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

In the year prior to our economic meltdown, 16 million passenger vehicles were sold in the United States.  This year I estimate that less than 12 million will be sold.  Certainly this is a serious decline.   In spite of this decline, I believe that some people can still make a good living selling cars and a lot of other products.  And I'm not the only one who feels this way. Beverly Bishop spent more than 30 years as an extraordinary sales professional. In fact, I profiled Beverly in Millionaire Women Next Door.  During her career she sold over $100M worth of motor vehicles. ...

In an earlier blog, I mentioned that the typical Balance Sheet Affluent (millionaires) had an annual realized household income of $89,167 (median) when he first became a millionaire ($1 Million: Something or Nothing? Part I, and Stop Acting Rich, pp. 17-29). In other words, one half of the BAs had incomes that were less than this figure. What does this tell us about building wealth and becoming financially secure?  For most Americans one's desire, discipline, and intellect are more important factors in accumulating wealth than earning a high income. The problem today among many high income earners is that they think that money...

In what types of careers do we find the balance sheet affluent, the millionaires next door? Many take an unconventional approach. Below is one of my favorite stories about careers, adapted from Millionaire Women Next Door. Marion was trained to be sensitive to opposing viewpoints and countertrends. Being different in thought and deed was something to be proud of, not condemned. Her folks convinced her that she had the ability and aptitude to excel at any task, at any vocation she set her sights on, and that there was no such thing as women's versus men's work, and high-status and therefore desirable versus...

Consumer indulgences do not make one wealthy.  In fact, they are substitutes of wealth, not complements.  I once had an interesting experience while presenting these and related facts to a group of fund-raisers from colleges and universities, hospitals, youth groups, and a variety of eleemosynary organizations which were responsible for identifying prospective donors.  I explained that many wealthy, prospective donors do not look wealthy!  Thus, I suggested that these fund-raisers should prospect successful business owners of the "small hat, lots of cattle" variety, as opposed to the "big hat, no cattle" kind. I could tell by the reaction of my...

Supreme Court nominee, Sonia Sotomayor, though not a millionaire, is typical of most successful women, as well as men.  In my surveys, about 80% of both reported having a nurturing and loving home environment while growing up. In fact, 89% reported that their parents were never divorced. This does not mean that you cannot succeed as an adult if your childhood was different.  What I find fascinating are the comments of adults in their 40s and even 50s who hold their parents accountable for their lack of success.  Instead of focusing upon achieving, these people focus on the past.  They...