The Millionaire Next Door: P. 1-40

I rarely read books. I know that this is really sad, especially for a senior in high school who genuinely loves to learn and aspires to go on to a good college, but it's the truth. Thus, when Mr. Fischer and Ms. Stevens presented to the class a reading project where we would have to read books on entrepreneurship, it's fair to say that I was less than excited to begin reading. Only forty pages into "The Millionaire Next Door" has completely changed my attitude towards this project.
The book is a review of over twenty years of research done by the author on who in America are actual millionaires. Going into the book my vision of a "millionaire" were celebrities, big time corporate CEOs, and doctors. Interestingly, this is one of the most common misconceptions regarding who in fact are actual millionaires. The majority of wealthy people in America are not the kin of multimillionaires, wealth in many cases is not passed down. This is another misconception that I had regarding millionaires in America. Over 80% of the millionaires in America are first generation millionaires, and the majority are not glamorous movie stars and CEOs. The majority in fact are your average business owner. Two thirds of the millionaires in America own their own businesses, many of these people are farmers, auto mechanics, contractors, etc. This book debunks the myths and misconceptions that we as a society have of the wealthy, and gives us a more realistic view of what a real millionaire looks like.
At first I didn't understand how people working in such absurd and random industries could have a lot of money. The answer in many cases lies in the notion of prudent spenders and big time money savers and investors.
An interesting concept or analogy used by a wealthy diesel engine repairman from Texas is the idea: Big Hat No Cattle. This symbolizes people who we would view as wealthy, for example, your average CEO living in Brookline, Massachusetts. This person probably makes a decent paycheck, but our society has created an environment where people don't view you as wealthy unless you dress the part. This CEO may drive a $100,000 car, wear $1000 suits, and have a $5000 watch. In addition this person pays heavily in taxes to live in an upscale neighborhood like Brookline. Say this person has kids and thus pays for them to go to a private school (55% of millionaires have their children in private school). This person makes a lot of money, but then spends that money on the things that society tells wealthy people that they need to spend money on. Despite a large paycheck, many of these people don't have appreciable assets. Oppositely, as the statistics from the study show, the majority of millionaires live in less wealthy neighborhoods, drive cheaper cars, more than half never spent more than $400 on their nicest suits or more than $140 on their nicest shoes. These people still make a good paycheck, but they don't spend as much. They aren't surrounded by other doctors and lawyers and CEOs and thus feel the need to "keep up with the Jonas'" and buy expensive clothes and goods. These people, form the overwhelming majority of millionaires in America.