The Millionaire Next Door

Stop Acting Rich

A Cure for a Bad Case of the “Spends”

I was delighted to learn of one of my reader’s (Mr. RK) transition from being a member of the income statement affluent segment to one in the balance sheet affluent population.  Congratulations! The examples (of income statement types) are endless.  My personal example was similar.  Professionally, I’m an engineer.  I’m really good at math and people pay me …

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1 in 3 Millionaires Funded 100% of Their College Education

Debt is like jail- easy to get in, hard to get out.  As an example consider the data recently published by The Federal Reserve: more than 2 million Americans 60 and older own a combined $43 billion in student loan debt the average debt among the 60 and older set is $19,000 115,000 of US seniors [are having …

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Hyperspending Parents = Hyperspending Children

Another top 10 most often asked question:  Why is it that my adult children are hyperconsumers? My simple and straightforward answer:  Typically it is because their parents taught them to be spenders!  Hyperspending parents tend to raise hyperspending children.  These parents violated Rule 1 for raising productive adults [from The Millionaire Next Door]: Rule 1: Never …

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More Frugal than Expected: Senior Executives

In my last blog, J.R. profiled his father-in-law who is the CEO of a major public corporation.  He provided considerable evidence that his father-in-law is the millionaire next door type.   Interestingly most senior corporate executives understate their wealth.     Dear J.T.: Thank you for your insightful profile.  My research over the years has found that …

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Don’t Criticize the 1%; Emulate Them

In a recent Fortune editorial, Nina Easton writes  “. . . don’t blame the rich: a defense of the 1%.”  Instead of constantly criticizing the 1 percenters most people could learn a lot about accumulating wealth through understanding the habits of these wealthy people.  She states succinctly: It’s entertaining to wail about the fat cats and the …

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Drivers of High Performance Sports Cars: Enthusiasts or Show Offs?

You may have read the news reports about the convoy of up to 30 high performance sports cars that was recently escorted down the Garden State Parkway (NJ) to Atlantic City by two NJ State Troopers.  According to the reports, the cars were traveling in excess of 100 mph!  Makes of these cars included Porsche, Lamborghini, …

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Status Symbols: John Deere versus Tiffany’s

In a recent broadcast of Mad Money, Jim Cramer did an analysis of several retailers who cater to the affluent.  One of these was Tiffany’s.  Jim indicated that the company’s stock price, of course, was highly correlated with its sales and ultimately its profits.  Further, he proposed that the performance of this upscale retailer is highly correlated with profits and …

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