Stop Acting Rich E-Book

Thomas J. Stanley

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 402

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2009

Beschreibung

The bestselling author of The Millionaire Next Door reveals easy ways to build real wealth With well over two million of his books sold, and huge praise from many media outlets, Dr. Thomas J. Stanley is a recognized and highly respected authority on how the wealthy act and think. Now, in Stop Acting Rich ? and Start Living Like a Millionaire, he details how the less affluent have fallen into the elite luxury brand trap that keeps them from acquiring wealth and details how to get out of it by emulating the working rich as opposed to the super elite. * Puts wealth in perspective and shows you how to live rich without spending more * Details why we spend lavishly and how to stop this destructive cycle * Discusses how being "rich" means more than just big houses and luxury cars A defensive strategy for tough times, Stop Acting Rich shows readers how to live a rich, happy life through accumulating more wealth and using it to achieve the type of financial freedom that will create true happiness and fulfillment.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright Page

Dedication

List of Tables

Preface

Disclaimer

Chapter 1 - The Difference between Being Rich and Acting Rich

Meet the Aspirationals

The Sobering Statistics

The True Measure of Wealth

Poor Richard’s Wine Cellar

A Compromise

Transforming Income into Wealth

Why We Buy

Nature and Nurture

It’s Only Money

A Good Habit Is Hard to Break

Rendering Unto Caesar

Avoiding the Cereal Trap

Chapter 2 - Everything You Think about Rich Is Wrong

Just Because the Glossies Show It Doesn’t Mean Millionaires Buy It

The Money Pit

Status Is as Status Does

Chapter 3 - Do the Shoes Make the Man?

Walk a Mile in Real Millionaire Shoes

Dressing for Success

The Cinderella Syndrome

The Glittering Ones

Dressing like a Real Millionaire

Chapter 4 - Brother, Do You Have the Time?

Will Buying One of Your $10,000 Watches Make Me Happy?

A Study in Contrasts

Understanding Mr. Multipliski

Buying and Selling Badges

Contradictory Mr. Nitty

Glittering Rich in Texas

A Change in Content

Different Strokes for Different Folks

Who Do You Wannabe?

Chapter 5 - Keeping Up with Your Spirits

Carlton of Crawford

Is Your Goose Cooked?

Rodney’s Spirits

Negative Correlates

Influence via Sweet Rye, Sunspots, and the Carpathian Mountains

Chapter 6 - The Grapes of Wrath

Perception Is Everything, Unless It’s Wrong

Pressing Their Own Grapes

Correlates of Wealth: Real or Imagined

Bon Appétit with that Wine

In Texas, Do as Texans Do

Domestic Bliss

The Cellar Is Standard Equipment

The Wine Rapper Next Door

The Real Kev, Un-Rapped

Chapter 7 - The Road to Happiness

On the Inside

Chevrons with Wheels

Degrees of Separation

Driving a BMW Does Not Make You a Millionaire

The Decamillionaire and the Volkswagen

Extraordinary Wealth, Ordinary Cars

The Frugality Hall of Fame

The Mercedes Millionaire

Image over Substance

Why We Buy What We Buy

My Favorite Model

Chapter 8 - Getting Out of the Poorhouse

How Would You Live?

The Millionaire Next Door, Alive and Well Today

Shopping for Happiness

Satisfaction and Money

Who Are Rob and Henry?

Bad Influence

Happy, Wealthy, and Generous?

Chapter 9 - All that Glitters Is Not the Millionaire’s Goal

Appendix A - The Nationwide Search for Millionaires

Appendix B - The Millionaire Profile

Notes

Acknowledgements

About the Author

Index

Copyright © 2009 by Thomas J. Stanley. All rights reserved.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.

Published simultaneously in Canada.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, [phone], fax [phone], or on the web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, [phone], fax [phone], or online at www.wiley.com/go/permissions.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Stanley, Thomas J.

Stop acting rich : . . . and start living like a real millionaire / Thomas J. Stanley.

p. cm.

Includes index.

Summary:“A leading expert on the affluent reveals the real way to build wealth With well over two million of his books sold, and huge praise from many media outlets, Dr.Thomas J. Stanley is a recognized and highly respected authority on the wealthy, their behavior, and their thinking. Now, in Stop Acting Rich, he details how the less affluent have fallen into the elite luxury brand trap that keeps them from truly acquiring wealth and details how to get out of it by emulating the working rich as opposed to the super elite.A defensive strategy for tough times, Stop Acting Rich will show you how to live like Warren Buffett-a rich, happy life-through accumulating more wealth and using it to achieve the type of financial freedom that will create true happiness and fulfillment. Puts wealth in perspective and shows you how to live rich without spending more Details why we spend lavishly and how to stop this destructive cycle Discusses how being “rich” means more than just big houses and luxury cars Other titles by Stanley:The Millionaire Mind and The Millionaire Next Door It’s time to understand why we buy what we buy, so that we can start accumulating, rather than depleting, wealth. Stop Acting Rich shows you exactly what it takes to achieve this elusive goal”—Provided by publisher.

eISBN : 978-0-470-55277-3

1. Wealth—United States. 2. Rich people—United States. 3. Finance,

Personal—United States. I. Title.

HC110.W4S734 2009

332.015’01—dc22

2009023406

For Anna, Ryan, and Kate

List of Tables

Table 2.1 Homeowners in America: High Income versus High Net Worth? 44

Table 2.2 Homes of Millionaires in America: Average Value by Augmented Net Worth 48

Table 2.3 Neighborhood Defined Consumption Lifestyles Where Millionaires Reside 50

Table 2.4 Wealth-Producing Characteristics of Selected Occupations: High Income versus High Net Worth 53

Table 2.5 Top 20 Ancestry Groups Who Own/Occupy Homes Valued at $1 Million or More: Total Number versus Concentration 57

Table 3.1 Price Paid by Millionaires for Their Most Recent Haircut 60

Table 4.1 Top 10 Brands of Watches Worn by Millionaires 91

Table 6.1 Price of Wine Served by Millionaires 153

Table 6.2 Prices Paid for Wine Contained Inside the Homes of Millionaires 154

Table 6.3 Wine Inventory Owned by Millionaires 155

Table 6.4 Price Typically Paid by Millionaires for Their Dinner at the Restaurant They Dine at Most Frequently 157

Table 7.1 Stores for Clothing and Accessories Patronized by Millionaires According to the Most Recent Make of Motor Vehicles Acquired 199

Table 7.2 Makes of Motor Vehicles Acquired by Millionaires 203

Table 7.3 Popular Models of Motor Vehicles Acquired by Millionaires 205

Table 8.1 Profile of Happy versus Unhappy High-Income-Producing Baby Boomers 224

Preface

Thirty years ago, I first defined the blue collar affluent, aka the millionaire next door, in a speech and paper that I delivered on behalf of the New York Stock Exchange. This began a lifetime journey of identifying and profiling the myths and realities of the rich.

I discovered that not all millionaires have high social status. In fact, those who are among the least productive in transforming their incomes into wealth are in the higher-status occupations. In a 1980 national study of multimillionaires, I found that half of the millionaires in America do not live in upscale neighborhoods. In 1988, I wrote my first book, Marketing to the Affluent, which essentially discussed how to market to the “millionaire next door.” After reading it, one of my colleagues at Georgia State University, Dr. David Schwartz, author of the perennial mega-bestseller The Magic of Thinking Big, suggested that I broaden my work to appeal to a much larger general audience. I followed Dave’s advice and wrote The Millionaire Next Door (1996), which answered the question: Who is the typical millionaire in America? This bestselling book exploded many common myths about the wealthy in America, revealing that their low-profile and frugal lifestyle were pervasive among this group.

After the success of The Millionaire Next Door, I continued my research with The Millionaire Mind (2000). In this book, I revealed the factors that millionaires, who had three times the wealth as those in The Millionaire Next Door, reported as being most important in explaining their economic success. Among those factors were integrity, discipline, social skills, a supportive spouse, leadership qualities, and having a love for one’s vocation. Among the least important were luck, investing in the stock market, and having high academic achievement. I responded to the numerous queries I received from women about their lack of representation in my books by writing Millionaire Women Next Door in 2004. Women in business succeed because they work harder and are more frugal than their male counterparts. Women who fail in business typically love their product but not their business.

In Stop Acting Rich . . . And Start Living Like a Real Millionaire, I detail why so many people who are not rich hyperspend on luxuries. Often they think that collecting these expensive toys will enhance their overall satisfaction with life. But, as you will read in detail, happiness in life has little to do with what you wear, drive, eat, or drink. The people with the greatest satisfaction are those who live below their means. Even during the recent peaks of income production, the residential real estate market, and the bull stock market when the main survey for this book was undertaken, these millionaires maintained their habits of thrift and frugality. (See Appendix A for the survey details and Appendix B for the profile of millionaires.) In other words, increasing asset values did not cause the majority of wealthy people to hyperspend.

So who are hyperspenders really emulating? They are merely mimicking the behaviors of people like themselves, who are not rich but act in ways they think the economically successful people act.

Why is it that some people worth $10 million, $20 million, or even $30 million own few or no luxuries whatsoever? They know that satisfaction in life is not a function of what you can buy in a store. As you will come to learn in these pages, these people were conditioned by their parents to live below their means and were taught how to invest and manage money effectively. Accordingly, the billions of dollars poured into the marketing hype associated with promoting status products have had little effect on their consumption lifestyle. Also these people tend to associate with others who have similar attitudes, interests and activities, and beliefs.

The reason why so many homeowners today are having a difficult time making ends meet goes way beyond mortgage payments. When you trade up to a more expensive home, there is pressure for you to spend more on every conceivable product and service. Nothing has a greater impact on your wealth and your consumption than your choice of house and neighborhood. If you live in a pricey home in an exclusive community, you will spend more than you should and your ability to save and build wealth will be compromised. My research has found that most people who live in million-dollar homes are not millionaires. They may be high-income producers but, by trying to emulate glittering rich millionaires, they are living a treadmill existence. In the United States, there are three times more millionaires living in homes that have a market value of under $300,000 than there are living in homes valued at $1 million or more.

Given the recent reversals in the market value of stocks and homes, you may be asking: Is the millionaire market dead? While completing this book, a newspaper writer called and asked me what I thought about a published study claiming that the number of millionaires had significantly declined during the 2008-2009 period. I told her that I disagreed with these findings. Since 1980, I have consistently found that most millionaires do not have all of their wealth tied up in their stock portfolios or in their homes. When the investment gurus talk about diversification, they show how very parochial they are. Real safety is not in a diversified stock portfolio. One of the reasons that real millionaires are economically successful is that they think differently. Many a millionaire has told me that true diversity has much to do with controlling one’s investments; no one can control the stock market. But you can, for example, control your own business, private investments, and money you lend to private parties. Not at any time during the past 30 years have I found that the typical millionaire had more than 30 percent of his wealth invested in publicly traded stocks. More often it is in the low to mid-20 percent range.These percentages are consistent with those found in studies conducted by the Internal Revenue Service, which has the best data set on millionaires in the world.

In a way, the credit crisis of 2008-2009 is serving as something of an intervention. But for the treatment to work, you must take a cold hard look at your balance sheet and at your life, and determine if you would be wealthier if you would stop acting rich. It is my hope to show you that you can stop acting rich and still enjoy life to the fullest by living like a real millionaire.

Disclaimer

This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that neither the author nor the publisher is engaged in rendering legal, investment, accounting, or other professional services. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought.

This entire project was underwritten by the author. His views and interpretations of the findings may not necessarily be the same as those of the organizations that market the brands that are mentioned in this work. Except for two speeches given to BMW dealers in the late 1980s and a summer job at a Chevrolet dealership in his youth, the author has never been employed or compensated in any way by these organizations.

1

The Difference between Being Rich and Acting Rich

Anyonewho lives within their meanssuffers froma lack ofimagination.

—Oscar Wilde

While in his early teens, my dad worked as a paperboy, covering two newspaper routes: the blue route and the white route. Most of his “blue” customers lived in working- or lower-middle-class (blue-collar) neighborhoods located to the east and south of his parents’ home. The “white” route included middle- to upper-middle-class (white-collar) customers who, for the most part, occupied nice and neat single-family homes to the west and north. Both routes contained roughly the same number of subscribers. Contrary to what you might think, my father found that the “blue” route was the more financially lucrative of the two. Customers were significantly more likely to pay on time, tip their paperboy, and provide him with a Christmas bonus.

Why? My father theorized that many of his “white” route customers were perpetually strapped for cash, as they were supporting expensive homes and all that goes along with them. He felt that many of his customers along his “blue” route lived below their means. As a result, they always seemed to have cash on hand with which to pay him when he collected.