Product Description

The incredible national bestseller that is changing people's lives -- and increasing their net worth!

CAN YOU SPOT THE MILLIONAIRE NEXT DOOR?

Who are the rich in this country?
What do they do?
Where do they shop?
What do they drive?
How do they invest?
Where did their ancestors come from?
How did they get rich?
Can I ever become one of them?

Get the answers in The Millionaire Next Door, the never-before-told story about wealth in America. You'll be surprised at what you find out....

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #14909 in Books
• Published on: 1998-10-26
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 272 pages

From the Author
Starting a second month as a New York Times Best-Seller!
We wish to thank all of our patrons for the success the book has achieved! As of 3/2/97, it will have been on the New York Times' Best-Sellers list for six consecutive weeks. Currently, it is also #6 on Business Week's Best-Sellers list. THE AMERICAN DREAM LIVES!!!

Customer Reviews

An intriguing insight into the reality of creating wealth
This book exposes the truth behind the great wealth generators of America. Its message however has universal application. Contrary to expectation, real accumulators of wealth don't do any of the things that popular perception would have us believe. They don't have expensive tastes, live in plush houses, drive executive cars or wear the trappings of success. Instead, they budget very carefully and live well within their means, setting aside a sizeable proportion of their income for investment. This book explodes the myth of high earners necessarily becoming rich and supports its assertions with a wealth of detailed statistics. Most millionaires are apparently frugal, well-disciplined in handling their finances and frankly, downright dull! Not the sort of people that warrant a second glance.
Easy to read and enlightening, it may not be too late to change your behaviour and to embark on becoming a Prodigious Accumulator of Wealth (PAW)

Makes you feel great if you spend and save carefully
Someone once said, "I made myself wealthy by reducing my wants." That's what this book says. Sure, the content is padded quite a bit, but the message is worth what the book costs, whether you are an shining example of this philosophy or an opponent of it: you can spend or you can have, but most of us can't do both.

I agree with other reviewers' comments that the authors found most wealth was accumulated through operating small and boring businesses in your own neighborhood, yet don't recommend this to their readers (nor do those self-made millionaires, in most cases.) And their research methodology is a bit suspect, since it seems to have presupposed that source of wealth in finding interviewees. Still, I agree with the formulas that describe whether you're building an expected amount of wealth based on your age and income.

Bill Cosby, no financial slouch himself, said "The secret of wealth is ownership." This book gives you plenty of examples to help you believe that. It's not what you spend, but what you save, that gives you real independence. It's encouraging to read (maybe in a masochistic sort of way) that lots of high-earners (doctors and athletes, for instance) blow those high earnings and have little to show for it, living (large) paycheck to paycheck. Others, far less educated and with smaller paychecks, quietly avoid wealth-losing expenses such as flashy cars, big houses, and fancy clothes, to succeed in the only true measure of personal wealth: a high net worth. It isn't what you earn, it's what you keep.

I read the book straight through, hooked on almost every word. Where else can you get inside information on people's personal finances and the decisions that led them to their particular state? Maybe the research wouldn't pass close academic muster, but the individual vignettes are fascinating anyway.

So, negatives aside, I think this book is a must-read. You may fault some aspects of it, but the message is one that everyone should consider, even if you find reasons to ignore its conclusions. And if you're a tightwad, you will rejoice in finding vindication of your choices. But then again, if you're that tight, you'll probably read it from the library anyway!

It will change your life
How do you rate a book? One way is by the impact it has on your life. TMND gets my highest rating, because it is the kind of book that will change your whole way of life (unless you're on the author's track already).

After reading this book, I began dramatically increasing my rate of savings and reducing unnecessary expenses. I will have 5 times the savings at the end of this year that I was on track to have before reading TMND. FIVE TIMES! That's like being paid for four extra years' work in a single year!

I now look at the whole concept of buying things differently; instead of thinking that accumulating possessions is a sign of success, I now realize it's only a hindrance to the accumulation of true wealth and financial security. I am on track to buy a house (no mortgage, I mean BUY) in five years, and still have investments left over.

This book will inspire you to set ambitious financial goals, and then take the steps to reach them. Truly inspirational, it may be the best single investment you can make.