The Millionaire Mind

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 Chris Tarrant's hit show "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 grade point 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 LSU, instead, because the numbers show the average millionaire had a lowly 2.92 GPA, SAT scores between 1,100 and 1,190 and teachers who told them they were mediocre students but personable people. "Discipline 101 and Tenacity 102" made them rich. Stanley got straight Cs 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, Amazon.com

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View books by Thomas J. Stanley.

Its all about working harder than the rest - Rated
I haven't read The Millionaire Next door but it concluded that there were a lot of millionaires around and that they were ordinary people.

Other peoples wealth and how they earned it is a fascinating subject. Even more fascinating is trying to discover how it would be possible for any normal individual to acquire wealth.

This book splits readers into two camps either it is the blindingly obvious or it is a fascinating read. I like to read it and and read it twice.

The problem is those of us who are not millionaires would like to believe that those who have made money have done it by some trick. It is upsetting to read therefore that the top five success factors ware

Integrity
Discipline
Social skills
A supportive spouse
Hard work- more than most people.

It also confirmed that most millionaires had been told that they were not intellectually gifted or smart enough to succeed.

The out come is that they work hard at what they know how to do. They pay people to do what they cannot do and they take advice.
They stick to what they know and do it better than other people

They do not parade their wealth and try and get value for money.

Like most self help books it takes far too long to tell you the same thing and there are a lot of tables which do not bring much to the party.

The answer is if you want it enough you have to work for it and not spend it in the meantime.

If you want to spend it then don't expect to have it. It is a depressed for the terminally lazy and those who want it now.

Surely there is a middle course that is hard work and enjoy yourself.

Petty prejudices of the author - Rated
The book is little more than a rehashing of the petty prejudices of the author.

It is also outdated. The absolute number of people who are today worth more than $1 million would be very high (anyone owning two apartments in London would be worth more than $1 million quite easily). Building an asset base of $1 million is no longer an achievement worthy of great comment.

A Limp Follow-On to The Millionaire Next Door - Rated
This book is very seriously flawed in its methods, writing, and conclusions.

If you want to learn more about becoming wealthier, I suggest you read "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" and "The Cash Flow Quadrant instead.

The author surveyed hundreds of people in a few suburban communities. 733 turned out to be millionaires. The book is based on the self-reported results and perceptions of those 733.

Because of the way the sample was selected, you won't get much variety in type of millionaire. Very few inherited-money millionaires make it into the sample. Also missing are 17-year-old models who are on the cover of every magazine, basketball players who sit on the bench for the Celtics and earn millions annually, 25 year old ex-founders of Internet companies, and so forth.

Also, the results are not segmented very much. It would have been nice to have been able to slice the data to look at oneself and see where each of us fails to match up to the standard. This might have provided some ideas about what each person needs to do differently if one wants to become wealthier.

A lot of interesting questions are missed as a result. Are different paths working better now than in the past? What takes the least effort (if one is to be self-made)? What takes the least risk? What takes the fewest number of years?

Most observers would agree that the New Economy has changed the wealth distribution in the U.S. You will look in vain for much on this subject.

Also, since we are only looking at millionaires, we can't find out what is significant if we don't see how their attitudes and lifestyles are different from similar people who are nonmillionaires. That control group is essentially missing in this case.

Finally, what are the odds of success if you do what these people did? How much does it improve your odds of success? You might find that the reported variables are not the essential ones. But the way the study was done, you can't tell.

A good example of the problem of cause and effect was the finding that the richest millionaires played the most golf. Now, was that because the richest people can afford the time and money to play more golf, or because golf contributes to becoming wealthier? You can't tell from this research.

Next, the good part. The book certainly espouses good middle class values. Work hard, stick with your spouse, watch the kids' sporting events, entertain your friends. No one will go off the deep end following this advice.

Probably the most encouraging part of the book was the assertion that millionaires were not tops in SAT scores and college grades. Anyone who has gone to a high school or a college reunion would probably have already figured that out. The key points, that millionaires are more likely to be sociable and not accept setbacks as permanent) have been reported many times before. There's nothing new there.

You should also realize that doing something different from this model does not doom you to the poor house. Some rich people do spend more time on ski vacations than with tax advisors. Some rich people do use credit cards (it's hard to travel if you don't). Some rich people have been through divorces. I can go on, but realize that your life is what you make of it. Keep improving yourself and what you do, and you can be as financially successful as you want to be.

May your progress towards the wealth you desire be irresistible and based on your values!