The Millionaire Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of America's Wealthy Paperback – 1 Nov. 2010

I was looking for something...a secret formula or just general advice that would help me in the recession. Maybe an idea that that would lead me to riches...and I think I've found it!TMND is not a book about getting rich quickly, and it certainly isn't another book that is based on thinking yourself rich which I can't stand because if we could all think ourselves rich we would be. Do you seriously think that every starving child in third world countries doesn't! If you want the truth about how you can make a better life for yourself then this is for you.This book is based on the research of many millionaires, OK its not all of them but the ones who opted into the research program. Although this doesn't give a complete analysis of every millionaire what it does give you is a thorough look at the lives and stories of people who may have come from humble beginnings or even inherited their wealth.Why is this good info? Because the vast majority of us don't have a clue about what it takes to get into that position or what it means to maintain it! After reading this book all the things I thought about rich peoples spending habits changed, it made me start to think about my life and what I could do to improve it without even directly asking me to do it.The word frugal is not something that most people consider to be a good word especially in times when consumerism is rife, but if you want a good life then it may be something we should all think about, the millionaires in this book were mostly just that FRUGAL or tight fisted :0. on balance it may seem like a sacrifice but if at the end of your life you don't have to worry about your pension, kids or family because they are all taken care of then in my opinion its worth a try!

Common sense with field data. The gist of it is that money speaks, wealth whispers. But the data and examples really help hammer this point.

It might sound obvious but this book reinforces how we@lth is retainable within the family assuming everyone has their head screwed on but it is skewed to the North American experience and does not translate to other countries. Let us look at inheritance taxes in Sweden - basically Sweden has removed then totally because they noticed the wealthy simply removed their wealth and young people did not bother to stay in the country, alsomflaky politicians allowed Muslims to enter the country and Muslims always have their handout. The British experience is also revealing. Inheritance taxes were introduced to pay for wars that were conducted on behalf of the city of London traders. Today politicians involved in Brexit are trying the same trick in trading off british fishing rights in order to allow the city of London to trade in the EU. However if you look at the minutiae of detail in inheritance tax regulations you will,find some very peculiar behaviour. For example if some one dies, the family immediately stripe the house of everything so that nothing has to be declared. You need about fifty relatives to,perform this operation efficiently but the result is on day one the soon to be deceased is living in opulence, the day after his or her death they are seen to be living as paupers. The first time I saw this I was surprised, the second time saddened but the third time .i realised it was par for the course. Even the local councils are prey to this behaviour - a couple went on holiday and got back to find their apartment had been stripped - the council,operatives had got the address wrong. Of course the local council apologised but their operatives hD already sold on war medals etc which were never recovered - were these pre grave robbers arrested - no, the trade union got involved and a lot of hush money had to be paid out. What is not generally recognised is thatbofficialdom is bent as a six pound note. IN slovenia, the incoming communist regime confiscated property which decades later they sold back to the family. The local city council amassed quite a parcel of property that way nOtably from gassed Jews and when they sold the property back to,the family they realised their mistake and tried by whatever means to regain control of the property by underhand means. Unfortunately the giveback of state looted property after the fall of communism resulted in a property give back which the ex apparatchiks on the city council refuse to recognise and when there was a mooted wealth tax the council found they did not own the property so they began a campaign of wheedling inheritors to sign over the property to the council for nothing. In this they were supported by the court system which is the last refuge of the communists in most Eastern European countries. How corrosive communism was can be seen from the experience of Melania Trump - she actually was at university but they never recognised her first year grades because she did not come across with the goodies to her professors. Now she promotes education in the USA because there you cannot bribe your way to the top of the academic tree even with sex.

Very interesting book as it’s based on a study of millionaires in the 1980s and how these millionaires accumulated wealth. It’s a good personal finance book that stresses on the importance of saving for investment. There wasn’t too much in it about investment, which I would’ve found more interesting. Main message on investment is to trade less.

Even though the research is based on America's wealthy, it's interesting to see how habits of the wealthy can be replicated wherever you are in the world. Now, being a black man from modest background, I have always been saddened to witness that most of Congolese people who dress expensive and look wealthy are broke as a joke. While the nerd, silly looking white man is the richest guy at the party. I have few other book references to help me identify the traits of a millionaire (i.e. The richest man in town, the richest man in Babylon, Rich dad, poor dad; Live your life not theirs, why your thinking is keeping you poor) but the study conducted in TMND is astounding. I decided to use the title of the book as my What'sApp tagline because I intend to become one.