Re: The Millionaire Next Door

  "mark" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
  > My wife picked me up a copy of this book from the library yesterday. I
  > started to read it and it seemed interesting, however after the first
few
  > pages I get the feeling that there isn't any more substance to the
book -
  > basically they tell you that millionaire's live well below their means
and
  > are aggressive savers. That's good info to know, but is there any more
to
  > this book or should I not waste my time?

  There is, but only if you really want to learn more. Having met the
authors personally, I think that anyone who is stuck in the grasps of the
lenders would benefit from THOROUGH study of this book, more than once.

  Despite what others think, the book really isn't about millionaires, but
Prodigious Accumulators of Wealth (PAW). The equation they derived is
elegantly simple, and it also happens to work: age times income divided by
10 equals median net worth for that age and income. If your answer is less
than half what the median is, you have a spending problem. You probably
carry too much debt. If you have more than double the median, you're a PAW.
Some PAWs aren't millionaires, but most of them are in pretty good shape
financially. Most people have the tools, but they lack self-discipline and
let their ego get in the way.

  In my own personal life, I found I was an Under Accumulator of Wealth
(less than half the median). I said to myself "F this" and two years later,
was well above the median. All one has to do is make the choice. Some of my
stock broker buddies laugh at my car (Ford Taurus, they drive Lexus, BMW,
etc.), so I ask them what their payment is. Mine is zero and I can write a
check to buy theirs....brand new.

  In my business, I get to examine results daily. Like the guy who owns a
sandwich franchise who drove a big old POS car for 8 years, paying off his
business loans instead of buying a fancy car he could easily afford. Now
he's driving a new SUV that he paid cash for, and has a seven figure line of
credit at the bank. The bank is always trying to get him to borrow, too.
Then there's my personal physician. He started medical school when his
youngest daugher was a frosh in college. He was still paying off his own
student loans, and on the surface, his decision looked stupid, but he's
showed me the math - he would never have them paid off (including two
daughters in college) without more income, and his career advancedment was
at an end. I met him the first month after his residency was over. $600,000
in the hole, he was. Three years later, he still owed on the home mortgage,
but only $150,000. He was also still driving a 20 year old pickup truck with
more rust than paint. In two years, he'll be debt free. Based on his income,
the bank tells him he can buy a $1,250,000 house. He laughs, because he
knows that would be the dumbest thing to do. Fortunately, his wife agrees,
so they live in a nice neighborhood next door to people who probably make
$60,000 and live paycheck to paycheck to pay the mortgage.

  I have a fair number of millionaires in my book, and quite a few PAWs
(some made the same choice I did, given the facts of their situation). Most
of them own busineses that others scoff at - fast food restaurant
franchisees, cosmetologists, farmers, ranchers, trash haulers, diesel
mechanics, land appraisers, crop consultants, bull semen brokers, tractor
drivers, etc.  Most people would not do what these people do for a living,
yet every occupation I listed is one where I have clients who earn six
figure incomes in a part of the country where six figures is a lot of money.

  Someone mentioned a bias group for study. That's garbage.  Here's why:

  "Excellence is a better teacher than mediocrity. The lessons of the
ordinary are everywhere. Truly profound and original insights are to be
found only in studying the exemplary." - Warren G. Bennis

  Brent D. Gardner, ChFC
  Chartered Financial Consultant
  http://members.cox.net/brentdgardner1378/

  "Be ever questioning. Ignorance is not bliss. It is oblivion. You don't go
to heaven if you die dumb. Become better informed. Learn from other's
mistakes. You could not live long enough to make them all yourself." - Hyman
George Rickover (1900-86), Admiral, US Navy, advocated development of
nuclear subs & ships