Book Review: The Millionaire Mind

The Millionaire Mind has been sitting in my Kindle feed for quite a long time. I thought that reading it before 2019 started would help me identify strategies for more success. I have to admit, I really enjoyed what Dr. Thomas Stanley put together and learned a great deal.

Dr. Stanley focused his research on what made millionaires successful. In The Millionaire Mind, he describes the research study. He discussed the survey instrument used, the sampling, and the follow-up interviews. The results are quite informative.

Whittling down over 226,000 neighborhoods, Stanley was able to find 2,500 neighborhoods rip with millionaires. He defined a millionaire as someone with a net worth of over $1,000,000. He submitted a survey to these households resulting in 733 useable responses. The survey had 277 questions. While looking for millionaires, he came upon the realization that there were two crowds: Income Statement Affluent and Balance Sheet Affluent. The Income Statement Affluent have big salaries, fancy cars, and big houses but have little net worth. They are empty suits. The Balance Sheet Affluent on the other hand are true millionaires. This is the goal. I am far from it.

The Millionaire Mind is 416 pages spread over ten chapters. There are also three appendices. The chapters include:

• An Introduction to The Millionaire Mind
• Success Factors
• School Days
• Relationship Between Courage and Wealth
• Vocation Vocation Vocation
• Choice of Spouse
• The Economically Productive Household
• The Home
• The Lifestyle of Millionaires: Real vs Imagined
• A Final Note About The Millionaire Mind

One of the most important points highlighted in the book was that millionaires do not run up credit. This is something that I need to work better at. I do have to say that I have significantly improved in this area over the years. As noted in chapter one, “You cannot enjoy life if you are addicted to consumption and the use of credit” (Stanley, 2001, p. 1). Owing money, you are a slave to others.

Throughout the book, Stanley supported each point with detailed statistics. What made this different from most academic writing I have read is that he made it so the average reader could understand it. Here are some points that stood out to me as I read this.

• The majority are homeowners with small mortgage balances. Their houses are not the McMansions. Also, they do not often build a house. They like to have problems identified and addressed ahead of time. They are also not do-it-yourselfers. They believe that time is money and will pay others for needed work.
• A third are business owners or entrepreneurs. Another third are retired or other professional jobs. The last third are corporate executives, attorneys, or physicians.
• A great majority are college graduates with at least half holding advanced degrees; however, a significant number indicated they were not gifted students. The greatest lessons in school were not necessarily in the classroom.
• They live within their means and have little debt. They reupholster furniture, resole shoes, shop with a grocery list, and buy bulk.
• They play golf and tennis, are not workaholics, and vacation overseas every couple of years.
• They plan investments with attorneys and accountants.
• They invest in their businesses rather than gamble on stocks or the lottery.
• They work in vocations that highlight their strengths.

Stanley not only provided a wealth of data to support his findings but he also included countless anecdotes that added life to the points he was making.

There were many lessons learned in this book that could improve any household. Because of the book, I have already started to make small adjustments in what I do. Primarily what I got out of The Millionaire Mind is that a lot of the success is having the right mindset. If you think you are on a hamster wheel and not moving forward, I would encourage you to read this book.

Additional Reading

• Book Review: Profit First: A Simple System to Transform Any Business from a Cash-Eating Monster to a Money-Making Machine

Note: my page references are the Kindle settings of my device.

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