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

Ned Davis, 36, is a successful trial lawyer.  Even at this early stage in his career, his tally of legal victories places him in the exceptional category.  Ned was kind enough to share some of his insights about the importance of accessorizing when in the courtroom environment.  I'm not a big watch guy, but I had wanted to buy a leather-banded, gold watch for some time.  I have a silver/metallic Rolex watch that I received as a gift about 15 years ago and I wanted a gold watch to wear on occasion.  I thought that I could justify spending a...

The Wall Street Journal recently reminded its readers of Peter Lynch's hall of fame batting average during his tenure as manager of Fidelity Investments Magellan Fund: Delivering 29% annualized returns from 1977 to 1990. . . Mr. Lynch's work has had a profound influence on the way I invest. I once heard him speak at a Fidelity conference in Boston where we shared the platform.  He hammered home many of  the themes that are detailed in his two books, Beating the Street and One Up On Wall Street: How To Use What You Already Know To Make Money in the Market: By sticking with stocks all...

About half way through writing Chapter 4 (You Aren't What You Drive) in The Millionaire Next Door, I listed one of our cars "for sale" in the local paper.  This timing was just a coincidence.  However, the characters who showed up to look at the car were worth a chapter by themselves!  Let's look at Steve, a member of the Balance Sheet Affluent .  He was a vice president and head of the motor vehicle leasing department  for a large regional financial institution.  He majored in finance and accounting.  After Steve had volunteered this information, I couldn't help but ask:  Why would someone in the vehicle...

Kay S. Hymowitz, writing in The Wall Street Journal, asks, "where have all the good men gone?" She contends that a growing number of American "men in  heir 20s are living in a new kind of extended adolescence." While it is true that there are more unproductive males in their 20s today, there are still millions who are achievers.  The real issue is where one looks for prospective male mates.  Happy hour at the local watering hole or even in a tony bar may not be the geographic centroid of highly productive young adult males.  I wrote an entire chapter...

In a recent advertisement for Honda Accord, it was described as having the highest resale value within its class.  I'm not surprised.  How well a motor vehicle holds its value depends on several factors.  Of course reliability is important no doubt, but there is something else.  It has to do with retail versus fleet sales.  What if the car that you are contemplating buying is sold in the hundreds of thousands under the heading of Fleet Sales?  Most of these fleet purchases are made by rental car companies who demand  very deep discounts from manufacturers.   Later these one, two or three...