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Summary: helpful
Review: The Millionaire Next Door gives mostly hints and tip on how to become a millionaire. But what is different is that the authors actually went to millionaires and asked them how to do it. It is suprising that most of the millionaires are not famous, they are regular people that learned how to live below their means and make good occupation choices. What I got out of the book is that being wealthy is not determined by ones material possessions but by the amount of liable assets one owns. Which to be is more important in the long run anyway. It is a good life starter book, I'll read it again after college!
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Summary: A promising outlook on control of our own economic destiny
Review: I thought this book said more than "Look! You can be rich!". To me, it showed that we as individuals can control our destiny, at least in the economic sense. It said that we don't have the right to blame our parents for not being wealthy and we are not victims of our natural economic status. It showed that anyone who is willing to work hard and mind their money can be wealthy. Though I'm not very interested in economic literature, I found this book interesting because it appealed to me as an optomistic look at what someone can do with just a little work ethic and self control. It was imformative but not impossible to understand; it appealed to someone who enjoys quick reads and doesn't want to spend half an hour trying to understand what one sentence is trying to say. A good book for anyone who thinks it can never happen to them and for anyone who wants to be one of "the elite".
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Summary: I'd read this book first, ahead of the others
Review: What it all comes down to is frugality and money management. Stanley and Danko beat that point to death in this great treatise on how to create wealth.Also, keep in t his mind that The Millionaire Next Door was based on actual research done on actual millionaires. It is not a book written by some magazine writer/book author who arites books that nobody wants to buy or read...with good reason--her advice doesn;t work. The Millionaire Next Door is based on advice that really does work. Has worked and will work for you as well...if you apply it. Don't read the negative reviews based on jealousy on these two great authors, read the book and profit.
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Summary: great
Review: I feel that this is a book gives many good suggestions which can help someone become a succesful person in life. I learnd a lot from reading this book. it really gave me a new idea on who the millionaires are in the us. I believe that everyone should at least read part if not the whole thing.
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Summary: Would't be first on my recommended reading list
Review: On a whim I decided to pick up The Millionaire Next Door, having been recommended it several times - I'm glad I bought it discounted, and not necessarily for the reasons the authors would give. The authors have a distinct definition of 'wealthy' which differs from the 'average American'. Rather than defining a wealthy person as one who '[has] an abundance of material possessions', they define a wealthy person as one who '[owns] substantial amounts of appreciable assets'. They explain that 'many people who display a high-consumption life-style have little or no investments, appreciable assents, income-producing assets, common stokes, bonds, private businesses, oil/gas rights, or timber land' (pg. 13). The rest of the book relies heavily on statistics and scattered brief excerpts from interviews from millionaires and wealthy people defending this position. I found this book to be woefully repetitive, its easy to discern what Stanley and Danko are on about after the first chapter. Very little advice is offered for people earning lower incomes regarding how to save and make use of what they do earn. The majority of the suggestions are aimed at mid to high income individuals and families. The suggestions the authors give on how to conserve wealth come off more often than not as being cheap, rather than reasonably frugal advice. Some luxury must be allowed to enjoy life, and this point is not addressed. Overall it may be worth reading, it does offer some surprising insights into the households of America's millionaires, but it wouldn't be first on my recommended reading list.
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Summary: Defintely a worthwhile read
Review: The Millionaire Next Door is an awesome book to show you the way to wealth and financial freedom. Great book--highly recommended.
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Summary: Can you spot the Millionaire Next Door to you???
Review: Before buying The Millionaire Next Door you may have some questions. I had some too like: 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 I ever become one of them? In The Millionaire Next Door you will get the answers to these questions and more. This is the book that is changing peoples lives---and increasing their net worth. It sure has helped me and will help you as well. Pick up The Millionaire Next Door and read the never before told story about wealth in America.
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Summary: Very worthwhile read
Review: The Millionaire Next Door is without doubt one of the best financial books ever published. It tells you exactly how millionaires became millionaires. Unfortunetly, achieving wealth requires discipline. Too many people would rather live for today and forget about tomorrow. Too many people think that success is a college degree and keeping up with the Jones's. The higher their income, the higher their lifestyle. Interesting that small business owners were so successful and that the most successful were normally mundane businesses. I read that the #1 producer of millionaires in small business was via dry cleaning. And you thought it was technology! The Millionaire Next Door is a powerful book that can positively change your life. Some others include Rich Dad Poor Dad, The Automatic Millionaire and More Wealth Without Risk.
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Summary: The simple truth about wealth
Review: Charles Dickens (in David Copperfield) had it right: "Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery." Essentially, accumulating wealth is all about under-spending, and that's the central message of Stanley and Danko's very clear and readable book. There are numerous references in the book to academic studies of wealth (written by the authors--a university professor and a former professor) that add meat to the common sense financial bones throughout the book; however, you don't need an understanding of higher math to comprehend the message of the studies. If you don't appreciate how powerful the combination of regular saving, combined with time and compound interest, can be, then this book will open your eyes. Chances are, however, that you may already appreciate the message of this book. If so, you can buy the book and most likely still enjoy it. However, since the authors will be preaching to (your) choir, this book may not change your world. Those who really need to read this book are those who don't already appreciate the benefits of living well within their means and, as a result, greatly expanding their future means. For example, if your children are teens, they could benefit greatly from the common sense financial wisdom that runs throughout this best-seller. (Of course, your kids could listen to you, but sometimes they aren't especially eager to follow parental advice.) I've given away many copies of this book (I don't have that many children), and a number of the recipients have taken the time to tell me how this book changed their outlook on spending and saving. In a nuts-and-bolts sense, this book describes the most common characteristics of the wealthy (drawing on the authors' studies), their living habits, how and where they shop and buy homes, how they are employed, what sorts of chances in life they take (and don't take), and the long-term effects of adult childrens' continuing financial dependence on their parents. (The last point could be an eye-opener for some.) One of the authors (Stanley) has written a follow-on book, The Millionaire Mind, but I think The Millionaire Next Door is clearly the better of the two books. All in all, it's a very worthy effort.
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Summary: The Amazing Truth about small business people
Review: My original review appears below. I was disappointed that only 1 of 7 people found my original review helpful. Then I looked over other reviews of this book. Most other reviewers received very few, if any, "yes" votes even though their reviews appeared quite informative. Why is that, Amazon? Before visitors to this site turn thumbs down on a review, maybe they should take some time to look at the book first. Otherwise, how would they know if it was helpful or not? "The Millionaire Next Door" is an well researched, well written, and easily understood book about the small business owners in our society. The amazing truth is that the millionaires who own small businesses are pretty down to earth, simple people. They live right "next door" to many of us and run, not high tech, but in many cases, mundane businesses like plumbing contractors, machine tool shops, and the like. They are wealthy and they are careful, if not frugal, but definitely not cheap. During my 18 years as a financial planner, I met many millionaire, successful small business owners who, through hard work and modest living accumulated some very significant wealth. I also met a lot of high income professionals like lawyers, sales people, and image oriented executives who had lots of "stuff" but no true wealth. The book by Stanley and Danko is an excellent analysis of America's vital small business community which creates the large majority of new jobs in our country and represents the true backbone of our economy. Reading it will definitely increase one's economic IQ.
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