Millionaire Next Door - The Book

[mountainsoft]

I finally got around to reading "The Millionaire Next Door" book. This is one of the classic financial books that everyone seems to recommend. Wes Moss just did a 45 minute show on it, The Money Guy displays it proudly on their set, and it's mentioned often by others.

I'm not sure what all the hype is about. Personally, I thought it was boring and uninformative. Just a bunch of statistics mixed in with fictitious case study examples. Maybe it's me, but I usually don't enjoy books that try to make a point by telling stories, real or imaginary. Reading how Dr North and Dr South spend their money differently doesn't help me in any way. And being a millionaire was never my goal anyway.

Maybe I read the book too late in the game. As I read through each story all I could think was "Duh", that's obvious....

This book just failed to capture my attention. I didn't find it interesting, so it took me a long time to read it. I'm glad I'm done with it, but it kind of burned me out and I'm not eager to start another book now.

 

[Car-Guy]

I have a copy and have read it a few times over the years... Interesting but not "inspirational" IMO. When is was written (25+ years ago) a million was a lot of money. Maybe the next update they'll change the title to the multi-millionaire next door...

 

[RetiredAt55.5]

I read the book years ago and enjoyed it.

It made me feel better about some of my frugal ways, that there are others out there like me. I wasn't a millionaire, but I was on that trajectory.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

His daughter updated it a few years ago. She was writing it with him until Dr. Stanley was killed by a drunk driver. It's not a good as the first one, but the statistics are more relevant and updated. She also released "The NEXT Millionaire Next Door" in 2018 and I thought it was a decent book as well.

+1 on liking the book. The OP is the first I can recall that didn't enjoy it.

 

[ugeauxgirl]

I loved that book. It changed the way I thought about money, and my ideas about what "rich" in America really looks like. We are the millionaires next door.

 

[OldShooter]

I liked the book. It made me more self-righteous about [-]being a cheapskate[/-] being careful with our money.

It shares a flaw with many books of this type, though, and has been criticized for it: People who were not millionaires were not surveyed to determine whether they shared the same traits as the millionaires. If they do, or mostly do, then the traits cannot be said to correlate with being a millionaire.

The somewhat elderly book "In Pursuit of Excellence" is probably the poster child for this kind of sloppy thinking. IIRC a bunch of "best run" companies were profiled to identify common traits, but no effort was made to see if those traits were common among unsuccessful companies as well.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

This book originally came out in the 90s, when the idea that millionaires actually tended to be frugal was a unique concept. Now it is more widely understood that the way for many to FIRE is to significantly live below your means and invest the rest. But back then there was no Internet, no ER bloggers and forums like this to share experiences on.

 

[CRLLS]

I read the book long after I was LBYM. I did find it inspirational. It is not meant to be a formula for making the million. Rather, I found it was a warning against getting caught up with "Keeping up with the Jones's" race.

I think this group is a bit off base on saying that a million dollars is no longer relevant. Tell that to the millions of retirees who have to work past age 65 or live from SS check to SS check because they have no retirement money saved, A million is very relevant to them. It is some of them who the book is targeted to IMO.

 

[Mo Money]

I loved that book; the stats therein helped me feel like I was on the right path.

And I was.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

I think there are still people who don't get the concept, even though it may be old hat here. Like the neighbors we know who seemed surprised we retired early. I think it was because they thought we were poor and not just frugal. The ones with the odd reactions to our retiring early I'm pretty sure never read TMND book or they wouldn't have been surprised at all.

 

[Keim]

I liked it. It reinforced i was following a good path.

Was it revelatory? No. Anyone reading an ER forum already knows this stuff. For average folk it has a lot of meat.

 

[RobbieB]

Just read excerpts after a co-worked described me as the millionaire next door when I retired. But yeah, the basic premise holds true. Millionaires don't (for the most part) look it. You can see watches and jewelry, fancy cars and big houses but you can't see a fat portfolio which is what you get buying investments instead of big houses and fancy cars.

 

[RunningBum]

I was kind of "meh" about it, like the OP. I read it many years ago, before I FIREd. I get that it resonates with many, and is often recommended, but don't be shocked if some aren't inspired by it.

 

[CSdot]

I read the book when it came out, and the message is the ordinary person can accumulate $1M or more if they have enough time and are deliberate with their dollars.

While it is probably true that the lessons of the book are common sense to most of us, the value in the book is the message that the you don't have to be born into wealth, win the lottery, be a sports star, or take extreme risk, to accumulate $1M over a lifetime.

 

[teetee]

With inflation over the years the title should be The Half-billionaire Next Door.

It makes me think that it might be correct to think that average people from 30yrs ago have more buying power from their net worth than the avg people now. That is probably where the whole "middle class is disappearing" talking point was originated.

 

[Gumby]

I read the book when it first came out in 1996. It told me nothing that I hadn't already figured out on my own long before then. However, I did think it could be quite helpful to a certain type of person who had never thought that way before.

 

[JRon]

I love that book. Helped me realize what I could do if I worked at it. My kids read it and I suggest it to any young person looking for financial direction. That along with Robert Kiyosaki’s book, Rich Dad Poor Dad, are great for young people trying to figure it out.

 

[jollystomper]

Perhaps it depends on your age and situation at the time you read it. I read it in 1997, age 39, nowhere near FI or RE, and it was very helpful in my personal financial education at the time in several different ways. If one is already well on the way down the FI or RE path, you likely already understand what the book tries to show.

 

[ncbill]

Don't forget the survivorship bias...i.e. many millionaires got that way by starting a business that didn't fail, though most do.

 

[Lewis Clark]

My in-laws gave me TMND as a birthday present shortly after I got married. They didn't know me well at that point and thought it would be useful. I was already a lifelong LBYM type so I didn't learn anything practical from the book, but it did confirm that I was on the right track.

 

[The Cosmic Avenger]

I agree with mountainsoft and Gumby; I felt it had some great points, but the author was a very poor storyteller, and often got in his own way. Of course, part of the problem is that most of it was stuff I already knew, so I do think it would have more value for those who haven't figured out how to save or how to manage their relationship with money.

 

[Scout]

I graduated 17 years ago now with an entitled mindset. I had ‘earned’ a big house, nice cars, expensive trips, etc. and after a year I was well on my way to a check to check lifestyle. I was fortunate enough to come across this forum. TMND was recommended and it was a true game changer for me. Completely changed my relationship with money and halted my chase for that image driven lifestyle advertising is so effective at creating. I have recommended and purchased for several friends and family. I can understand why many on this site wouldn’t find it inspiring as folks here tend to be on a similar path and the info isn’t necessarily game changing any longer. I guess it wasn’t then either, but fortunately it was for me.
As usual I’m very thankful for all of you like minded folks!

 

[TheRunningMan]

I have never read TMND, but years ago I did read The Wealthy Barber by David Chilton and The Automatic Millionaire by David Bach. Both books offered solid examples and instructions for managing personal finances and I have shared them with younger people just getting started.

I'll check out TMND to see how it compares.

 

[travelover]

Moby Dick was just a book about a whale.

 

[Car-Guy]

Moby Dick was just a book about a whale.

I assume that makes perfect sense to some of us here.