising Secrets of Americ
Review: A cluster of statistics and not much else. Very disappointed
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Summary: Surprising Stuff
Review: Its scary reading this book. I love knowing that a lot of people are rich, but it bugs me that to be rich youve gotta be cheap. I dont like the idea of scrimping and saving, but I guess it works. Anyway, its got a bunch of good info in it.
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Summary: Suprizing Facts Revealed
Review: If you want to be a carpenter, study carpentry; if you want to be an engineer, study engineering; but if you want to be a millionaire, study wealth- read this book! The Millionaire Next Door is exactly that- a study of millionaire's behavior and habits. Not a "How To Get Rich" book, but an eye opener for the student of wealth. Some have felt the books is simply filled with stats. That is true, but the statistics and other information given are somewhat of a parable, telling another story- the story of what makes one wealthy. You could even cazll this book "How To Be Frugal". At amazon's 20% off retail, this is a great place to start! Anyone engaged in a serious study of wealth should read this book, and take its "stats" to heart.
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Summary: Wake up "one stars"!
Review: After reading several of the reviews of this book, it seems to be divided into love it or hate it. There seems to be a misconception among the "one stars" that your average millionaire is an unhappy, penny pinching miser who never enjoys their wealth. The word FRUGAL is used an awful lot as it CHEAP. I must tell you from experience that as the stereo typical person that is discussed in the book, that I cannot be happier living a middleclass lifestyle. My friends, neighbors and even family (aside from my wife) don't have an idea how much money is being amassed. I don't want to hang out at the country club showing off to a bunch of four flushers who are up to their eyeballs in mortgages and credit card debt. Getting up in the morning and knowing that there is no mortgage on the house, every bill is paid IN FULL and on time, is the most wonderful feeling in the world. It is a lot better than buying a $5,000 watch that will be used only to impress someone in a $1200 suit. Sorry One Stars, I do take great family vacations, go to dinner a few times a month and mow my own lawn. I do not deprive myself of anything I really want. I just don't want the latest things that are being pedeled on TV. Buying this at full price would only make a sucker out of me. There are things you need, and things you want, and it's OK to treat yourself but you must keep a strong grip on what you are buying and why you are buying it. I have used a rather strange baromiter over the years to aquire wealth. I try to have $10,000 dollars to invest by the time I finish a new tube of tooth paste. It works for me except when my son squeezes half the tube down the drain. Boy do I have to work hard that month! I am 40 years old and have a net worth of $4,000,000. I will remain happy if I can keep my secret from my friends. I don't think that I would be accepted in my middle class world if they knew. This book is common sense to some, and a complete and foolish mystery to others. If the one stars don't smarten up, they will remain one stars for the rest of their lives. Buy this book and read it as many times as it takes for you to get it, otherwise you will have no choice in your later years but to live like a miser.
Rating: 
Summary: Scientific inquiry violated
Review: The Millionaire Next Door comes across as a decent book that does not attempt to fool its readers in get quick rich scheme, yet at the same time provides implications that violate scientific inquiry. If all you are desiring is to describe the "typical" millionaire than this book may be of interest to you. If, instead, you read this book in finding out "how you too can be a millionaire" than you'll be (or should be) disappointed. Cause and effect are debased in this book. By living frugal, having devoted relationships to children, having certain beliefs, etc. the authors would like to imply that being a millionaire is well within your reach. This ascertain can be verified if by studying all people we determine that only frugal people become millionaires and millionaires are the only frugal people on earth. If millionaires are the only people who have devoted relationships to children and the rest of "us" do not, than the authors can start claiming cause and effect. If the rest of "us"; however, are also frugal (or at least a good portion of us) and we have not become millionaires, than cause and effect can be thrown out the window. One part of this book that is distressing is how it conveys the message that those who are wealthy have the "merit" to be wealthy, and those who are not have character flaws. This ignores realities of structural barriers, sociological influences etc. Yep, this book best belongs in pop psychology books or People Magazine. For a serious study of wealth in America I'd go someplace else.
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