The Millionaire Next Door Essay

1041 Words3 Pages

Stephanie Harlow
951284303
HIST 363 – Prof. Pope
26 May 2016
The Millionaire Next Door
The definition of wealth in America has evolved over the past 300 years. In 1996 Thomas Stanley and William Danko published a book based on their 20-year study of how people become wealthy; entitled The Millionaire Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of America’s Wealthy. A key takeaway is that looks can be deceiving and “wealth is not the same as income” (1). The discussion and reflections from the book prove that high net worth individuals think and act inversely to those without money. This essay will discuss how success is defined, the necessary character traits of successful individuals, how a developing person can lead a successful life, the audience …show more content…

The traits include education, perseverance, hard-work, and self-discipline. The foundation for building wealth starts with being frugal. Someone who makes a good income each year but spends it all is not getting wealthier they are just living a high life and in some cases from paycheck to paycheck without saving. It is important to not only have self-discipline but that your partner have it as well. Stanley and Danko assert that if your partner is materialistic and wishes to lead a high-consumption lifestyle, then the likelihood that you will become wealthy greatly decreases. Education is extremely important for the foundation of building wealth because it provides individuals with the ability to plan, budget, and analyze. Perseverance and hard-work go hand in hand. Both comes from the ability of someone to continue to push toward their dream or move through more difficult times toward their desired goal. In the book, the most dominant concept discussed is self-discipline and how it is essential when it comes to accumulating wealth. In order to accumulate wealth one must not be a materialist who is focused on driving the latest model of a luxury vehicle or wearing the latest

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