The Millionaire Next Door

A study of the popluar book “The Millionaire Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of America’s Wealthy by Thomas Stanley and William Danko.

This paper examines the non-fiction novel, The Millionaire Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of America’s Wealthy” by Thomas Stanley and William Danko, which describes the real independent American Millionaire and their tactics in growing wealth. This paper illustrates how the book reinforced not only the importance of education and hard work, but the importance of self-employment. The author states that these millionaires value financial security.
“When most Americans think of millionaires, they most likely conjure images of flamboyant characters leading exciting lifestyles. Most people probably believe that the majority of millionaires inherited their money and that few have put in an honest day’s work in their lives. Millionaires are imagined shopping at designer stores and would easily be picked out in a crowd. Moreover, most believe that millionaires drive expensive cars and live in posh homes in upscale neighborhoods. Common belief is that millionaires would never shop at WalMart or bargain hunt at the local flea market. This is the stereotype image of the American millionaire. Far from it according to Thomas Stanley and William Danko, authors of The Millionaire Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of America’s Wealthy. Their research found that these stereotype images are far from reality.”