The Millionaire Next Door Book Review

I recently read an article in Yahoo about Financially Fit Saving Smart & Living Well by Jennifer Waters. It was a great article because it pointed out financial fitness is achieved not by the size of your paycheck or yearly income but your investments. You can be earn a six figure income and still not be rich.

Investments can be anything that will hold value and that means stocks, homes, cars, items that offer you to diversify your finances creating financial fitness. Balancing between or leveraging your finances is important as sometimes you may hit rough times and need to ride it out. The article mentioned a book The Millionaire Next Door, which included a few great quotes that are worth mentioning because it made me go out and buy the book.

"Wealth is what you accumulate, not what you spend," according to Thomas Stanley and William Danko, the authors of The Millionaire Next Door book. "It is seldom luck or inheritance or advanced degrees or even intelligence that enables people to amass fortunes," the authors wrote. "Wealth is more often the result of a lifestyle of hard work, perseverance, planning, and, most of all, self discipline."

In reviewing The Millionaire Next Door I found it took a different approach, it provided a profile look at people who have already become successful millionaires and achieved financial fitness. It makes the point that in order to accumulate your wealth and become rich earning a high six figure income you must also be frugal in your spending.

The Millionaire Next Door book in the course of research concluded seven most common denominators of those who have successfully built their wealth achieving financial fitness.

1. They all live well below their means.
2. They distribute their time, energy, & money in a way that helps build their wealth.
3. Financial independence is more important then social status.
4. No funding was given by family members; it was achieved on their own.
5. The millionaires children are economically self sufficient.
6. Proficient at targeting market opportunities.
7. The right occupation is chosen because they are self employed doing what they love.

The Millionaire Next Door is a great book that provides real life examples and does not promise the reader how to become a millionaire.