The Millionaire Next Door p. 80-100

I came across some very interesting findings in this portion of the reading that I wanted to share, because I found them to be obvious, yet important to reiterate. The author throughout the book has established the differences between what he calls a PAW and  UAW, a Prodigious Accumulator of Wealth vs an Under Accumulator of Wealth. In his comparisons he makes through the book, he uses PAWs and UAWs who make similar incomes, and differentiates why one's net worth is significantly higher than the others. He discusses a study where he asked a group of combined PAWs and UAWs what their overall life goals were, and more than three fourths responded: to become wealthy by the time they retire, to increase their wealth, to become wealthy through capital appreciation, and to build capital while conserving assets. Interestingly though, while both PAWs and UAWs answered similarly for the first question, the second question was almost split perfectly between PAWs and UAWs in their responses. The second question asked about time allocation and financial planning. It was an agree or disagree question. The overwhelming majority of PAWs agreed with these statements: I spend a lot of time planning my financial future, I have time to handle my investments properly, I place the management of my own assets above other activities in my down time. As one would imagine, the overwhelming majority of UAWs did not agree with the above statements. This fact clearly states a theme throughout this book which has been clear and constant; that accumulating wealth is not hard, it just takes planning, hard work, and brain power. Everyone wants to succeed in life. I'd imagine that the majority of Brookline High School would agree with all of the statements above from the initial question asked that all PAWs and UAWs responded similarly to. The only difference is the way that those who succeed and the way that those who don't go about accomplishing those goals. It's reassuring to know that I don't have to be some high accomplished surgeon or politician when I grow up to accumulate wealth, but rather simply have a financial plan and stick to my set goals.