Book Report - Millionaire next door

[cute fuzzy bunny]

I "finished" this about 5 days ago. I say finished because I actually just skimmed the second half of the book due to it becoming a bit repetitive and data loaded.

A typical book written by a pair of PhD's, its very data laden and builds inexorable proof up to its inevitable points. Some analytical types would have found it pleasing.

The points are very good though. This is from memory, anyone with other takeaways, please add them.

The chief points are:

- The typical millionaire is more likely to be a married couple, never divorced, a couple of kids, F-150 pickup truck and a home in a middle class neighborhood, probably a business owner.

- There are two types of people PAWs and UAW's; prodigious accumulators of wealth and underachieving accumulators of wealth.

- PAW's drive sensible cars, live in sensible homes, and sock their money away for their future.

- UAW's live in expensive neighborhoods, drive expensive cars, have other expensive tastes and have little or no net value along with high debt.

- Demographically, Russian and Scottish immigrants have the higher percent of millionaires than others. Russians have a high tendency to start businesses and Scots are more frugal than immigrants from other nations. Those of English origin, our usual vision of the rich english fellow, have one of the lowest rates of millionaires per capita. Both Russian and Scottish immigrants also tend to imprint their values onto their children better than others; the same value structure tends to penetrate 3 or more generations after immigration.

- UAW's are pre-trained to be UAW's by growing up in a UAW household, having attended an expensive university and being surrounded by UAW's children living a UAW life, or by having their non-UAW parents tell them they want them "to have it better" all their lives. Some careers promote UAW behavior.

- UAW's often have higher incomes than PAW's, but far lower net value.

- The UAW lifestyle is one in which you feel that you have to overconsume to show someone (whoever that is) that you're doing really, really good.

- PAW's dont care what others think or consider some aspects of UAW life restricting or undesirable. Case in point the guy who was getting a Rolls Royce from his friends and family for his birthday asked to not get it. Couldnt drive it down to the fishing hole and throw a mass of bass in the backseat like he could his old american car.

- One needs to grasp and comprehend the need to live the UAW lifestyle. What does it really bring you, who are you trying to impress, and what are the real benefits vs real costs of living it.

- In order to create accumulated wealth, starting or owning a business is how a majority create the income stream, and living a good comfortable by unextravagant life is a good way to hold onto it.

- Much discussion around the surprise by the authors as to what the typical millionaire was like. Anecdote of their first face to face interviews where they set out pate and expensive wine that nobody wanted. "I like two kinds of beer: cheap and free" one millionaire said. Club sandwiches and beer from there on.

Pretty much rinse and repeat from there. Dont get caught up in the rat race, get a good income stream going, put it away in sensible investments, live a comfortable but not ostentatious lifestyle, put the same values into your kids, retire early, live well.