"The Millionnaire Next Door"

[Glenda]

I've read the book mentioned in this article, and it is a good one. Let me know what you think:



http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/Savinganddebt/Savemoney/P36021.asp?special=0501freedom&Rating=10&PageID=36021#Rating

"Many people already lead simple-living lifestyles and don’t know it. And many of them are millionaires.

Proof can be found in the best-selling book, “The Millionaire Next Door,” by Thomas Stanley and William Danko. You’d never guess that the subject of millionaires could have anything to do with simple living, but it does.

Compulsive savers vs. the rest of us
The millionaires in this book were not born wealthy, nor do most of them have high-level, exotic jobs. What they do have are simple lifestyles! It’s the simple lifestyles, not the big paychecks that turned these people into millionaires. According to the book, their wealth is the result of hard work, perseverance, planning and most of all, self-discipline.

So why aren’t all of us hard-working souls rich?
Answer: We regularly and continually give our money away to other people so they can become wealthy, while we live paycheck to paycheck. We buy the latest cars, biggest houses, full wardrobes, daily espressos, high-tech gizmos and gadgets of all kinds. As a result, we’re on treadmills, never allowing ourselves the time to create the kind of lifestyle we want. On the other hand, the millionaires are described in the book as “compulsive savers and investors.” After surveying 1,115 millionaires around the country, authors Stanley and Danko came up with seven common denominators among those who successfully build wealth:

- They live well below their means.
- They allocate their time, energy and money efficiently, in ways conducive to building wealth.
- They believe that financial independence is more important than displaying high social status.
- Their parents did not provide economic outpatient care.
- Their adult children are economically self-sufficient.
- They are proficient in targeting market opportunities.
- They chose the right occupations.

[cmf]

1. My husband and I found out that we were living by these principles

before we even read the book. We are very frugal. We are conscious about every purchase - we always ask, "Do we really need this?" We live in a small condo, because that's all we need, not the biggest house we could afford with our income. We are in our 20s and we both work for the government (he is in the military, I work for a local government), and people would be very surprised at our net worth. Simple living is the surest way to achieve financial independence.

[Glenda]

2. Way to go! It is so rare to see people in their 20s in your position

Do you receive any pressure from friends or family to be less frugal?

[cmf]

3. No

Our parents are pretty responsible with money as well. As for our friends, they are frugal too, I think I tend to gravitate toward people with the same values.