Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(474)
4 star:		(244)
3 star:		(132)
2 star:		(86)
1 star:		(73)

 

 

I used to be one of those people who spent all or at least most of my money and thought I was doing okay with the little savings I had in the bank earning 2% (wow).I always bought brand new cars, new clothes, went on vacations 6-8 times per year and partied. I had a great time! One day my company shut down and I was forced to live on 50% OF MY INCOME. My savings dwindled to nothing and I had a hard time making car and credit card payments. I came to the realization that I was "renting" my "lifestyle" all of which was encumbered with debts and false belief in "job security" A friend loaned me a copy of "The Millionaire Next Door" and I had to painfully admit that I had been a fool. I met a really nice old couple in their '70's who never made much over minimum wage in salary, but were debt free and had 100's of thousands to retire on and were living better than the flamboyant fools like me who spent through their incomes. This book turned me around. I would also recommend "9 Steps to Financial Freedom" and 'More Wealth without Risk" to add to your library, or at least borrow from a library. I am now living better, earning 20-25% in mutuals, contribute to my new companies 401 (k), have a IRA and am DEBT FREE with the exception of my mortgage which will be paid off in five years (or less).

Every now and thena very, very special book comes along with a "aha" and this is such a book. Many people are spending their way through high incomes---keeping up with the "JONE'S" high profile lifestyle's encumbered with high debt and zero savings. I worked for a millonaire one time who said"Money buys clothes, clothes don't buy anything!" He advised us to buy our "toys" clothes, cars, vacations etc. off profits of profits and never spend principal! This mans nt worth was well in excess of $350,000,000. I would also recommend three other books; "RICHEST MAN IN BABLYON" by George Clawson, "WEALTH WITHOUT RISK" and "FINANCIAL SELF-DEFENSE" by Charles Givens. Remember, it's not what you make, it's what's left over that counts. If you spend all of your money on your lifestyle, guess what? You'll always have to! Good reading, excellent book.

Creating wealth is sort of like dieting.Everybody wants the end result but the discipline to achieve that result is usually lacking.Oh, if only there were a magic pill that you could take to lose weight or to create wealth without changing your habits. We would all be rich.FRUGALITY...FRUGALITY...FRUGALITY. It takes discipline.Contrary to certain opinions i.e. revews posted here, you don't need "a wad" to do this.However, by following these concepts, you will soon have a wad.There is no level of income that you can't outspend and yet most of us feel that we have an unlimited supply of cash.You would think that considering the ever increasing number of bankruptcies and mortgage foreclosures not to mention company downsizings that people would have learned by now. Peer pressure...keeping up with the Jone's drives many people to live beyond their means. Remember this: when your outgo exceeds your income, your upkeep will become your downfall.DELAY GRATIFICATION. Pay yourself first. Invest and then buy toys with the profits.Another good book to read is Rich Dad Poor Dad and Cash Flow Quadrant. Robert . Kiyosaki has a different strategy than Stanley and Danko in certain areas but is in agreement in other areas. The authors work compliments each other and I highly recommend these books to all would be financial achievers.Another book that is popular right now and says some of the same things is The Automatic Millionaire by David Bach.Read and grow rich.

Let us get one thing out of the way. This is NOT a bad book. In fact, it is a well-done, interesting, and much needed study that gives us all new insights about what millionaires are really like as opposed to people's misconceptions of them. If this was merely a study of what millionaires are like, I would give it five stars.

The problem begins when people see this book as a recommendation: "most millionaires are frugal, hard-working, well-educated, and diligent investors - so if I will act like that I will be a millionaire". This is simply not true - and for a very simple reason discussed below.

Indeed, most millionaires ARE like that. Indeed, it is good advice to be frugal, hard-working, and well-educated as opposed to the opposite. It is also gratifying to see that sometimes "doing the right thing", the protestant work ethic, and the "nose to the grindstone" attitude sometimes pay off not only in "being a better person", but in concrete monetary success. Apparently good guys DON'T finish last after all.

But the book suffers from a double survivorship bias. "Survivoship bias" is what happens when one only pays attention to those who survive a certain activity, peril, or risk, and makes ungounded conclusions about cause and effect from that. One famous example is Neitzsche's famous saying, "what doesn't kill me makes me stronger". It is based on the survivorship bias that those who survive terrible calamities tend to be stronger than other people. But it doesn't mean the calamity MADE them stronger - it might mean simply that only those who were strong to begin with survived the calamity.

What survivorship bias do we see here? First, it interviews ONLY millionaires. It doesn't interview ALL of those who are frugal, hard-working, and concerned about education - it only interviews those of them WHO BECAME MILLIONAIRES. It could very will be (it probably is) that 99% of those who are hard-working, frugal, and concerned about education still fail to become millionaires.

This, of course, doesn't mean that being hard-working and educated is "bad"; it just doesn't mean that it is the CAUSE of becoming a millionaire. If anything, only the opposite that is true: that if you are lazy, a big spender, and a cropout, you probably will NOT become a millionaire. But that is NOT that same thing!

A second survivorship bias is the time of the survey. The people interviewed were, almost to a man, "dilligent investors" - especially in the stock market - who started investing at least 20 years before. They were interviewed in the late 1990. This means that, by sheer coincidence, they started investing in what turned out to be the largest bull market in US history. On the average, $1 invested in the stock market in 1980 would be worth about $20 when the Dow hit its high in 1999. Naturally, this significantly increased the net worth of many of these people. But was this due to any foresight on their part, or sheer luck? If the stock market had gone the other way, how many of them would still be millionaires?

Furthermore, what about all the hard-working, diligent investors who started investing at the same time (early 1980s)... but unluckily invested in the wrong companies or industries, such as the "safe" oil or car industry which tanked, ruining many people? How could you tell - BEFORE it happened - that one investing method was better than the other, that one will make you a millionaire and the other leave you broke? You coudln't.

Once again, this doesn't mean that investing is "bad". It is NECESSARY to invest well and succeed in your investments in order to become a millionaire - if you don't invest, you won't become a millionaire. But again, this isn't the same thing: you might very well invest with all due dilligence, safety, and careful planning - and still lose everything.

In summary, good book? Yes. Interesting book? Yes. Teaches you things you didn't know? Yes. Shows that the old protestant work ethics is good after all? Yes. But does it show you how to become a millioniare? NO! Buy it, by all means... follow its advice... but do so because it is generally good advice on how to live, NOT because it will make you rich. That is just an illusion based on survivorship bias.

The people givin this book one stars and whining miss the point. You can have a lifestyle while building for the future. Nowhere does it say you have to live like a hermit. Frugality is the key. I'll bet that all of the one stars are also livig paycheck to paycheck and broke (but having a great time) I also recommend Buffetology and More Wealth without Risk.

I can certaintly understand the controversy regarding this book. When I first heard of this book, I thought it was some ripoff book and approached this book with ambivalence. So I checked it out from my local library first and was so impressed that not only did I go out and buy my own copy, but also give it as an accessory gift for special occasions and recommend it to everyone I know.

I also recommend "The Millionaire Mind" which is different from this book. That volume allows you to peek inside the minds of millionaires; shows you how the millionaires think.

One caveat of these books is that they are dependent on income. You won't find anything in here on creating cash flow. For that I recommend "Rich Dad Poor Dad" whose ideas on staying debt free are somewhat similiar to what is recommended in Millionaire Next Door, but also provides ideas for creating wealth through additional cash flow. It is a book that should be written in addition, not in place of The Millionaire Next Door.

Also recommend More Wealth Without Risk and Financial Self-Defense which offer actual strategies on creating wealth, reducing expenses and investing.

The people giving this book one stars and whining miss the point. You can have a lifestyle while building for the future. Nowhere does it say you have to live like a hermit. Frugality is the key. I'll bet that all of the one stars are also living paycheck to paycheck and broke (but having a great time) Am I right??? I also recommend Buffetology and More Wealth without Risk. All three are excellent books and must reading for anyone seeking financial succe$$!

The authors started studying how people become wealthy 20 years ago. It is very interesting to to see how the neighbor next-door becomes a millionaire and how that very same person spends his or her time at work, at play and with their family. The authors share the secretes of those millionaires in their book.

The millionaire next-door did not become a millionaire by winning the lottery or on Regis Philbin's new game show: Millionaire. Most millionaire's in the United States are people just like you and I except they invest their money on a regular basis and live modest lives. After interviewing over 1000 millionaires, they discovered that the average millionaire makes $131,000 per year but invests up to 15 percent of their income on annual basis. Most millionaires drive regular cars that they bought used for less than $25,000, live-in modest homes, and work in a non-glamour industry. As a matter of fact most millionaires are entrepreneurs that own and operate their own small business.

If you're interested in making it to the ranks of a millionaire then I believe that this book is for you. It may surprise you to find out that that capability is within your reach. As the authors say, you have to learn how to become a PAW (prodigious accumulator of wealth) rather than a UAW (under accumulator of wealth).

The book certainly makes interesting reading for the curious and the serious. Then, the rest is up to you.

I look at this book as a modern version of the timeless classic "The Richest Man in Bablyon" Frugality and Delayed Gratification are difficult disciplines which is probably why so few people, irregardless of their incomes, have any real wealth! For anyone interested in actual action techniques, I highly recommend 'Wealth without Risk" and "Financial Self Defense" by Charles Givens. also "7 Strategies for Wealth and Happiness" by E. James Rohn.

I found it interesting that according to this great thesis by Stanley and Danko, a full 5% of all the Millionaires created their wealth in sales.

The study futher states that those millionaires made their money in sales, became very good at selling, earned an excellent living and saved and invested a substantial part of their income. As a result, became millionaires.

The last part is where most people go wrong. They spend all of their income; they spend first and never set up an investment plan.

Read and apply the principles in The Millionaire Next Door. Consider making selling your profession. Make a committment to become excellent and save/invest a substantial portion of your income.

There is no level of income that you can't outspend.