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

Still looking for that perfect gift for your clients or business associates? Below I describe the ultimate gift for anyone in business. What is the most powerful method of influencing those who influence many other affluent prospects? As a general rule, it is the dimension of networking called "revenue enhancement."  Ask most successful business owners, professionals, and other self-employed prospects this simple question: "What is your number one need?" Most will answer, "Revenue enhancement, i.e. more sales, more customers, more clients." Given a choice, would these prospects prefer to patronize a supplier who provides only a core product or service -...

Among the millionaire types profiled in Part I, what are some of the occupational groups that tend to have higher wealth indices than the norm? Some of these include: self-employed business owners (non-retail); executives of privately held corporations (see: The Millionaire Next Door); educators (and those married to an educator, see Stop Acting Rich, pp. 23-24); engineers (see Stop Acting Rich, pp. 186-190); supermarket store managers; discount store managers; mathematicians; scientists; regional planners; writers; actuaries; property managers; farmers, and farm managers. Those with lower indices tend to be highly compensated attorneys, managers of public corporations, physicians and marketers of investment products and...

Why do I write about rich people? It's not for the benefit of rich people. What I write is designed to benefit those who are confused and misinformed about what it means to be rich. Most Americans have no idea about the true interworkings of a wealthy household. The advertising industry and Hollywood have done a wonderful job conditioning us into believing that wealth and hyperconsumption go hand in hand. Yet, as I have said probably a million times, the large majority of the rich live well below their means. Unfortunately, most Americans think that they are emulating the rich by...

A producer from ABC’s 20/20 news magazine television show once asked if I could identify neighborhoods where the millionaire next door types live. After checking my database, I pinpointed several neighborhoods where these people resided. The resulting televised program certainly raised eyebrows. Most of the homes depicted were in the $200,000 to under $400,000 price range. All of the millionaire next door types who lived in these neighborhoods had an investment portfolio of at least $1 million. Yet the median price they typically pay for a bottle of wine is just over $10.00 - certainly not the acting rich crowd. Then I did a...

One of my earlier blogs, The Downside to Understating Your Wealth, apparently hit a chord with many of you. Mrs. Davis, a teacher, told me that her memory was jogged after reading about the Honda driving doctor who couldn't get into the hospital's parking lot. Here is her contrasting story on the upside of understating your wealth.  After moving to Atlanta, Mr. and Mrs. Davis were living in a rented home while searching for a permanent residence. They made several appointments to speak with builders who had "lots of homes" in inventory. The first day out, Mrs. Davis put on her business suit...