The Millionaire Next Door

Millionaire in the Making: Income $240K, Home $190K

Following up on the theme of my last blog, Millionaire Rule 1.49, I would like to share an email I received from Mr. G who lives in a mid-size, Midwestern city.  


I bought “The Millionaire Next Door” when in graduate school in 2001. It was the right book at the right time for me. It helped ground me and changed our financial life. I am now 36 and my wife is 34 and we are working toward having it all. We have two beautiful girls and my wife has the privilege of staying home. I have worked my way up to VP of a large company. In this role I work hard and have avoided joining the country club and buying a nice car.


 We have no debt outside of our home and have enough cash on hand to pay off the mortgage already. When evaluating our long term goals we decided to buy a home in a very modest neighborhood where we are most likely one of the highest earning families with a total income of nearly $240,000. We bought our home for $190,000 and moved to this neighborhood to be closer to our church where our kids will go to school. It is a great family neighborhood where people help people and are not worried about material goods. We decided early on that we wanted our kids to be in this environment. We feel no pressure to buy expensive cars or spirits. We focus more on what we can do and give to others.


Since entering the work force we have been maxing out retirement accounts and have over $300,000 saved for our future retirement. Now we consistently save $10,000 a month for our future, college savings and emergencies. I think we will be close to millionaire status within a few years and from there who knows. I wanted to say thanks since a lot of my financial views were formed by reading your literature.


In Stop Acting Rich, I stated that “it takes the equivalent of 100 high income producing homeowners who live in pricey homes to produce just 65 millionaires.  But [for] those who reside in homes in the less than $300,000 range it [takes] the equivalent of only 100 high income generating homeowners to produce 211 millionaires.”  Also, from  Stop Acting Rich, “the concentration of millionaires next door in the Midwest is 1.65 times greater than what is expected given the size of its overall population. . . .  The traditional values of thrift and modesty in spending are still alive in many parts of the Midwest.”

2 thoughts on “Millionaire in the Making: Income $240K, Home $190K”

  1. I’m so glad there are still young couples like Mr. G and his wife, who seem to have their heads screwed on straight and value family, community and their religious faith.

  2. I hope to be on the same track at Mr. G. I make low 6 figures, live in a modest house and community. shop and donate at goodwill. have saved 300k+ in retirement and other accounts. i would like to be a millionaire by the time i am 45 currently 36. love the books

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