Thomas J. Stanley : Millionaire Next Door Author; Researcher; Expert

How do I go about finding many of the millionaires that I profile in my books. I read their trade journals. So, that's like The Wall Street Journal, right?  Not really. I am referring to publications that target members of well-defined industries. You may recall my profile of Bill R. that was in The Millionaire Next Door.  He is the one who referred to the income statement affluent/pseudo wealthy as "Big Hat No Cattle."  This young Texan, at the time of our interview, was one of the largest rebuilders of diesel motors in the world.  I found him via his...

Please join Michelle Singletary, personal finance columnist for The Washington Post, and me on March 4th for a live chat at Noon ET. My latest book, Stop Acting Rich, was chosen as The Color of Money Book Club selection for February. I look forward to your questions!

Dr. Stanley: As a reader of both "The Millionaire Next Door" and "The Millionaire Mind," this story immediately struck a chord with me, and I knew I had to share it with you. First some background, then the story.  For about a year, I had the pleasure of personally getting to know a self-made decamillionaire named Gary Knapp. This man is a textbook example of the type of individual you profile. As I worked with him on various projects, he went out of his way to mentor me and share details of his success. This is particularly interesting, as I...

I recently asked nearly 1,000 millionaires nationwide "What was your first full-time job?".  Out of those 1,000 respondents, 137 answered, "sales/marketing professional."  In fact, this proportion places the "sales/marketing  vocation" as the #1 first full time job.  Does this mean that people in this profession have a significantly higher probability than those in other jobs of becoming wealthy?  No!  There is a smaller proportion of millionaires who are sales professionals than would be expected given the large size of the sales professionals in general employed inAmerica.    Only about one-half of those millionaires who started with a career in sales remain in...

I have taught more than 10,000 students during my career as a college professor.  If I was asked today to list the top ten students whom I predicted would succeed in business, surely Charles aka Chip would make the list of the 1 in 1,000.  Chip was a bright student.  But being bright alone will not qualify one for a job with a top corporation.  Nor will it necessarily underlie a successful career in general.  I often wonder how those major corporations chose those 1 in 1,000 students of mine. How did they determine that people like Chip would flourish in...