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

What if you are contemplating marrige and you have outstanding debts?  Honesty is the best policy here.  You should advise your future spouse about your financial situation and you'd be smart to discuss further your proposed way of eliminating this debt.  I am reminded of this fact by Doug who shared his life changing moment: For me it was meeting my [future] wife. . .she told me that "she would not marry anyone who had any debt."  It took me 14 months to clean up the debt [$45,000] . . . . She introduced me to Dave Ramsey and The Millionaire Next Door.  Both...

Americans are constantly bombarded by the news media that uses the term "the market," i.e. the market is up, the market is down, it is a good time to invest in the market.  With the current surge in the stock market it is easy to forget that it's not the only market in our economy.  I was reminded of this by Mark, who recently outlined how he became a millionaire.  Mark started his career in banking 20 years ago.  He is just one of a growing number of people who decided not to rely completely on his employer for his livelihood.  He...

A couple recently asked me about the relationship between home ownership and net worth. They are contemplating buying their first home.  "In your books, Tom, you mention that nearly all millionaires are homeowners . . . approximately 95%."  Most homeowners, however, are not millionaires.  And no one is going to hand you a check for seven figures when you close on your first home.  However, there is some correlation between home ownership and net worth.  According to government statistics, the median household net worth for renters has hovered around the $4,000 to $5,000 level during the last 15 years.  For the same period, the median net worth for homeowners has...

During the past two years J.C. Penney has implemented a dramatic change in its marketing strategy.  It called for greatly reducing the number of coupon/special on sale pricing and related promotional methods.  Its old method was replaced with the so-called stable, every day price point method.  And, according to The Wall Street Journal, this new strategy called for an abrupt reduction in the design and marketing for Penney's private label offerings.  Historically, however, one half of the company's sales came from its private label merchandise.  And often these offerings have received high praise from consumer experts. When these changes began to unfold, I thought...

We just spent 5 days chilling out on a Florida barrier island on the Gulf coast. It was our first visit to St. George Island .  After 2 days there it became evident to me that this laid back environment is well suited for the millionaire next door types I have known.  It is quiet, reasonable [$8.50/dozen Apalachicola oysters] and unpretentious.  Plus I was pleasantly surprised to find that it is the most "dog friendly" vacation spot I have encountered. Every listed rental property that allowed dogs had a paw print next to each description.  There are no gourmet restaurants on the island, and if you are looking for...