Book Report: The Millionaire Next Door

Individuals seek to make themselves as marketable as possible. The second is that all firms attempt to amplify the amount of money that they make.The author states that “maximizing utility is not synonymous with acting selfishly” (pg.8). He uses the example of the 91-year-old woman who spent her life working as a laundress in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. She lived by herself and owned a black-and-white television with only one channel (pg.8). Before her death, the woman had given $150,000 to the University of Southern Mississippi to endow a scholarship for poor students. The woman derived more utility from saving money and giving it away than spending it on herself. The author talks about how the prices of goods affect everyday life. Most people probably do not realize the effects prices have on us. The author mentions the spike in gas prices in 2008. The high price of gas forced Americans to buy smaller cars. The high price also increased the use of public transportation. It also caused many Americans to switch from cars to motorcycle. This increase in the use of motorcycles in turn raised the number of motorcycle deaths in the U.S. This change in the price of a single item shows the significance that prices play in the lives of

The concepts throughout this book are simple but they test self-control and patience, which in our world is uncommon because of the “want it now” attitude. Ramsey talks about how “personal finance is 80 percent behavior and only 20 percent head knowledge” (ix). This main idea is something Ramsey talks about and references throughout the whole book. Another main idea or as Ramsey calls it a “motto” that’s on each page at the bottom is “If you live like no one else, later you can live like no one else” (5). This is the theme that he refers back to on

He discusses all that is wrong with the wealthy individuals and how they are spoiled. He makes his argument by revealing how wealth is disposed of, “There are but three modes in which surplus wealth can be disposed of. It can all be left to the families of the descendants; or it can be bequeathed for public purposes; or, finally, it can be administrated during their lives by its possessors” (3). The author is Andrew Carnegie and intended audience is the general public but more specifically are those of wealth and make them conscious of how surplus wealth is disposed of. This is a primary source and reveals that even though this was how the world was a decade ago, it is quite similar and not much has

As a million dollars passes through your hands, Foster teaches us on how to hold onto the money we’ve earned. Many consider money to be a good thing, but when people start believing that quantity overrides quality, money can lead you to the wrong reasons. He’s gotten to know some of the most successful people in the world during his lifetime, and every single one of them started out learning what do with the money they’ve earned with a part-time job. “They also learned how tough it is to earn each and every dollar, so they were careful about how they spent their money. These successful people developed good spending habits when they were young that stayed with them throughout their careers,” (pg 22). In my future, I plan to get a job and save at least half of my

They allocate their time, energy, and money efficiently, in ways conducive to building wealth. Millionaires budget and also plan their investments. They begin earning and investing early in life. The authors note that “there is an inverse relationship between the time spent purchasing luxury items such as cars and clothes and the time spent planning one’s financial future”. In other words, the more time someone spends buying things

Whew, where to start? The personal finance class through Dame Ramsey’s Foundations in Personal Finance textbook and video series really had a lot of useful information, and it is hard to pick out the most impactful chapters and topics. However, I think the most important stuff for me was his five foundations for financial success, which were reinforced throughout the course. I am not downplaying the other important stuff in the course, including learning about the history of credit, budgeting, consumer awareness, investing, insurance, and taxes, but I think that mastering the fundamentals is important, which is why I am choosing to highlight them in this paper.

Have you ever wondered what life is like for people in specific social classes and all the baggage that comes with being wealthy? In the article “Amber Waves of Green”, author Jon Ronson has sit downs with hard working americans making a income of $200 a week all the way up to $625,000 a week. In another writing titled “The Mansion”, written by Michael Lewis, allows the reader to get insight on what life is like as a middle class individual taking on a higher style of living. Within the two articles the reader can point out that both Jon Ronson and Michael Lewis disagree on living styles, what wealth can do for you, and how it can affect the people around you.

In David Bach’s book The Automatic Millionaire, he reveals to readers a plan that could help them prosper in life financially and retire early without any financial stress. In the first chapter of his book his introduces to us the McIntyres, a normal married couple looking to retire early. After talking to the couple, Bach discovers that this is no regular couple financially. He finds out that this couple owns two homes without any mortgages, have absolutely no debt and have a net worth of almost two million dollars. He then investigates why this is so. He finds that the McIntyres have some guidelines that help them. They have goals instead of budgets, they pay themselves first, watch their latte factor or spending and make their savings automatic.

Andre Carnegie was a poor immigrant who came to the United States in a quest for the realization of the American Dream. A self-started entrepreneur who through hard work and by taking advantage of the right opportunities was able to develop an enormous wealth, signifying with it, the definite possibility of social mobility. In his essay “Wealth” of 1989 Carnegie refers to the importance of the distribution of wealth and how such fortune was there to be used by the rich for the benefit and well-being of all individuals of society. Throughout this essay I will be explaining the arguments for the redistribution of wealth made by Carnegie, while analyzing as well the factors that may have motivated him to write his famous essay “Wealth.”

America is recognized as a place where if you work hard enough you can become wealthy. In fact, the U.S. has more millionaires than any other country in the world. However, for all that prosperity, the gap between rich and poor has always been large. People have been attempting to fix this inequality for over a century now. Andrew Carnegie, a Scottish immigrant who became the second richest man in America by dominating the steel industry, and Terence V. Powderly, an American attorney, labor union leader, politician, and best known as head of the Knights of Labor, were among the first to propose solutions. Carnegie’s idea, called “The Gospel of Wealth,”

Before reading the excerpts from “The Overspent American” I was not familiar with Juliet Schor’s work. While reading however, I saw that her views were different from many of the other authors that we have read so far. When I had finished the reading I found the reading enjoyable and fascinating. The reason that her writing intrigued me was because of her multiple perspectives while writing. Not only does she concentrate on the economics of American people, but she also uses a sociologist lens to show the purchasing habits of our culture. “The Overspent American” focuses on how we as a society have changed our spending patterns from the past. During the 1950s the phrase “keeping up with the Jones’” was coined and it represented Americans trying to outspend their neighbors and friends. For example, my friend buys a boat and I also need to buy a boat to make sure my friends saw me as being wealthy. Today our society as changed in many ways but Schor finds that our spending habits have altered the most since the 1950s. By analyzing and evaluating her work, one can see how Americans spending habits have changed over time and how our economics have been overtaken by television and broadcast media.

In the book, Rich Dad Poor Dad, Robert tries to debug the basement beliefs and how they affect the financial life of many individuals. Through the book, Robert states that individuals in the current culture concentrate on going to school, getting a job, and living a rat race and end up being financially unstable. In the book by David Allen, the author states that people should concentrate on stress-free productivity by focusing on relaxing, which boosts our productivity. Allen debugs on the popular belief by people that they should be very busy in order to be productive and align goals with the current operations.

The typical millionaires portrayed in the book were not the jet setting, high profile, luxury car driving executive that most would equate with affluence. In fact, the typical millionaire is a 57 year old male, self-employed, with an average income of $247,000. They are fairly well educated, wear inexpensive suits, and drive late model American made cars. On average, these millionaires live in modest homes and work in occupations such as: contractors, auctioneers, farmers, owners of mobile home parks, and stamp and coin dealers. These individuals are organized, live within a budget, and spend considerable time and energy investing. These individuals are also self-described tight wads. In lieu of receiving money directly for their time, the authors offered to donate money in the interviewee’s name to a favorite charity. The reply of most of the millionaires was “I am my own favorite charity,” and kept the money for themselves.

T. Harv Eker has written numerous books such as, “Think rich to get rich” and “Secrets of a Millionaire Mind in Turbulence.” I think that Eker wrote this book to help people become rich by using his so called “tactics.” His intentions sound alright, but you’ll find out later what I am talking about. He does have some key points that I find well done by Eker, and I will explain these later in the review. “The Secrets of a Millionaire Mind, Mastering the Inner Game of Work” is nothing like I expected it to be. Some of the stuff in the book is good advice, and some of the stuff is unusual, and something that I did not expect in a personal finance book.

The era of volatility has created a shift from America being the middle-class society to simply rich or poor (Sachs, 2011). A gap this large has not been experienced since the 1920’s (Sachs). “The top 1% of households takes almost a quarter of all household income” but an economy this top heavy will not be able to succeed (Sachs, 2011, p. 30). The working classes are struggling with housing, wage, and employment issues. Rich individuals are ignoring these troubles, shipping their business operations out of the country, thus furthering the downward spiral of the economy (Sachs). To make matters worse, this has become in a large part a political issue, because the rich can influence candidates with funding, where the poor and working