But more importantly, it makes being frugal a little bit of a sexy thing - showing that denying yourself useless treasures in the short term often leads to much bigger and better things in the long term. Its an interesting dichotomy as they show that underprivileged first-generation immigrants that work incredibly hard are the most likely to be "the Millionaire Next Door", but then are often likely to want 'better things' for their children and the cycle isn't necessarily repeated (or repeat-able). Most interesting were the chapters on gifting to children - and the (seemingly obvious, but not quantified) results.

Overall, an excellent study in what truly boils down to Millionaire mentality, and relative motivation. Well written, easy to understand, excellent message. Well done.

I absolutely LOVED this book! It is full of facts, figures and statistics on who the affluent actually are, what types of businesses they run, how they live, what their spending habits are. What an amazing resource for understanding this group, and even marketing to them.

For my full review, click here:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1921164/book_review_the_millionaire_next_door.html?cat=3

"The Millionaire Next Door" explores the investing habits, values and beliefs of millionaires from a statistical perspective.

The book shows that many people with high incomes, luxury cars, and houses in prestigious neighbourhoods often have a much lower net worth than you might expect. These people spend as much money as they make - sometimes more!

In contrast, actual millionaires (people with a net worth of one million dollars or more) prefer to live well below their means and believe that financial independence is more important than social status.

I enjoyed "The Millionaire Next Door". It contains some very powerful ideas and is a good primer on building personal wealth.

In our age of hyperconsumption this book is refreshing as it reviews what is really required to "become wealthy" as opposed to "appearing wealthy". Not boring, Stanley gives life to even the stats with real people examples.
Give it to a megaconsumer friend and watch the wheels turn!