Thomas J. Stanley's The Millionaire Next Door

We live in a culture where success is increasingly defined by a paycheck and is seemingly as important to the parent as the child. Raising children to be “successful” is increasingly becoming an obsession for upper-middle-class-parents, who encourage certain activities and scores to provide their child with the best chances of attending elite schools. The article focuses on the inherent advantage upper-middle-class parents provide but fails to mention those who the parent’s action affects: their children.

The author of this book, Dave Ramsey, is a man who has gone through many struggles in his life. Throughout his book he talks about the times when he went bankrupt and couldn’t provide for his family. Dave Ramsey sat down and wrote a plan on how to be smart with your money. Ramsey says, “The principles are not mine. I stole them all from God and your grandmother” (xi). He talks about how these are not new ideas and that these are not theories because they are proven to work every single time. The central concept of this book is to help people succeed in life with money but also their personal relationships. Ramsey wants to give people hope and happiness by playing a small role in their financial freedom.

All i’ve heard from others is that money is everything. That its all you need to survive. That's not true, you don't need wealth. There's people with wealth or people without wealth. That's where people rate you or how you're famous or known out there because you have you have money. Well none of that matters because we were all born to be equal nothing more, nothing less. You might think thats how its suppose to be, where someone's on top or on bottom but everyone should be treated the same.

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

The wealthier child had the ability to foster his creativity and intelligence in ways that the poorer child could not, by being able to afford things like specialized tutors, trips to museums and other activities, or music lessons. His parents also taught him a key sense of entitlement that allows him to confidently handle situations, as he has been taught that he deserves to be involved. All of these factors shaped the two children’s path towards success. Gladwell argues that these kids benefited, or in the case of the poorer child became disadvantaged, by the community they were a part of, leading them to have success through dependence rather than independence.

Stanleys almost instinctive primitiveness is a major part of his representation in the book and this behavior of his leads to all the ways he overpowers and

His parents had constantly reminded him of his wealth, and he did get what he wanted when he wanted. But he thought that all the other children were as well off as he was.

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 Millionaire Next Door is an exciting breakdown of the common characteristics of the millionaires existing amongst us. Authors Thomas Stanley and William Danko throws more light on the myths and will give you a wide-ranging view of what and how actual millionaires look like.

The rich people have the money to splurge and they can still maintain a luxurious lifestyle. In the text titled Who Rules America?, Domhoff outlines the opportunities and lifestyle of the upper class. He explains economic inequality through the descriptions of the rich and their actions. As said in the text, “American upper class…unique style of life” (p.253). The kids of the rich attend private schools and receive unconditional treatment to maximize their success. From private tutors to boarding schools, the parents spend money like it is nothing. Meanwhile, offspring’s of the poor attend public schools and do not have the means for extracurricular activities or enrichment programs. The author continues to mention the benefits that the children receive by attending the private institutions and forming alliances in these schools that creates a social circle for the future. As said in the text, “this private system benefits primarily the upper class and provides...networks that will be with them throughout their lives” (p.255). The implications of their children attending private schools is that these children get a better learning experience for their future and will be well prepared. They will be qualified for embracing the world compared to the children of the poor, who received only public education. This form of economic inequality puts the poor at a disadvantage and hinders the success of their

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.

Specifically, wealthy individuals have access to quality education, healthcare, social networks and various other advantages denied to those with low financial capital. Among those advantages is cultural capital. According to the text, in opposition to their more affluent counterparts, “working-class mothers and fathers are more inclined simply to provide directives, [and are] less likely to consider conversation with children as a learning opportunity (349).” A more nurturing parenting style gives children a chance to understand the importance of confidence and expressing themselves, both valuable forms of cultural capital. Cultural capital often not provided by less affluent individuals due to “the financial and psychological stress of poverty (349).”

Calculating how much you need to save may be difficult as the stock market is unpredictable and your performance may vary. As we learned in “The Millionaire Next Door “don’t consider you well positioned unless you have at least twice the expected amount in the net worth evaluator. Nonetheless, some factors like how long you live, current net worth, number of years you can save etc. may influence the amount of money you need to save for your retirement. Calculating how much you need to save may be difficult as the stock market is unpredictable and your performance may vary. As we learned in “The Millionaire Next Door “don’t consider you well positioned unless you have at least twice the expected amount in the net worth evaluator. Nonetheless,

How do wealthy people succeed? In short, they are programmed for it. My realization is this. Its not your surroundings but what's inside you that causes success. My conclusion is this. Its not the tools, it's the person that determines how successful they will be.

​Through observations of the rich, a man or woman who has obtained richness often times are lacking in character traits that makes up a good man or women.  For example, Donald Trump as a