Book Review: The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko

About:
The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko is a non-fiction book in which the authors debunk the idea of what an “American Millionaire” is. The authors did studies for corporations about targeting millionaires and they came up with some fascinating finds.

• 258 pages
• Publisher: Longstreet Press
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1563523302

My rating for The Millionaire Next Door – 4
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Thoughts:
The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko could use some updating for today’s world, but reading it was certainly and eye opening experience. I only wish I would have read this book 20 years ago.

The book’s premise is that today’s millionaires are not the ones sailing yachts or live the lifestyle we only see in movies and soap operas, these are what today’s billionaires would be. Today’s millionaires are regular folks, who work hard, save their money and manage their finances in a prudent and thrifty way.

Today’s millionaires practice a thrifty lifestyle, they negotiate for economic cars, they live in middle class neighborhoods (small houses, small bills, small taxes, etc. means they get to keep and invest more of their income). They know the value of education and that is the one place where they are not stingy, whether it is to educate their children or themselves (for example, pay for a financial expert).

Talking about children of millionaires, the authors claim that they are not as successful and even live beyond their means via financial welfare, or as the authors put it “economic outpatient care”, from their successful parents. The reason is simply because they don’t have to because they can always fall back on their parents’ bank account.

The book gives one a lot to think about and, as I mentioned, I wish I would have read it 20 years ago. While it is not a “how to” guide, the authors do give some suggestions of jobs that one might want to consider if you don’t have the entrepreneurial mindset, how to raise children to be financially responsible adults and about financial independence.

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Zohar — Man of la Book
Dis­claimer: I borrowed this book from the local library
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