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Summary: Enlightening.
Review: The Millionaire Next Door is an interesting study on what the average American millionaire is like, and surprisingly they don't live like rock stars; instead they are a lot more like what I picture as middle class.Here are the 7 most common factors found in almost all of the millionaire's they interviewed. 1. Live below their means
2. Allocate time/energy/money to build wealth
3. Financial independence is more important that social standing
4. They didn't get oodles of money from their parents
5. Their adult children can support themselves financially
6. They can spot and target opportunities
7. They chose the right occupation that fits them This book is full of interesting facts and figures and is a very interested book that I think will help keep you motivated as you save/invest in your future. Reed Floren
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Summary: Dickensian Philosphy in Action
Review: "Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery": David Copperfield, ch. 12 (Mr Micawber). This is a somewhat oversimplied summary of the central thesis of The Millionaire Next Door. Yes, the book is rather repetitive. Yes, the chart about the weights of various cars is silly. And yes, there are no amazing insights or foolproof "get rich quick" ideas. BUT: the authors make perfectly valid points, and the book is an easy, interesting read. There are many, many worse financial books out there.
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Summary: Excellent book that you should own!
Review: I fully recommend this book. I was first introduced to Dr. Stanleys work about 10 years ago as I built my own pratice of being a CPA to millionaires. I can attest that his research and his conclusions on the wealthy are highly accurate. Stanley does a great job of laying out statistical infortmation on American millionaires in easy to follow language. The book flows well through its first three quarters but ends a bit abruptly. Nevertheless it is required reading for anyone who wants to understand or join the wealthy. One of the most interesting aspects of Stanleys book is the clarity he provides in illustrating that the reality of how most millionaires live is nowhere near as exotic as most non-millionaires presume. This is great book that belongs in your library!
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Summary: An excellent work that will add to your wealth
Review: Fans of 1,000 page frivilous financial books written by magazine authors or social science books written by "Nixonites" will probably not appreciate this great work by Stanley and Danko. On the other hand, people who want to learn how to become wealthy, financially free and possibly even a millionaire on the other hand, will enjoy this book. Saying that just cutting back is all this book is about is like saying just exercise and diet and don't read any exercise or nutrition books. The Millionaire Next Door is an excellent book. Obviously it bothers some people and that is great. I always go with the guys that run with the ball, people like Stanley and Danko.
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Summary: Same message repeated ad nauseum
Review: "The Millionaire Next Door" is basically an outline of the consumption habits of millionaires. The main message of the book is that millionaires are frugal. They don't drive flashy cars, they don't take expensive holidays and they aren't brainwashed by the message to consume, consume, consume. It's a little ironic that millionaires get that way by not enjoying the trappings of their wealth. There are number of other simple yet powerful messages that the book covers. However, after awhile the book becomes repetitive and boring. The writing style is pedestrian and some of the tables are difficult to decipher. In a sentence the book says that to become a millionaire, live well below your means. Nothing profound, hardly exciting but absolutely true. I wouldn't recommend this book there are better ones available.
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Summary: Living a little too high?
Review: I used to be one of those people who lived on 125% of my income. I went on vactions 2-3 times per year. Always had a new car, newest fashions and went out six to seven times per week. I bragged that I worked for my lifstyle...and I was right. Hey, I was working. Had been to college. Earned good income. What did I have to worry about right? Wrong! Then one day my company shut down and now I had to live on 50% of my income. Nor problem I thought. This would be just temporary and I would get hired by another company. Wait untill they saw my resume. I waited and waited and waited. I continued to live on 125% of my now reduced income. My savings (what little I had) dwindled to nothing and I had to take money out of my IRA and 401 (k) to live on. I still waited. Soon all my money was gone so I tough out a second mortgage on my house. By the way, to replace my lost income I supplemented unemployment with credit cards untill I couldn't afford to pay them anymore. And my investments went down the drain with the stock market crash that started in 2000. Hey Pres. Clinton was in office. Everything would be great. Or so I thought. A friend who I had met many years earlier came over and asked how things were going (he already knew) When I met this guy about 19 years ago, he impressed on me to build a library of quality self help books. I told them they were great and said my sales success was due in large part to those books. He mentioned The Millionaire Next Door and then asked me if I still had The Richest Man in Bablyon. Embarassed, I told him that I gave many of those books away. Hey, I had already read those books. He asked me again how are things going? Then quickly added that education is like bathing. If you don't practice it, it doesn't last. He then handed me a copy of The Millionaire Next Door and then suggested that I begin again to rebuild my library with the classics like The Richest Man in Bablyon and others. My life started to turn around. I found a new opportunity. 19 years ago I had been exited about sales and left that field for a job which I really didn't like but supported my lifestyle..untill it was taken away. The Millionaire Next Door taught me some lessons that I had forgotten. Lessons that I had learned in The Richest Man in Bablyon. I had become reckless. The other books, got me dreaming again. I have since gotten back on my feet. I have found a great opportunity. I am now again frugal, while enjoying a great lifestyle. I am replacing IRA and other savings and building my investments up again. I highly recommend The Millionaire Next Door as a must read. I also recommend The Automatic Millionaire and Million Dollar Habits by Brian Tracy. This will sound corny, but something magical seems to happen when you read and apply these books. I was flat broke backin 1975 and my whole life turned around. The same thing happened to me after the events of 1999 and 2000 and again, my whole life has turned around. This is powerful stuff. Use it and profit. An remember, it is always better to give than recieve. A friend helped me. Perhaps you can pass this along to a friend who is in need.
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Summary: Sensational book - stop whinning and start winning
Review: All of the people giving this book 1 stars and whinning, I bet you are also all living paycheck to paycheck and have no investments. Am I right? The Millionaire Next Door change that for you. If only you actually take the time to read the book and aplly it's contents. Get off that treadmill and get on the road to wealth with Stanley and Danko.
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Summary: How to Be Rich or How to Be Happy?
Review: I Read Thoreau's Walden when I was a young teenager and was struck with his initial essay on economics. I believe the message he gave is the same as what the authors have found by research. Most people generally want to be rich because they want to have the outward appearance of display or the feeling they would no longer need to discipline themselves. They end up leading precarious, worried, sad lives; Lives of quiet desperation. The millionaires in the book were happy people. They were leading simple, independent lives without much care for outward appearances. They didn't spend money because extra 'things' were less likely to make them happy than being independent. Thoreau said that people would buy a new pair of pants rather than patch the old, because they were so concerned with appearances. Today, people will buy a new car, before they've paid for the old, because they believe they deserve a new toy or to help them live up to the image they have of themselves. You should not envy the wealth these millionaires have, you should envy their priorities.
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Summary: The way to wealth
Review: MAKE NO MISTAKE ABOUT IT...Nobody has ever achieved any level of wealth without exercising some degree of discipline. Discipline to create cash flow and discipline to plug up the leaks on excessive spending. The Millionaire Next Door shows how average people achieved extraodinary wealth with a few daily disciplines. When most people think of wealthy people most people look at the type of cars they drive, homes they live in, fancy clothes and other materialistic things. The fact of the matter is, that in many cases, these people have the least amount of wealth. There bankers, brokers, realtors, store clerks, insurance agents are getting wealthy while they slave away in some cases working two jobs in an effort to show a lavish lifestyle. The Millionaire Next Door shows that you don't need a huge income to become wealthy. Nor do you have to live like a hermit. You can have a great lifestyle in the present while saving for the future...but you have to exercise control. The Millionaire Next Door was like a jolt of electricity to me and made me aware that I was living way beyond my means with little if anything put away for retirement or even emergencies. By contrast, I know some people who earn far less than I do, live reasonably well and have also saved a small fortune by being frugal. Do you really need that bottled water? Eat out every day. Rent too many videos. Have to buy those new fashions? Need to buy a new car just to keep in style? Need to move into that bigger house to keep up with your neighbors? Here is a tip: increase your spending starting tomorrow by putting at le ast 10% of your gross income away. Invest into a IRA and your 401 (k) plan at work. If you are doing that, great. Increase your spending by increasing the amount of money you put into investments. Make extra principal payments on your mortgage and credit cards. Spend extra money in rental properties...carefully or start a small home based business and then use the profits to enhance your lifestyle. Besides The Millionaire Next Door, I also recommend The Millionaire Mind, Rich Dad Poor Dad, The Automatic Millionaire, The Truth About Money, Ordinary People Extraordinary Wealth and More Wealth Without Risk. If you have high credit card debt, I recommend Rich Dad's Guide To Becoming Rich Without Cutting Up Your Credit Cards by Robert Kiyosaki. By the way, Kiyosaki recommends The Millionaire Next Door in his excellent book Rich Dad Poor Dad. The Millionaire Next Door is a great read, just don't make it your only source of financial information. Another way to spend money profitably is to spend (invest) in education by buying good quality books like the ones mentioned above.
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Summary: This is how the rich become rich
Review: Creating wealth is sort of like dieting.Everybody wants the end result but the discipline to achieve that result is usually lacking.Oh, if only there were a magic pill that you could take to lose weight or to create wealth without changing your habits. We would all be rich.FRUGALITY...FRUGALITY...FRUGALITY. It takes discipline.Contrary to certain opinions i.e. revews posted here, you don't need "a wad" to do this.However, by following these concepts, you will soon have a wad.There is no level of income that you can't outspend and yet most of us feel that we have an unlimited supply of cash.You would think that considering the ever increasing number of bankruptcies and mortgage foreclosures not to mention company downsizings that people would have learned by now. Peer pressure...keeping up with the Jone's drives many people to live beyond their means. Remember this: when your outgo exceeds your income, your upkeep will become your downfall.DELAY GRATIFICATION. Pay yourself first. Invest and then buy toys with the profits.Another good book to read is Rich Dad Poor Dad and Cash Flow Quadrant. Robert . Kiyosaki has a different strategy than Stanley and Danko in certain areas but is in agreement in other areas. The authors work compliments each other and I highly recommend these books to all would be financial achievers.Another book that is popular right now and says some of the same things is The Automatic Millionaire by David Bach.Read and grow rich.
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