The Millionaire Mind [Hardcover]

Dr. Thomas J. Stanley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2000

"Readers with an entrepreneurial turn of mind will devour The Millionaire Mind because it provides road maps on how millionaires found their niches."After its first publication, Dr. Thomas J. Stanley's second best-seller The Millionaire Mind spent over four months on the New York Times best-seller list, rising to position #2, and has sold over half a million copies. Here is the first paperback edition of Stanley's second groundbreaking study of America's wealthy.

The Millionaire Mind targets a population of millionaires who have accumulated substantial wealth and live in ways that openly demonstrate their affluence. Exploring the ideas, beliefs, and behaviors that enabled these millionaires to build and maintain their fortunes, Dr. Stanley provides a fascinating look at who America's financial elite are and how they got there.

 

*What were their school days like?

 

*How did they respond to negative criticism?

 

*What are the characteristics of the millionaire's spouse?

 

*Is religion an important part of their lives?

The author uncovers the surprising answers to these and similar questions, showing readers through concrete examples just what it is that makes the wealthy prosper when others would turn away dejected or beaten.

The Millionaire Mind promises to be as transformational as Dr. Stanley's previous best-seller. This book answers universal questions with solid statistical evidence in an approachable, and anecdotal style. The number of copies sold of this soon-to-be-classic will surely be in the millions.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

What do you do after you've written the No. 1 bestseller The Millionaire Next Door? Survey 1,371 more millionaires and write The Millionaire Mind. Dr. Stanley's extremely timely tome is a mixture of entertaining elements. It resembles Regis Philbin's hit show (and CD-ROM game) Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, only you have to pose real-life questions, instead of quizzing about trivia. Are you a gambling, divorce-prone, conspicuously consuming "Income-Statement Affluent" Jacuzzi fool soon to be parted from his or her money, or a frugal, loyal, resole your shoes and buy your own groceries type like one of Stanley's "Balance-Sheet Affluent" millionaires? "Cheap dates," millionaires are 4.9 times likelier to play with their grandkids than shop at Brooks Brothers. "If you asked the average American what it takes to be a millionaire," he writes, "they'd probably cite a number of predictable factors: inheritance, luck, stock market investments.... Topping his list would be a high IQ, high SAT scores and gradepoint average, along with attendance at a top college." No way, says Stanley, backing it up with data he compiled with help from the University of Georgia and Harvard geodemographer Jon Robbin. Robbin may wish he'd majored in socializing at L.S.U., instead, because the numbers show the average millionaire had a lowly 2.92 GPA, SAT scores between 1100 and 1190, and teachers who told them they were mediocre students but personable people. "Discipline 101 and Tenacity 102" made them rich. Stanley got straight C's in English and writing, but he had money-minded drive. He urges you to pattern your life according to Yale professor Robert Sternberg's Successful Intelligence, because Stanley's statistics bear out Sternberg's theories on what makes minds succeed--and it ain't IQ.

Besides offering insights into millionaires' pinchpenny ways, pleasing quips ("big brain, no bucks"), and 46 statistical charts with catchy titles, Stanley's book booms with human-potential pep talk and bristles with anecdotes--for example, about a bus driver who made $3 million, a doctor (reporting that his training gave him zero people skills) who lost $1.5 million, and a loser scholar in the bottom 10 percent on six GRE tests who grew up to be Martin Luther King Jr. Read it and you'll feel like a million bucks. --Tim Appelo

From Library Journal

In The Millionaire Next Door, read by Cotter Smith, Stanley (Marketing to the Affluent) and Danko (marketing, SUNY at Albany) summarize findings from their research into the key characteristics that explain how the elite club of millionaires have become "wealthy." Focusing on those with a net worth of at least $1 million, their surprising results reveal fundamental qualities of this group that are diametrically opposed to today's earn-and-consume culture, including living below their means, allocating funds efficiently in ways that build wealth, ignoring conspicuous consumption, being proficient in targeting marketing opportunities, and choosing the "right" occupation. It's evident that anyone can accumulate wealth, if they are disciplined enough, determined to persevere, and have the merest of luck. In The Millionaire Mind, an excellent follow-up to the highly successful first analysis of how ordinary folks can accumulate wealth, Stanley interviews many more participants in a much more comprehensive study of the characteristics of those in this economic situation. The author structures these deeper details into categories that include the key success factors that define this group, the relationship of education to their success, their approach to balancing risk, how they located themselves in their work, their choice of spouse, how they live their daily lives, and the significant differences in the truth about this group vs. the misplaced image of high spenders. Narrator Smith's solid, dead-on reading never fails to heighten the importance of these principles that most twentysomethings should be forced to listen to in toto. Highly recommended for all public libraries. Dale Farris, Groves, TX
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing; 1 edition (January 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0740703579
• ISBN-13: 978-0740703577
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 1.5 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (234 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #214,766 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Dr. Thomas J. Stanley is the author of six award winning books concentrating on America's wealthy population. His seventh book, Stop Acting Rich, was published in September 2009 by John Wiley and Sons. He began studying the affluent in 1973. Dr. Stanley wrote The Millionaire Next Door, in 1996. Over 2,000,000 copies of this New York Times bestseller have been sold. In 2000, he published The Millionaire Mind, which explored America's financial elite and how they became so. The Millionaire Mind debuted at #2 on the New York Times bestseller list. Dr. Stanley's first book, Marketing to the Affluent, was selected as a top ten outstanding business book in America by the editors of Best of Business Quarterly. The author lives in Atlanta, holds a doctorate of business administration from the University of Georgia in Athens and was formerly a professor of marketing at Georgia State University. Visit Dr. Stanley at www.thomasjstanley.com for more information.

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#71 in Books > Business & Investing

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

198 of 205 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A peek into the minds of Millionaires November 4, 2003

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

While "The Millionaire Next Door" showed us what the Millionaires do RE: Frugality. "The Millionaire Mind" let's us peek into the mindset that makes a Millionaire.

I can't say that I enjoy this book more or less than "The Millionaire Next Door" and don't understand some reviewers who try to make comparisons. It's more like apples and oranges. The books are different and intended to be as companions, not in place of the other.

I would recommend reading "The Millionaire Next Door" first though or at least in addition to "The Millionaire Mind."

Dr. Stanley, excellent book and I am looking forward to your next foray.

207 of 215 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome Book! Well researched November 18, 2003

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

This great followup to the run-away best seller "The Millionaire Next Door" tells us how millionaires became millionaires. In "The Millionaire Mind", Dr. Thomas Stanley tells us how America's wealthy got there and perhaps even more importantly, how you can become one of them.

In "The Millionaire Mind" you will discover answers to questions like:

*** What success factor made them wealthy in 1 generation?

*** What part did luck and school grades play?

*** How do they find the courage to take financial risks?

*** How did they find they ideal vocations?

*** What are their spouses like and how did they choose them?

*** How do they run their households?

*** How do they buy and sell their homes?

*** What are their favorite leisure activities?

"The Millionaire Mind" is a awesome book. To become a millionaire you have to think like one. This book tells you how.
I also recommend "SuperSelf" by Charles Givens and "The 7 Habits
of Highly Effective People" by Dr. Covey to further enrich your life with positive proven strategies.

164 of 170 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating February 7, 2000

By A Customer

Format:Hardcover

I found this book much more in depth than Stanley's previous book. The profile he builds of the every day millionaire (not Fortune 500 types, but the guy in line behind you at the movie theatre or the car wash) is really interesting, and encouraging. It let me know I was on the right track with many lifestyle decisions. The chapters on school grades, spouse choice, choice of vocation, where millionaires live, etc., paint a clear picture of a happy, practical and comfortable, but not lavish, lifestyle that can bring the reality of being a millionaire within the grasp of people of many different walks of life. Some of the statistical information is really surprising. These aren't the people you see on Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, they are your neighbors and friends who have shaped their lives with a goal of financial security, and suceeded. This book tells you how these millionaires got there, and as a result readers can pick up tips to apply to their own life. I'll recommend this to friends.

188 of 196 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Better than Millionaire Next Door! June 7, 2003

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

I felth that Millionaire Mind went into more depth of what it really takes to become a millionaire. Topics lke success factors, vocations, how they buy and sell houses, leisure activities and even how they chose their spouses.Good bok and definitely a must read for anyone who wants to be a millionaire or at least financially independent.

111 of 114 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent tape set February 11, 2004

By Penny Fowler

Format:Audio CD

The Millionaire Mind is a great program to jump start your financial life. This is an excellent tape set by Stanley. Listen and learn.

169 of 178 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Sensational March 14, 2000

By A Customer

Format:Hardcover

I found Dr. Stanley's The Millionaire Mind an absolutely senational book. I thought it was a great follow up to The Millionaire Next Door. It's a must read!

204 of 219 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally, a Tribute to the "Leisure Class" February 11, 2000

By M. Skousen

Format:Hardcover

Ever since Thorstein Veblen wrote "The Theory of the Leisure Class," the critics of capitalism (including politicians and Hollywood producers)have delighted in bashing the rich for their "conspicuous consumption," prospensity to divorce and find trophy wives, engage in white-collar crime, and avoid paying their "fair share" in taxes.

Now along comes the exhaustive work of Professor Tom Stanley, concluding that the millionaire wealthy class is in reality the model citizen! 92% are married and have been with their first wife for an average 28 years; they live well below their means; 40% have paid off their mortgage; few inherited wealth; over 90% are college graduates; most are not in the top of their class, but average "B" or "C" students; they avoid the lottery and gambling, and enjoy spending most of their time with their family or playing a game of golf with friends; 37% are deeply religious people who attend church regularly; integrity in business is their # priority, and they pay most of the income taxes in this country!

It's great to finally read a book defending the wealthy and the truly successful in this country.

My only gripe: The book has no index!

92 of 96 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The Millionaire Mind - Must Read for College Students March 12, 2000

By Fred Stephenson

Format:Hardcover

Thomas J. Stanley's The Millionaire Mind (Andrews McMeel Publishing) is a must read for anyone interested in achieving financial independence and/or who is fascinated with how the wealthy achieve success. This book should be required reading for college students. It is filled with practical advice not just about how to protect one's future financially but also about setting priorities, and I don't mean just getting rich. The Millionaire Mind covers everything from choosing spouses to raising children to buying homes. It is loaded with common sense and practical advice.

Achieving great wealth was never my highest priority in life, but I am convinced that if I had read The Millionaire Mind when I was younger, I could have joined the millionaire club. More importantly, like most of the millionaires Stanley surveyed, I could have done so without sacrificing any values, principles, my character, or time with my family. The Millionaire Mind is as much a statement of a philosophy of life as it is a guide to great wealth. Its tone is very positive and reinforcing.

The Millionaire Mind dispels several popular myths about wealthy people--that they made their money the old fashioned way by inheriting a bundle, that they graduated from the finest colleges and universities, and that they blew the lid off of SATs and grade point averages. Most of the 733 millionaires Dr. Stanley studied did not fit any of these characteristics. When asked what factors were most important to their success, the top five rated items (out of 30) were #1 being honest with all people, #1(tie) being well disciplined, #3 getting along with people, #4 having a supportive spouse, and #5 working harder than most people. "Graduating near/at the top of my class" was ranked 30th.... This list, better than anything else in the book, is a confirmation that character and commitment count and that measures of achievement need to be broadened.

How encouraging it is to read a book that says that the American dream still exists, that individuals can overcome inadequacies, disappointments, failures, and seemingly insurmountable odds to achieve success and happiness in life. And it can be done ethically, legally, and in one generation, during one's lifetime, as many of Stanley's millionaires have proven. Stanley and his millionaires are telling us to count our blessings, play to our strengths, believe in ourselves, not let our critics get us down, and take personal responsibility for our lives. His millionaires have been married to the same spouse for an average of 28 years. The majority live modestly for their means, spend considerable time their families, and don't flaunt their wealth. What a potent message this book delivers.

I will make sure each of my children gets a copy of The Millionaire Mind and recommend it highly to my classes at The University of Georgia.

Dr. Fred Stephenson Associate Professor of Distribution Terry College of Business The University of Georgia March 12, 2000 Read more ›