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

Recently, Dave Ramsey magnanimously invited me to be a guest on his show. During the interview, Dave asked me about the changes I had noticed among Americans since the recent economic meltdown. One of the changes I mentioned was the precipitous decline in the number of people who advised me that "$1 million (in net worth) - that's nothing anymore." Apparently, in this current economy $1 million is a lot more than nothing! But, this issue is more complex than merely having or not having $1 million or more accumulated. It's not really "a big deal" (or nothing anymore) if you became rich via...

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...

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...

One of the most pleasant benefits from writing books is hearing personally from my readers.  I would like to share a letter that I recently received which is ideally suited for Veterans Day reflection.  "Dear Dr. Stanley,I recently...began to read The Millionaire Mind....  I try to read a little each night.  It was about 11:00 p.m. when I reached page 41.  About half way down the page I encountered the name "William 'Billy' Featherstone" and thought to myself, I know about someone with a name like that except that his last name was Gilmore.  I then read "Gilmore Jr." on...