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Summary: Lifestyles of the rich and obscure
Review: This book is a cut above most 'how to get rich' books, because it is empirical, research-driven analysis of the habits of American millionaires, done over the period from 1973 to just before publication. The authors look at the petit millionaires, not the super-rich, so as to examine the habits of those whose wealth level is achievable in a lifetime. The habits of the group, consisting of those with between $1 and $10 million in assets, reveals that the 'magic' formula is to work hard, not stay in college forever, go into business for yourself, if possible, and live below your means. I'm not at all sure that this wouldn't be the advice of someone who had survived the Great Depression in good shape, but the authors back it up with hard statistical data. Living on less than you earn, staying away from status items, and building wealth over time are three of the keys identified by the authors. Reading this book reminded me again that America is truly the land of opportunity, and that an individual can become wealthy without going to a prestige university, earning a high income, having connections, etc; in other words, the American Dream lives, and those who fail to achieve it frequently have no one but themselves to blame, especially now that this roadmap is available. Lloyd A. Conway
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Summary: with regrets
Review: From personal experience I know this book is right on the money. Had I not given a large gift to UAW'S, invested it' as I have done with mine, I would be leaving them twice as much as I gave. Now it is invested in ,boats.jewels,cars and homes that I pray they won't lose. I pray they won't lose.This a true story.
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Summary: How Explain the Economic Productivity of Russian Americans?
Review: I never suppose that Russian Americans group ranks first in the highest concentration of millionaire households in the United States. There are approximately 22 of every 100 households headed by someone of Russian ancestry has a net worth of $1 million or more. Russians in disproportionate numbers are manager-owners of businesses. (Please read an excerpt from the book in Amason.com.) 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. The idea of calculating the PAW and UAW created by Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko now became a commonplace in a popular financial literature. A couple of charters in the book are devoted to relationships with children. Authors believe the more dollars you give to adult children, the fewer dollars these children accumulate. I think this is absolutelly right. I truly enjoy reading "The Millionaire Next Door". Anyone wanting to get rich should read this book. "The Millionaire next Door" like the "Richest Man in Bablyon" gives you the why people become millionaires and is a must read for anyone who wants maximum financial success.
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Summary: A Brilliant Synopsis of What It Takes To Become Rich
Review: This book, changed my conception of what it was to be wealthy. I always had thought that wealth was represented by Rolls Royce's, Patek Philippe watches, expensive houses etc etc etc. This book will blow your mind, if you believe these things represent wealth. The premise of the book, is that there are usually 3 kinds of "rich" people, the super rich that can afford the absolute luxuries without problem, the ones who look wealthy, the cars, lifestyle etc, but have nothing in the bank, they are all front, and the ones who are wealthy but live simple non dazzle lifstyles. What this book teaches the student of wealth, is that to look wealthy is not the same as being wealthy. Looking wealthy is a falacy, that can lead you to finacial ruin. Throughout the book it gives real life examples. What would you prefer a new Rolls Royce, or a 5 year old Rolls but an addtional $50,000 in the bank from the savings you make on buying second hand? The upfront keep up with the Jones's will buy the new one, the true millionaire will buy the older car, and invest the saved capital and make money on the investment. Capital should not be spent, only intrest off the capital should be spent on depreciating luxury items. This book has changed my life. I lived a life of "luxury" believing that I could afford it. This book gave me a diffrent perspective on wealth, and my competitve spending stopped, and my wealth has soared. I now live 50% under my wage, instead of 100% of my wage. I love saving and investing money, instead of spending. I know that wealth is not about lifestyle, but what is truely in the bank. The book must be read in conjunction with, The Richest Man In Babylon, The Greatest Salesman in the World and The Science of Getting Rich. This is a book that could be used by a marketing guru, on how to sell products to the 3 social classes mentioned, or it can be used by the aspiring rich. Used by those who aspire wealth it will show them that flash lifestyles can create finacial ruin. Prudence, sacrafice and wise investing can make a millionaire out of anyone. The keys are in this book.
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Summary: Not very insightful
Review: This book could have been summed up in one chapter. Know what is important to you, be thrifty, and invest the difference between what you make and what you spend wisely. Too many meaningless statistics included to keep it interesting.
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Summary: LET'S PLAY - WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE!
Review: Ok so you have made it to the final question in the TV show WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE! For your chance at $1M Dollars, please answer the following question: According to the author Dr. Thomas Stanley's best selling book, The Millionaire Next Door, what traits do most typical millionaires have? Do they a. Spend most of their time working instead of enjoying their money b. Prefer to vacation with the family by visiting Aunt Mildred in New Jersey instead of sailing in a private yacht in the Caribbean c. Drive a used Ford pickup truck instead of a Rolls Royce d. Shop at Sears and Wall Mart instead of Sak 5th Avenue e. Cut coupons out of the newspaper to save on groceries each week instead of paying for butlers and maids f. All of the above. What, your not sure and you want to ask the computer to eliminate some of the wrong answers? Ok. The computer leaves you with two choices. Do typical millionaires: e. Cut coupons out of the newspaper to save on groceries each week instead of paying for butlers and maids f. All of the above. Your still not sure and you want to use one of your remaining lifelines to call a friend? Ok then read the following friendly review. According to the author, the answer is "F", all of the above. If this surprises you then so will some of the other traits that these millionaires apparently have in common. According to the author they also prefer being cramped like sardines and fly economy class instead of flying in a private Lear Jet. They also frequent well know five star restaurants that serve only the finest cuisine including McDonalds and Pizza Hut. And they prefer purchasing off the rack suites from J.C. Penny's instead of custom made ones and they typically resole their shoes. Basically, these millionaires have millions but no "airs" about them. In fact they are transparent and indistinguishable from your typical blue-collar, middle-class American family. They are the "Millionaire Next Door". So what sets them apart and makes them so different? Well, the for one thing, they have a bank account, investments and total assets that exceed the total earnings of most individuals in their entire lifetime...and then some. To see if you qualify as being wealthy, use the following formula: Your Total Wealth should equal your age times your total annual income (combined if your married) divided by ten. (If you are unemployed, congratulations, you qualify as one of them.) Well, all of this is very interesting but I am afraid that there is a VERY major flaw in this author's treatise. This flaw can be found buried in the back of the book under Appendix 1. Let's face it; millionaires represent only a small fraction of the entire population of 100 million people in the US so finding them isn't easy. What makes his task even more daunting is trying to separate out the real millionaires or what the author calls PAW (prodigious accumulators of wealth) from those pretending to be millionaires or UAW (under accumulators of wealth). Since it wouldn't be very practical to go door to door and say, "excuse me, are you a millionaire" or "may I please take a look at your portfolio and assets", the author decides to employ the use of a demographer who supplies him with the names and addresses of potential millionaires. Next a questionnaire is sent out to these individuals and the responses are tabulated and analyzed. Here is the author's Achilles' heel. The author has SELECTIVELY sampled through the use of demographics, only 384 millionaires out of an estimated 3 million! The entire book and all of his data rests on this biased data and shoddy statistics that are the equivalent of those commercials on TV that inform us, "3 out of 5 doctors survey recommend". Amazing! Basically the author is telling us what we want to hear. That typical, everyday, working middle-class, garden-variety, every day people can fulfill the great American dream through hard work, determination and frugality. I will grant you that these people do exist, apparently there are at least 384 of them, but I am skeptical about this picture accurately representing the typical average American millionaire. Although this book fails to deliver a scholarly profile of a typical American million, it still makes for surprisingly interesting reading, up until about page 50 or so. After that the book becomes painfully repetitious. You can achieve the same affect by sitting quietly cross-legged on the floor with a penny in your hand in repeating the words, "Frugality, Frugality, Frugality...." for a period of a few hours. The author also did mention one very important trait that some millionaires have which this author apparently possesses and that is ingenuity. Hey, you have to give Dr. Stanley some credit for his ingenuity. At least this book got him rich and it was one step up from those advertisements that say, "send me $1 and I will tell you how you too can become a millionaire".
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Summary: Cheapskates Triumph!
Review: This book is definitely worth a read. I already suspected there were millionaires hiding all around us, that didn't need to parade their wealth to feel good about themselves. I also suspected that some people who drive expensive cars and live in mansions often are one step ahead of their creditors. And this book explains why.
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Summary: Mostly Fluff, but interesting
Review: I read this book about a year ago and liked it pretty well. It's got lots of statistics about Millionaires. Like the most popular vehicle of a millionaire is a Ford F150 (not a Lexus or BMW)if I remember correctly. And most of them have never made much money really. They just spent a lot less than they made. I would say that the biggest value of this book is that it can change the way you think about what's required to become wealthy. You will come te realize that your worth in the long run is much more dependant on your ability to save than to make money . . .
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Summary: Look like a millionaire? Retire like a pauper.
Review: I used to think that only lower and middle class people are the ones who get in enough debt so as to never pay off the principal. Sounds like a lot of doctors and lawyers get (and stay) there too! A story that hit home for me was tale of 2 car buyers (with the same annual income) - one spends about 80 hours shopping and negotiating the purchase of a brand-new Porsche. The other spends an afternoon shopping for a 3 (or 4?) year old Mercedes. Guess who has over $1 mill in savings, a hint - it's the guy who used that 80 hours looking after his finances. Of course, most Americans will always think "you are what you drive, what you wear & where you live." And the guys working on Madison Ave or for banks charging 20% interest on plastic are having a ball - at our expense!
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Summary: Measurement of Best Practices Overcomes "Stalled" Thinking
Review: A book like THE MILLIONAIRE NEXT DOOR has a value that goes well beyond its subject matter: It shows how often we have misconceptions about what is really going on around us. Such misconceptions can stall our progress by having us act in the wrong ways. Unless you had done similar research, you will probably be surprised by at least some of the findings of this book. The millionaires described here remind me of the ones I knew as a child, so the overall picture is familiar. What impresses me is that that model has continued to be true for the 50 years since I was a child. I hope that this kind of research will be continued so it can be tracked to see how the lessons are changing. I read the reviews of this book below, and think I understand why some people were disappointed. I think that many people would like to live an expensive lifestyle and be independently wealthy. That model is not examined here. Perhaps in a future book, that subject should be explored. Also, some people want to know what to do today, and would benefit from looking at those who got to be millionaires the fastest and most recently. That information, too, is missing. The orientation of this study is heavily on how to sell things to rich people, and that is valuable. For example, the richest people I work with will normally ask me what kind of car I drive. They want to hear that I drive an inexpensive car before they feel comfortable with me. I do drive an inexpensive car, a 7 year old Saturn, and that has helped me get consulting clients on many occasions. I think the possibilities of this research are endless if it is turned into best practice research, something that readers are clearly hungry for. But it is a good beginning to simply do the measurements, and learn the value of measurements. To make enormous progress, our reserach has shown that people need to go through the following process: (1) Learn the value of measurements (which this book helps with). (2) Measure every aspect of important activities (something this book starts to do). (3) Measure the existing best practice, and estimate where that will be in five years (this work remains to be done). (4) Implement pieces of other peoples' best practices in new ways for a more effective combination than any one else has done before. (5) Identify the ideal best practice (in this case, get rich quick with little risk -- an example today would be to found an Internet-based business and sell it quickly) (6) Begin to approach the ideal best practice (that might be to establish Web sites and experiment with creating Internet businesses inexpensively). (7) Create the right rewards to motivate yourself and others to get the job done (daily feedback is a good way for many people). (8) Repeat the process. Here's where the main benefit comes in. I hope this model will help you expand on the lessons of this book to become much wealthier yourself, if that is what you desire, or to create something else that you care about. I personally like to help others get rich more than doing the same for myself. I believe that if everyone is more successful, I will have plenty for myself. My personal goal is for everyone to get 10,000 times or more benefit from what clients spend in time, money, and effort on our services and books. Please do read, think aobut, and build on the lessons of this book to meet your life's goals. If you do not yet have written goals, including financial ones, that's an important first step.
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