Some people live as they will never die, and die as they had never lived.

It looks much more absurdly when you read about all those "millionairs" who are spending all of their lifetime for meticulous accumulation of wealth accompanied by greed and avarice.

I don't know if there were "researches" conducted by authors indeed, and if all the written is truth. If so, I feel sorry for these poor guys, "millionaires". Having an opportunity to do what they want at least sometimes, they heroically sweep it aside for sake of pure wealth accumulation.

Ok, they've decided to get away from the affairs at the age of 60. I can imagine how it's funny for them, old wrecks, to travel, enjoy summer nights, stare at the ocean, dance in bars, love, enjoy speed of bike/car/surf. At last they can spend their hard-gained money after lifetime spent for calculation of profit and saving...saving...saving!

The book itself generally teaches you only one major thing:
Be greedy. Don't buy nothing you like. Why to buy watches for 500 dollars if there is much cheaper one for 20. Don't travel, it's too expensive. Don't have too much friends, they eat and drink too much. Don't have hobby (except of avarice, of course), it always take your money away. Buy cheapest shoes, clothes, cars. You have only one true hobby - MONEY. And when it's time to die, you can donate all your wealth to some charity or religious organization, to avoid exessive taxation. Sounds as a good plan for you? Go ahead, buy and read this book.

Labai įdomi knyga nupiešianti tikrą milijonieriaus portretą. Tyrimas atliktas 1995-96 metais. Būtų labai įdomų paskaityti naujesnius duomenis.

Might be useful for the financially clueless people. For everyone else even the Blinks are boring.

הגעתי אל הספר הזה עם המון ציפיות ויחסית התאכזבתי. השם של הספר נראה כל כך מבטיח ומגלם צהבהבות רכילותית עם ניחוח של מיסתורין, אבל הוא לא זה ולא זה. הוא די משעמם אם לאמר את האמת.

הספר הוא אוסף של תיאורי 2 סוגי מקרים: אנשים שמרוויחים יחסית מעט והצליחו ליצבור הון גדול, מעל לשווי המחושב שאמור להיות להם. והסוג השני אנשים שמרוויחים יחסית המון ולא הצליחו ליצבור את ההון הזה.

המחבר נותן נוסחא לחישוב הערך השווי הנוכחי שאמור להיות לאדם (הכנסה ברוטו לפני מיסים ללא ירושות × גיל לחלק ל 10). כך אפשר לדעת אם האדם עשיר או לא.

בסידרת דוגמאות המחבר מסביר את סוד ההצלחה לצבור הון מעבר לשווי המחושב והנה הכללים לפניכם:
1. הוצאה פחות מהכנסה
2. חיסכון של 15 % מההכנסה הפנויה
3. השקעות סולידיות ומניבות לאורך זמן
4. תשלום מס נמוך יחסית כתוצאה מניהול השקעות שמנכות את אחוז המס ( זה הסעיף הכי מעצבן בכל הסיפור הזה תכנוני מס יכול לעשות רק מי שיש לו כסף ואז הוא למעשה לא צריך את תכנון המס כי הוא יכול לשלם אותו)
5. חסכנות וניווט רכישות באופן החסכני ביותר עד כדי נזירות
6. שימוש במשאבים הציבוריים שעומדים לרשותך בצורה מיטבית.
7. חינוך הילדים כך שלא ידעו שיש לכם כסף וילמדו את ערכו.
8. שונא מתנות יחיה. במילים אחרות אלתתנו כסף לילדים שלכם כי זה מוריד להם את המוטיבציה להתאמץ ולהרוויח כסף משלהם והופך אותם לתלותיים.
9. אל תצטרפו למרוץ הצרכני רכשו בשום שכל.

ועכשיו נשאלת השאלה לשם מה כל המאמץ הזה? כי להשיג עצמאות כלכלית ושרידות כלכלית בעיקר בגיל הפנסיה.

ולשם כך, שימו לב גם אם אתם שווים כמה עשרות מליונים טובים אל תבזבזו על מכונית חדשה , אל תצאו לנופשים מנקרי עיניים, תשתדלו לרכוש רק מוזל ועל פי תקציב, אל תשלחו את הילדים לבית ספר פרטי תשתמשו בחינוך הציבורי הוא מספיק טוב ואל תעברו לבתים מנקרי עיניים.

זה הסוד.

ובסוף תמותו. כן ככה זה נראה לי. כדי להיות מליונר צריך לחיות חיים נזיריים ובסוף למות ולהוריש את הכסף שלכם כל המליונים שצברתם למוסדות צדקה בעלי מטרות חברתיות כי ככה לא ינכו לכם מס ירושה.

משעמם כבר אמרתי?

3.5 stars
The first chapters of the book are great.

The authors are trying to show the benefits of having a budget, knowing your expenses, investing and living beyond your financial capabilities.
The problem is that all of these things require discipline. However the people who manage to do them tend to worry less about things. (Like job loss, earning less money, or having to downgrade their quality of life).

There are also some good insights on how rich people raise their children in such a way that their kids are not dependent on them when they become adults.

This book could be compressed in about 1/4 the size. Essentially the message is save a lot and put the money saved in investments.

Allow me to tell you everything you will "learn" from reading this book in 5 words: be frugal, budget and invest. There I just saved you from having to read this sexist, racist, outdated, condescending, piece of crap.

Getting rich is most often done by being frugal, not by making outrageous, Trump-like gambits. The last 10 years or so have been marked by periods of investment euphoria (tech & housing), followed by terrible hangovers that have destroyed the wealth of millions within a few years or even months. The latest bubble (George Soros actually thinks 2 bubbles popped simultaneously last year -- the housing bubble and the 20 year credit bubble) could potentially be much more devastating than the tech bubble, because the bubble was based on leverage and credit, and so participants often risked everything they owned (and more), and a mere 20% decline in home prices wiped away their entire wealth, and left them without the means to even pay the mortgage once it reset. There have been many foreclosures in the past year. Look for more, and soon a flood of bankruptcies. Bankruptcies will be especially devastating because of recent legislation modifying bankruptcy laws.

It should be noted that there are many so-called self-help finance books out there that are very dangerous for the common man, among them the "Rich Dad" series. They encourage normal people, uneducated in finance, to make such risky leveraged investments like buying second homes with no money down. Such books and advice should be avoided like the plague. Robert Kiyosaki (Rich Dad author) has absolutely no shame in not only misrepresenting himself and his so called Rich Dad (a figment of his imagination), but tickling man's inclination to gamble. Except that when people lose playing his game, they can lose literally everything.

Turning attention to the actual book being reviewed, a large part of the book is devoted to profiling the "typical" millionaire. Some common qualities are:

a) Most millionaires are married couples, never divorced. This should make sense for several reasons. First, there are no alimony/child support bills to weigh down expenses. Second, married people tend to be more emotionally stable, and thus are less prone to spending sprees or other extravagance. Third, married people don't feel they need fancy things to impress others. Although children do indeed cost a lot of money, the reality of parenthood encourages people to change their goals to be more far-sighted, which usually encourages saving.

b) Most millionaires aren't extravagant, nor do they have a desire to live like rock stars. Money provides security to them and their family, and often their tastes and needs are as simple as the rest of ours. I remember the story of the husband in the book who, after selling his business for millions of dollars, gave his wife a check for a large chunk of that money while she was clipping coupons at the kitchen table. She said "Oh thanks honey, that's very nice of you," and went right on clipping coupons.

c) It is true that a disproportionate number of millionaires are business owners. This makes sense though -- although most businesses fail, the ones that succeed are bound to rise in value (it costs much more to buy a successful business than to start a new one). So the sale of a successful business is often likely to generate a one-time windfall that blue/white collars are unlikely to experience. The main point of this section was to point out that certain cultures -- I think Irish and certain sections of Eastern Europe -- encourage members to open businesses and "make their own way". That is reflected in the statistics.

I like this book because it brings together common sense with hard data to present a convincing argument that the best way to attain wealth is to a) save, b) be frugal/tame your desires, c) work hard, d) become a self starter, and e) get married and don't divorce. Common sense all of them, and all of which have happy side effects beyond the monetary ones.

I genuinely do not understand the hype around this book. As someone who makes it a routine practice to read a variety of personal finance books, this was on my list for a long time to read. It fell totally flat for me - examples were outdated and mostly just irrelevant. All of the examples of wealth were males, most (if not all) who were married with stay-at-home wives. The examples were incredibly homogenous and lacking in variety. It would’ve been marginally better if the examples were more diverse and also took into account wealth through a variety of different lived experiences. Save your time & skip this one. :)

Only read up to Page 53.
Here are some great pointers:
- Why are so many people interested in what we have to say? Because we have discovered who the wealthy really are and who they are not. And, most important, we have determined how ordinary people can become wealthy.
- Eighty percent of America's millionaires are first-generation rich.
- This is why America needs a constant flow of immigrants with the courage and tenacity of Victor. These immigrants and their immediate offspring are constantly needed to replace the Victors of America.
- As a consequence, our youth are told that buying expensive items is normal behavior for affluent people. They are led to believe that the wealthy have a high-consumption lifestyle. They learn that hyperspending is the main reward for becoming affluent in America.

Among one of the worst books on finance ever written. Pure selection bias, only reviewed people who became millionaires and developed generalized strategies. Read it nearly 20 years ago and I’m still mad about it.

Why not interview lottery winners and ask for their secrets?

The point of this book comes through loud and clear, the people that we think are millionaires are more than likely swimming in debt. Just because you live in a fancy neighborhood and drive an expensive car does not make you rich. In fact it goes as far as to say that most millionaires live in less costly areas because it costs alot of money to keep up with the JONES! In fact their study showed 37 percent of their millionaires bought used cars opposed to new and paid cash of course. Now their used cars may be Mercedes but they save on the depreciation of the person that bought it new.

They reference one guy nameed W. W. Allen who is a self made MUTImillionaire. "He and his wife have lived in the same three-bedroom house in the same middle class neighborhood for nearly forty years" "Living in less costly areas can enable you to spend less and to invest more of your income. You will pay less for your home and correspondingly less for your property taxes. Your neighbors will be less likely to drive expensive motor vehicles. You will find it easier to keep up, even ahed of the Joneses and still accumulate wealth"

Ok, makes total sense but not something that is usually pointed out by the financial world. People tend to spend more than they make making it nearly impossible to accumulate wealth. I love the message of this book and their is extensive research used to back it up.