Rating: 
Summary: We all know we have to save money to get rich!
Review: The book goes on for about 250 pages talking about how you have to save all of your extra money and invest it in bank accounts to become rich. Well, I think we all knew that saving money was a good thing and we didn't have to read 250 pages to get this. But the book did have some better things to offer. There were some great stories about people that we can al relate to in our lives, the eccentic neighbor, ect., that are all know as millionairs. They have saved up enough assets and have not splurged on anything to the point of becoming millionairs. And it is amazing to see all of the little places where they manage to save money. Maybe only a hundred dollars here, a hundred there, it all adds up and they accumulate for themselves a forturne. This is very interesting and a great way to learn the little things we can do in our lives to save money. Other than that, the book was really bad.
Rating: 
Summary: interesting
Review: I felt that this book was an eye opener for most of America's common people. MOst would have no idea that the rich can just be like you and me. I felt that Stanley and Danko had more than enough facts and the book got a little boring with all the specific stories that were told. I feel that the book had a good positive message about budgeting money and changing your way of life.
Rating: 
Summary: Eye-Opening
Review: It seems that everyone has a stereotypical view of what a "millionaire" is. We see someone drive down the street in that just-came-out-yesterday-brand-new SUV and we think they are very wealthy. Better yet, we see someone walk out of that exclusive clothing store with a few bags and then hop into that certain SUV. When we see that person, we assume they are well to do, perhaps a millionaire. What is so great about The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas J. Stanley, Ph.D. and William D. Danko, Ph.D., is that all of these stereotypes are completely dismissed.
The authors do a great job of illustrating right from the beginning, and even advertising, that everyone is very competent of becoming wealthy. The main examples of the book came from an interview/survey done by the authors of the book. The subjects were millionaires, multimillionaires, billionaires, in essence, very wealthy people. Throughout the entire book, statistics are given that show where these millionaires live, what they drive, what they wear, where there children go to school, etc. The whole point of this seemed to be that, everyone can accomplish this. That is where the seven factors to being wealthy come into play.
At the opening section of the book, the survey results are summed up into seven factors that can describe the typical millionaire. These factors were very eye-opening as each factor is not hard to accomplish. The completely illustrate in detail each factor; there is a basically one chapter per factor that explains and give examples of how to achieve and how others did achieve in their own personal lives.
Many of these findings seem to be very surprising at first, but in the end, the entire book seems common sense. This by no means makes this a bad book, if anything, it means it did its job. The Millionaire Next Door simply shows the obvious ways for anyone, no matter what occupation or social status, to accumulate wealth and become a millionaire.
Rating:
Summary: Insightful
Review: We read daily about the millionaires in the world, and expect that they're all the Bill Gates, the Michael Jordans of the world. High rollers, big incomes, ... lawyers, doctors, real estate brokers...But the truth is that, when you seperate the high-income earners from the TRULY wealthy- the high-net-worth people, the story becomes much different. Frugality, hard-work, more-often than not owning your own business, and financial intelligence. These are the secrets to wealth. This book is highly recommended. Packed with facts, figures, tables, stories, and an entertaining read, it will dispell some of the myths of the wealthy in America, and help paint a picture of the path YOU can take to achieve true independence.
Rating:
Summary: Stanley and Danko's Doctoral Theses Makes Them Millionaires
Review: June 2002: Anyone wanting to learn how to make money should buy one of Andrew Tobias' books and use this one to stop that kitchen table that you bought 30 years ago from rocking back and forth. Thomas J. (my other car is a Z-28) Stanley and William D. Danko go to great statistical links to explain why your neighbor has more money than you. In fact, this book is overloaded with statistics on everything imaginable. There is some practical information here, but the reader has to be ready to wade through mounds of data and numbers. Much of the information is obvious, too. In a nutshell, want to save a lot of money? Don't spend any! Stanley and Danko have published their doctoral theses and made a lot of money in doing so. Now Stanley is going to tell us about the Millionaire Mind? I haven't looked at that one yet, but I'll bet a quick thumbing of the book will show a lot of charts and stats. Prepare to help Stanley get richer at your expense and prepare to be bored. October 2002 - After looking at this book again, I decided to adjust my thinking a bit on its usefulness. It is true that there are many people out there that would find the tips and views presented here useful because they would seem to be a revelation. Many people live above their means in this country and their competitive nature requires that they buy a new car every few years or engage in some other type of conspicuous consumption that in the long run only wastes their wealth. But to many of us the tips in this book won't be revealing at all. I recall reading a book on wealth building a few years ago in which the author suggested that ways to save money include re-using the blade in your razor several times rather than discarding it after one shave (do people really do that?) and bringing your lunch to work rather than going out to eat (among other things). The "revelations" in Stanley and Danko's book seem as obvious to me as those suggestions. If you really want a study of millionaires in this country, I guess this book is a decent one (though dated now). However, my assumption is that most people who see this book will look at it as a "how to..." And some of it may be "how to" if you are among those who have money but seem at a loss as to why you can't save. Some of these stories can be helpful in that sense. I still maintain that if you are looking for wealth building tips, pick up Andrew Tobias' book "The Only Investment Guide You'll Ever Need". It's much better at helping a reader understand how things work and how best to use your money.
Rating:
Summary: To learn, mimic
Review: People must learn that rich isn't about money, it's about the thoughtform one learns and the ability to network with people and develop one's thoughts. Money isn't the end all but I think that the development of the consciousness, the creativity of businesses is essential to the development of our culture, our world as a whole. Don't misunderstand me, I don't think that a purely capitalistic strategy is perfection but I do think that the availibility of it will allow minds to develop, to formulate new concepts.
Rating:
Summary: Eye-Opening Stories
Review: It may surprise many of you that the vast majority of millionaires interviewed by the authors of this book did not inherit their wealth, nor do they attribute their fortunes to luck. On the contrary, most of the now wealthy were ordinary people just 2 or 3 decades ago. The majority lived beneath their means. They did not choose to buy fancy cars; nor did they strap themselves financially by buying more house than they truly needed. They were able to accumulate wealth, even though they were not the highest paid people in the country. They did not spend money to give the appearance of being rich. They chose to plan for the future and worked hard at becoming financially independent. They achieved this goal by saving part of every paycheck, budgeting, and by paying careful attention to their investments. The authors assure us that we can do the same if we are willing to accept a not wasteful lifestyle. Saving and investing are mandatory, as wealth comes from accumulating growing assests and not from ever increasing salaries. This philosophy goes hand in hand with my recommending that investors learn about stock options, for those investment tools can be used by the prudent investor to make his portfolio safer. Reviewed by the author of THE SHORT BOOK ON OPTIONS
Rating:
Summary: Truly Depressing If It Applies to You
Review: I recently read somewhere on the internet that, according to a late 1990s study conducted by the Federal Government focusing on the top twenty percent of all wage earners, almost all of them have more invested in their cars than in either their homes or their investments. Please bear in mind that cars depreciate in value, while homes appreciate. Given these two sobering facts, more people of affluent backgrounds in America actually face declining net worth, and based on the latest research, including Stanley and Danko's Millionaire Next Door, the situation is steadily growing worse every year- especially now with accelerating bankruptcy rates and short-term consumer debt at an all-time high. This state of affairs is most unsettling when one ponders the implications associated with many college-age people who are graduating with outrageous debt burdens accumulated from school tuition, expensive car purchases and profligate credit card use. The Millionaire Next Door eerily shows how those who live in expensive homes and drive fancy cars often do not have real wealth, while those who are wealthy often do not live in expensive homes and drive fancy cars. Many people who are not wealthy have what can only be called a stereotypical view of the wealthy. They believe that millionaires wear expensive clothes and watches, drive expensive cars, live in mansions, and actively acquire other status artifacts. Although they may qualify as 'affluent' based on their lifestyle and income, many highly educated, high-income, and hard-working people are not millionaires, let alone financially well-off. Many of them are in fact surviving from paycheck to paycheck. Almost all of these people ask themselves the following question- how come I am not wealthy? While it may be rare to run into a person who derives a million dollar plus income, it is more common than many people think to run into people who have a net worth that is one million dollars or more. Many of us buy into the get rich quick stories we often hear on television- instant lottery winners, hard scrabble ordinary people turned real estate moguls, and even the techie dot-com employee turned venture capitalist overnight with a successful IPO. The reality however, is far more mundane and startling. Many of those whose net worth exceeds one million are not only self-made, they also tend to come from a variety of backgrounds, more than a few of which are commonly thought of as 'dull-normal'. These individuals typically achieve millionaire status over a period of three decades or more, and typically reach millionaire status after the age of fifty. As a group, these high net worth people amass their wealth slowly and steadily over time, meticulously plan and budget their consumption and their investments, and seek the advice of specialized professionals (accountants, lawyers, and financial planners) when making financial decisions that will affect their wealth. Although they do engage in the same consumption activities- buying cars, homes, and clothes and such as their more 'affluent' counterparts, they do differ significantly in their pattern of consumption- that is, they tend to differ significantly in their manner, type and quantity of consumption. The authors describe in clear and simple terms how ordinary people can become wealthy. Wealth does not have to be inherited or won in games of chance, such as gambling, lottery tickets, and the stock market. Wealth is more often the result of hard work, perseverance, planning and most of all- self-discipline. Surprisingly, luck, inheritance, advanced degrees or even intelligence often has little or nothing to do with it. Although many of us would like to believe (including myself) that these aforementioned things will make it easier to obtain wealth, a disturbingly large amount of literature actually has found that large amounts of pre-exisiting wealth actually has an adverse effect on wealth building, especially among offspring. The authors clearly define qualitatively for themselves what it means to be wealthy, and a means to quantify wealth- that is how much money does it take to be considered 'rich'. The single biggest demerit of this exposition is that the authors judge wealth purely from a financial standpoint; no other criteria are considered. Readers of this and other texts on wealth-building strategies should stop to consider this interesting proposition: Given homeownership free and clear, which would you rather be at age 65- fit as a fiddle with 200K in the bank, or in extremely poor health with a cool million in the bank? For those who would choose the million and poor health, here's a hint to the real solution: ask yourself just how long you will stay a millionaire given the dismal state of affairs and high cost of care (read HMOs) so disturbingly characteristic of the United States medical care system. One should bear in mind that being financially independent does not necessarily mean being a millionaire. Being financially independent and building wealth both take discipline, sacrifice and hard work. If you are willing to make the necessary trade-offs of your time, energy, and consumption habits, however, you can begin building wealth and achieving financial independence. In the end, I believe that true wealth comes from making three ongoing and critical investments in good education, good health and good nutrition. These three ongoing investments are absolutely necessary for optimum performance and maximum productivity in one's chosen career or avocation, and for ultimate wealth with well-being.
Rating:
Summary: Not a how-to-be-a-millionaire book
Review: I found this book fascinating. It is not a how-to-be-rich book. As the title implies, it is the combined conclusions from a number of statistical studies and focus-group interviews by authors Stanley and Danko, the purpose of which was to find out more about the spending and saving habits of the rich. For their purposes they defined "rich" as more than $1 million in net worth. The results I found pretty eye-opening. Of particular interest for me was the authors' comparison between 2 groups: the true millionaires (according to their definition) and those who fit the more popular image of millionaires - high spenders who had less than $1 million in net worth. The study includes lists and tables of occupations of millionaires, categories of businesses they own, and so on. Yes, most millionaires are owners of businesses (cf Kiyosaki's "Cashflow Quadrant"). Another section of great interest is that on the children of millionaires vs those of high-spenders. There is much implied in the book (the frugality, discipline and low-profile lifestyle of millionaires are treated with obvious sympathy and respect), but the authors did very well to stick to their brief and avoid preaching, or even advice (althought there is an excellent concluding section, in true academic style, on how one might exploit the statistical information). Finally, as a non-American, I found the wealth of analysis on cars hilarious! The table on cars' cost per pound is highly thought-provoking, though. Very well written with humour and a complete lack of pretentiousness or "academese". All in all, the results of their excellent research speak for themselves.
Rating:
Summary: Simple lessons
Review: It all comes down to the fact that you can't spend all your money if you want to keep some. I have used some of the ideas I found in this book about living below my means and it is already working at the tender age of 21. I don't srive the best car, but while my friends have huge de3bt from student loans and credit cards I am well in to the black and I plan on staying that way for the majority of my life.
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