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Summary: No secret to 'Millionaire', but it's a wakeup call for some
Review: I think the controversy over this book comes down to whether or not you are comfortable living below your means. That is essentially what the authors suggest as the most assured approach to becoming one of America's wealthiest. A related issue is the reality of what being a millionaire means nowadays. Having a net worth of a million or two just doesn't put you in that elite of a class - that group now comprises 7% of American households (according to more recent business magazines). And it hardly affords you the luxury of a million dollar house, frequent exotic travel, or having your name on the new wing of your local library. But I think the value of the book is to serve as a wakeup call for those who focus too much on immediate gratification and not enough on maintaining some level of comfort in their retirement years. I have to say that the lifestyle of some of the PAWs in the book leaves you feeling that it's not worth becoming a millionaire if it means you're living a middle class life all day, every day. Sometimes you have to splurge - treat yourself to indulgences. I think you can do that and still build some meaningful wealth. If you're someone who takes comfort in focusing on maintaining your quality of life once you stop working, the you are probably already living the life profiled in this book. No need to buy it. But if you are someone who isn't maxing out your 401(k) plan, eats out 3-4 nights a week, and doesn't pay your credit cards off each month, then you could definitely learn something from this book - and you should probably read it before it's too late.
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Summary: See into the lives of the rich and wealthy in America
Review: The Millionaire Next Door - The Surprising Secrets Of America's Wealthy: By Thomas J. Stanley Ph.D., and William D. Danko, Ph. D.This is not a How To Manual by any means of the imagination. It is however a peak into the financial habits and lifestyles of America's rich and wealthy. This book is written by two PH.D., professors, but it is not a mass of techno jargon. The book rings with simplistic knowledge, and easy to understand language. Both authors have been studying the wealthy in America since 1973. Filled with plenty of information, statistics, and interviews, anyone reading this will learn a great deal on the behavior of the rich, as well as money management and frugality. You will get the answers to such questions as these.
Who are the rich in this country?
What do they do?
Where do they shop?
What do they drive?
How do they invest?
Where did their ancestors come from?
How did they get rich?
Can you ever become one of them? This book has been on The New York Times Best Seller list and I highly recommend this classic! You can find further reviews on outstanding books at [WEBSITE]
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Summary: Great Book For Understanding How To Build Wealth!
Review: "The Millionaire Next Door" by Thomas J. Stanley and William Danko is a fun to read book for anyone interested in understanding America's wealthy, defined by Stanley and Danko as those people who have net worth of $1 million dollars or more. "The Millionaire Next Door" claims that there are seven key factors that lead to wealth accumulation. Included are: 1. Living Well Below your financial means. In other words being frugal. Buying the reliable used car versus the shinny new BMW or Porsche.
2. Spending your time wisely and in ways that lead to building wealth, such as studying investment.
3. Being more concerned about financial independence rather than showing off how much wealth you possess.
This is a book that will make you feel good about yourself if you are a compulsive coupon clipper or if you keep telling your kids to shut the door as they are letting the heat out of the house and it is costing you money. The book claims that it will teach you how to join the ranks of America's millionaires. Who could resist reading such a book? To get rich, you must first learn not to be a hyperconsumer. In other words don't buy a lot of expensive stuff you don't need. You need good "offense" or generating earnings of at least $60,000 or more a year. Then you need good "defense" or saving a goodly portion of what you earn. Then you need to get old. In fact, even if you don't have a million dollars, you can still be "rich" by being a PAW. PAWs or Prodigious Accumulators of Wealth have more money than you would think they would based upon their age and income. In contrast are the wasteful UAWs or Under Accumulators of Wealth. There are also AAWs (Average Accumulators of Wealth) but they aren't discussed much. No mention is made of how much EWOKS tend to accumulate. But, I'm betting those furry little fellows save a lot. So even athletes worth tens of millions of dollars can be a UAW. There is something reassuring in that! There is a lot of interesting knowledge to be gleamed from this book. We learn that 3.5 of every 100 households in America have a net worth of $1 million dollars or more. But that 22 of every 100 households headed by Russians have a net worth over $1 million dollars. Interesting. We also learn that self-employed people account for over 2/3 of the wealthy in America. But Stanley and Danko do not tell everyone to start their own business. That's too risky. In later chapters they do mention some businesses that they believe are poised for growth in the future. Businesses that cater to millionaires. Despite having studied wealth for decades, and holding PhD's, Stanley and Danko seem to have some misunderstanding about the nature of wealth building via entrepreneurship. It is pointed out that many corporate businesses fail to report profits in any given 12 month period. No allowance is made for businesses like amazon.com which are growing rapidly and establishing themselves. Nor is it pointed out that many businesses are started in a half-hearted fashion and will never succeed. And it is pointed out that many businesses demand considerable resources like land for coal mining. But, before this the authors are toting investing in assets that appreciate. Land is one of those assets. We are told that one key factor of the rich is that they minimize their tax bite. The rich tend to pay a much smaller percentage of their overall wealth in taxes than most people. But, here it seems Stanley and Danko are mixing up cause and effect. Yes, the rich think about taxes. But, it is precisely because they have already saved a lot, and have retained wealth that is not taxed, that they pay a smaller percentage of their wealth in taxes. (And, capital gains are taxed at lower rates than income, and if you have more, you can invest more and build wealth via capital gains.) But Stanley and Danko can be excused for any oversight as they hold PhD's and "being well educated has certain drawbacks" with regard to the creation of wealth. And, Stanley has, no doubt, become a millionaire by writing about millionaires. The flaw of pursuing spending to show you are affluent and have financial status is very thoroughly trashed, as it rightfully should be. But, each socio-economic group has its own views about what is "important." All successful people tend to be achievement oriented. Unfortunately, many academics measure success by the degrees you hold or the degree of knowledge to which you have been formally exposed. Because of this "The Millionaire Next Door" misses that there are many successful endeavors which do not demand eight-year degrees. You will sense a certain academic bias in the book toward pursuing education. (Incidentally, that bias seems to vanish in "The Millionaire Mind." --another great book.) (There is some justification to saying education is good. I saw a Census study that said the average life time earnings of someone with a highschool degree is about $1.2 million. It's about $2.1 million for those with a college degree and about $4.4 million for those with professional degrees.) Finally, there is some very interesting food for thought about how wealth will affect your children. I like this book a lot. Peter Hupalo...
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Summary: A tool for every fundraiser
Review: As a fundraiser, i have to discriminate between potential donors to maximize the return on my time. This book helps identify those people who may not look or act like it but who have millions. Like my gandfather said "there's more money in overalls than in 3-piece suits".
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Summary: THE MILLIONAIRE NEXT DOOR IS DYNAMITE!!!
Review: THE MILLIONAIRE NEXT DOOR IS DYNAMITE!!! But THE MILLIONAIRE NEXT DOOR is not a how to book!!! It's the best research book ever written about the wealthy--backed up by lots of interviews, profiles, and statistics! And it proves something we've always suspected, that the rich are different from the rest of us, and they probably have more fun, too! THE MILLIONAIRE NEXT DOOR IS DYNAMITE!!! Chari Krishnan
RESEARCHKING
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Summary: Millionaires have no fun
Review: Danko and Stanley obviously failed to adress an important factor in their book. They maintain millionaires are wealthy as a result of their frugality but they never make a mention as to how happy these millionaires are in life. How happy can someone be knowing they could be enjoying the finer things in life but are tooo concerned with their net worth to spend anything. However, Danko and Stanley have some worthwhile advice all of which can be found in the first 50 pages. So read those pages and close the book....the rest is dumb hypothetical stories and useless statistics.
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Summary: deeper implications
Review: What the authors say is that we can all be millionaires if we would only stop spending. But can we? Surely if everyone behaved like this the economy would grind to a halt, and no one would get rich. And the Scots are frugal? Their economy never seems to grow like England's, and always seems to have more unemployment. Any link?
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Summary: Great book that sheds some light on reality
Review: While this book confirmed what I already believed to be true about people's spending habits. The authors made this book a fun read, especially for those who fit into the PAW category! I like their approach to research and think their results intuitively make sense. I recommend this book, especially to those who spend a lot of money keeping up with the Jones'!
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Summary: Save Money, Become Wealthy, Burn This Book for Heat.
Review: I received this book as gift, and after reading it, I am glad I didn't spend any money on it. This book is a classic example of taking a few simple concepts and restating them in every imaginable form to reach a decent book length. The useful information could be summed up into a small pamphlet. Subject matter:
The basic premise of the book is how the average Joe and average millionaire may not be too terribly different. The author interviewed hundreds of millionaires and then analyzed the data from the interviews. They repeatedly comment about how "Mr. penny-pinching trailer park owner is far better off with $1.5 million in the bank than Mr. Doctor with a great house and lifestyle, who only has $750,000 saved up." The authors constantly rant about how being incredibly frugal and watching every penny spent will make you wealthy. While this may be true, none of the information presented ventures far beyond common sense. Another tactic, which I found very annoying, was that various charts and data tables were listed multiple times but in varying ways. For instance a whole page may be taken up by a table dedicated to whether or not millionaires worry about things like cancer, their children's financial future, and the stock market. Three pages later, the same table may be listed, but with percentages rather than raw data scores. There are many instances where the same information is presented in what appears to be nothing more than an attempt to lengthen the book. I found myself wanting to pound my head against the wall. I would not recommend this book to anyone looking to make good use of his or her time. I kept reading only in hopes that there would actually be a few pearls of knowledge to be gained. In the end, I wish I had put the book down shortly after reading the great discussion about millionaires and their ancestry. I truly could care less that there is a larger proportion of millionaires from Scottish descent than from Algerian roots. How is this helpful to me?? Don't waste your time reading this book in hopes that you'll come out of it with a great insight into financial well being. It just won't happen. This book seems more like a doctoral thesis gone commercial than a truly useful guide to financial security. Thanks for your time...
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Summary: Interesting if you earn $90,000 or more a year
Review: (...) Overall I think the book is good and interesting but I don't think you are going to become a millionaire if you don't make a good living to begin with (what the authors call "good offense"). For example, if you make $7 or $10/hr, I don't see you becoming a millionaire. The strong work ethic, frugal living and investing are excellent ideas and anybody can apply them but they are not going to make you a millionaire if you earn say $20,000 a year.
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