The Millionaire Next Door: Surprising Secrets of America's Wealthy

More of a sociology book

This is more of a summary of surveys of self-made millionaires who had incomes greater than $50k per year and most over $100k per year. The book does not address those making under $50k nor comparative incomes versus cost of living in different areas of the country. This is more a study of the psychology of wealth-building individuals. One point this has in common with many investment books is the role of the IRS as determinant or deterrent to wealth building and suggests as many do that the system really is stacked against people trying to build wealth from scratch. It also glances on the side-issue of how the IRS' laws can adversely impact families, brought to division over estate taxes and inheritance taxes as a significant diminishment of wealth which can passed on and ensure the economic health of multiple future generations. One major flaw to the logic in this book is that in order to build wealth per the respondents, you have to live as if not wealthy and yet decrease net worth prior to your death. The primary goal in this wealthbuilding is to amass a fortune which others who have not earned it can consume. It makes many fine points but does not address whether frugality is always possible no matter how low the income, or whether there is a certain income level needed at which frugality can be maintained and some basic normal existence can also be sustained. Can someone whose wage is near,at or below the poverty level still expect to build wealth by frugality?

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Re: good read

A good all around read regarding money. Unique approach to a very written about subject also. Oddly enough, in order to become a millionaire you'd be better off borrowing it from a library rather than buying it!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

So now what?

This book was obviously very well researched. It reveals that the profile of the typical self-made millionaire is almost the exact opposite of what people may normally expect. However the book as a whole is just that: a profile. The assumption is that people who would be interested in reading a book like this are looking for a good deal of practical advice on how to develop and grow wealth for themselves. Aside from the obvious revelation that many people accumulate wealth through frugal living, there's not much to be learned here.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Nice reality check.

Like a statistics book, it does get tedious at some parts, more due to its repetitiveness, but it does get its point across. It shows that everyone can save and work hard to become a millionaire. What we see on TV, the celebrities are just a small fraction and are kind of like the atypical millionaires; they don't represent the majority of the rich in terms of lifestyle and attitude. This book shows how living below your means, with the goal of financial independence in mind, can get you to millionaire status. What's said is a good reality check to reorient yourself to achieving your ultimate goal. Quite humbling.

Globalization have make this Book incredible Internationally Pop

Globalization have make this Book incredible Internationally Popular... more LIVE store

I really recommend this book. This book really does show the tru

I really recommend this book. This book really does show the truth behind the wealthy in the country. Although like the book says it takes a lot of hard work and discipline to maintain and build a good amount of wealth. Although this book does talks about the taxes the point is made that in order to build wealth you need to really dedicate yourself into doing so and that falling into the pattern of buying status products will really make things harder on yourself. There is 1 thing that is not necessarily true and that is that this book kinda implies that u cannot have a nice car or have a large house in order to get wealthy. It does make a point that it would not be possible to build wealth well if you buy a car every 3 years but that doesn't mean 1 cannot buy 1 brand new car and keep it. Although this would not be possible with a wage that is at the poverty level. A person cannot be expected to be able to build wealth in such situation but the book does point to the fact that dedication and hardwork is needed.

Highly Recommended!

The information given in this book were pretty obvious as to why most people are stuck in dreadful financial situation, but are often times overlooked when in the circumstance. Stanley uses statistics and college evidence to prove his points and it changed my ways of thinking in terms of spending and saving wisely. The use of real millionaires and investigating their lifestyles also makes the information more justifiable.

excellent book....but i wouldn't want to become rich like that.

"The millionaire next door" has some great ideas and great studies but How do you plan on enjoying life like that? depriving yourself of the nice things you could buy?..great book but it basically tells you what you should know as common sense:work hard,don't spend money in things you don't need,invest wisely and save up and with time you could accumulate your money and become rich. i don't necessarily agree with the living below your means part because you are working for a better life(as are most of the working class in this book) not working to be selfish and greedy.

A Wealth of Information

I bought this book because Dave Ramsey listed it in his recommended reading list. I'm a fiscal conservative who lives debt free--oh, I'm frugal, frugal, frugal as well--so I enjoyed the research and findings in this book, which are still relevant today. However, it's probably not for the average reader, because it's very comprehensive with a lot of information to digest. I thought the authors could have condensed the material, for it seemed like an oversized journal article. Perhaps they wanted 240-plus pages to fill so they could sell a book. Even so, it's well worth the clearance price, if you are interested in saving and investing money, bargaining and negotiating, and being frugal and living below your means, like millionaires do. There's no better way to get wealthy than by studying the wealthy. After reading this book, my goal is to become a prodigious accumulator of wealth, a first generation millionaire, and perhaps it's the inspiration I need to take some risk and finally start my own business.

Good book, but not for everyone

This book uses a lot of real data and numbers to back up the book. It is true that if you want to be a millionaire you need to live like one. This book will show you exactly how the majority of them live. The book can at times be very slow reading getting through all of the information but is very educational in whole. I would say anyone that wants to see a different way of looking at thinigs, this is a good book to read.

Amazing truth about wealthy people

If you do want to start a serious way to make money you have to read this exelent book and do it into your own way you will find the real image of the rich people and you'll see that all it is shining is not gold, amazing

Best Gift for College Grads, Etc

My husband and I read this book quite a few years ago and followed many of their recommendations, not all, some are a little 'over the top'. But there are enough practical lessons in this book that we have made this required reading for our children upon college graduation.
Now it has become part of our standard gift for all of friends children as they become engaged or married. So many suggestions in this book just make a lot of good sense.

Eye opening!!!!!!!

It all made sense after I read it. Big hat and no cattle....that says it all! I don't no why we think it odd that millionaires are frugal, after all, that is how they became millionaires in the first place.

Excellent Research

Tom Stanley and William Danko have done an excellent job in conveying the differences between the public perception of millionaires and the reality. I would recommend this book to those who are determined to take control of their financial future.

loved it

i loved this book tought me many things and how to make wise decisions about how i shop and what i decide to invest my money in.

Very Interesting and Insightful

This book was overall pretty good. It is a decent book for anyone who is interested in being a millionaire and in how millionaires acquire their wealth. The book does have A LOT of numbers and percentages, though. I enjoyed the read. It helped me understand, as a young person, that 'flashiness' and 'showing off' is not what it's all about, and that if you are trying to get rich for these reasons, you won't make it. I recommend it to all.

The Millionaire Next Door

The Millionaire Next door is an easy read on statistics and surveys, very well researched. There was a great message in this book, It is that almost anyone can build wealth, all you need to do is plan, budget, and be a little cheap. The book explains how money is past from generation to generation and how people live beyond there means. How the rich really live and who the rich really are. This was a fantastic book and very true indeed.

Millionaire Next Door

This is an excellent novel that attempts to tarnish the misconseptions of todays millionaires within our society today. It analyzes some of the major reasons why these millionaires have accumulated such a vast amount of wealth and categorizes these millionaire into two different groups. There are a variety of tips to help people accumulate wealth and describes the charactaristics of the different types of millionaires. It is an over all good read and embodies today's wealthy class.

A reviewer

The Millionaire Next Door is a very eye opening book it makes you wonder who the millionaires could be. It is very insightful when it comes to helping one decide what is a good buy and what isn't. I found it strange that most often the ones who look rich are worth almost nothing. I would reccomend this book to people that are looking for financial advise but for audiences that are a bit younger I think that this book might be a bit of a dull read but over all I enjoyed this book....

Only for the Self-employed

The Millionaire Next Door is essentially a statistics book. All of the statistics in it are well defined and thought out, but the book focusses on frugality and low-risk investing. The book, rather than looking at the the truly wealthy, qualifies its statistics based on a net worth of $1 million. This number does not hold near as much weight as it once did. I would enjoy reading the same book if the minimum amount to qualify for the study had been $10M or greater. At times, I felt the book was contradictory to itself. It would touch on concepts such as calculated risk, but would then go back to preaching frugality an conservation. For those who are in the self-employed demographic, this would be a useful book, as it promotes taking the income you create and investing so that you will accumulate the greatest amount. For those business owners who are looking for a book that will give them some insight into the mindset needed to succeed, look somewhere else.