The Millionaire Next Door

What do you think a millionaire looks like? What do you think a millionaire wears, drives or owns? What do you think makes a millionaire a millionaire?



Figure 1.1:
Common perception of a millionaire

If this is what pictured a millionaire looks like then you are 84% COMPLETELY WRONG.

The book The Millionaire Next Door By Thomas J. Stanley, Ph. D. and William D. Danko, Ph. D. reveals the truth about millionaires in the most comprehensive study of affluent individuals in America ever conducted (disk 1 part 5). Their study has taught me that millionaires are often not the people you think they are. In fact, 84% of millionaires are self-made, first generation and reached the top without the help of inherited wealth (disk 1 part 5).

These millionaires had to accumulate their own wealth, Stanley and Danko describe three traits of these millionaires as: Frugal, Frugal and Frugal (disk 1 part 6).  the Webster's dictionary defines Frugal as "behavior characterized by or reflecting economy in the use of resources" (disk1 part17). This means that millionaires live well below their mean; though they could afford expensive houses, cars and cloths they choose not to spend money on such wasteful extravagance. Amongst many other facts, Stanley and Danko tell us that the average self-made millionaire says that he/she has spent no more than 399 dollars on a suit (disk1 part 10). this is much less than many non-millionaires! Suits can be thousands of dollars!

Though I cannot share all the facts I learned about the spending habits of millionaires I will say that millionaires as a whole do not get to where they are by spending lots of money, they get to where they are by saving money, clipping coupons and being frugal. Contrary to common belief, the average millionaire does not flaunt their wealth around, instead they become rich by being frugal. There is a saying in Texas, "Big hat, no cattle", this means one has a lot of status symbols but little actual wealth (disk1 part 2). The millionaires profiled in this book all have the opposite of this, they are wealthy because they choose not to waste money on unnecessary symbols of status. The first few chapters in this book have made me rethink my view of what a millionaire looks like.

I have begun to understand that contrary to the millionaire pictured in Figure 1.1, most millionaires are just average people, perhaps they even look like this...

 Figure 1.2: An average old lad whom might or might not be a millionaire. He sure has a positive attitude!

 Or maybe this...

Figure 1.3

Or even this....

Figure 1.4

Food for thought:

How has your perception of a millionaire changed?

Citations:

Stanley, Thomas J., and William D. Danko. The Millionaire Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of America's Wealthy. Atlanta, Ga.: Longstreet Press, 1996.

Images found from http://buckleysautorepair.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/man-in-car.jpg

                           and http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/09/01/article-1307970-0A130D94000005DC-915_468x286.jpg