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

Today far too many college graduates are unable to find job.  To make matters worse, some of these same people borrowed heavily to fund their college educations.  Some have over $100,000 in outstanding student loans.  It is easy to blame the American economy for these ills, but it is the individual who possibly selected a pricey university and a college major where supply greatly exceeds demand in the labor market    However,  recent engineering graduates are among the least likely to have trouble finding a job.  Most engineering majors had multiple job offers before they even completed their course work.  And how is it that so many of them graduated...

"That's Why They're Wealthy" was the original title of  The Millionaire Next Door.  Give credit to my brilliant editor, Suzanne DeGalan, for suggesting the final title. One of the main reasons that "they are wealthy" is that they live below their means and shopping for value is part of their lifestyle.   But now even among the more general population "'Value' becomes a shopping mantra:  'Sigma is gone' from clipping coupons," as reported in a recent article in USA Today.  The writer mentions: Few things are more practical than the use of coupons.  Before the recession, 22% of the households reported using them.  During the...

In an earlier blog,  I mentioned that, out of the 200 top high income job categories, financial analysts consistently rank among the top ten in the proportion of those who have annual realized incomes of $200,000 or more.  Then I asked, "But are they wealthy?  Many of them are.  The financial analysts group ranks #1 in terms of the percent of its members with $1M [net] or more in investments.  But be selective in listening to analysts; not all of them have a great track record.  And not all are excellent at transforming income into wealth."  According to my estimate, they rank 116th...

On the front page of the April 8-10th edition of USA Today is a picture of General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson [1824-1863].  However, like most stories that feature extraordinary people, the fundamentals of their success are not detailed. General Jackson, who repeatedly defeated opponents who had vastly superior resources, shared many of the characteristic traits of the modern millionaire next door types.  Both were given much responsibility for making money at an early age.  When Jackson was 12 years old, he and his younger brother floated "down the Ohio [River] to the Mississippi and spent the summer on a lonely and malarious island cutting wood...

Dennis Cauchon, writing in USA Today, asks "Our Standard of Living: Is it Better than Ever?"  He points out that our income today is significantly higher than it was in 1980, that our homes are bigger, that we are expected to live longer, and that we spend more of our income [inflation adjusted] on recreation, housing, vehicles, etc.  But here is the other side of the equation.  According to the accompanying USA Today/Gallup poll of 1,032 adults nationwide . . .  "only 31% of Americans thought they could live comfortably for less than $50,000 [income] a year . . ....