Millionaire Next Door
The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas J. Stanley, Ph.D., is a much different book on millionaires than one might expect on
two fronts.
On the one front, Stanley has written a well researched book that's very easy to read. Far from what I was expecting, that being
something along the lines of a textbook, it was engaging from the beginning as Stanley breaks down statistics of what makes
millionaires, their mindsets, and the types of things that drive them to become millionaires.
For instance, many of the millionaires he interviewed are nothing like what most people would think of as millionaires. Many of
them live in small houses in non-assuming neighborhoods. They drive small, non-distinct cars; some drive minivans. They don't
wear fancy clothes, they don't eat out much, and they don't travel all the time. Some of them don't even make hundreds of
thousands of dollars a year; they've just decided they wanted to learn how to save money, or make money work for them, with
dreams of early retirement or living well at any point they decide to retire.
On the second front were some of the types of people who are millionaires that one wouldn't expect, and I mean multi-millionaires.
By profession, auctioneers came out at the top of the list of folks who were likely to be millionaires; I didn't see that one
coming at all. They were followed by plumbers, electricians, and many other small businessmen. Many of them have accumulated
more wealth, and are wealthier by far, than physicians who earn $500,000 a year; that was phenomenal to learn.
There were other factors that were interesting, based on the statistics. Most of these next door millionaires were married, had
children, and went to church. Most didn't buy new cars, but used cars. Most didn't buy fancy clothes, maybe one nice suit or
dress every couple of years. They didn't spoil their kids with lots of things either. As a matter of fact, most of them tell
almost no one that they are millionaires; they just go about their business, living the everyday person life. One person in the
book actually was able to make it to being a millionaire making $35,000 a year by skimping, saving, and investing well.
This book was fantastic to read, and I heartily recommend it to everyone who thinks it can't be them, because it can. I can
hardly wait until I have time to read his follow up book
The
Millionaire Mind, which I've already purchased.
