The Millionaire Next Door: Surprising Secrets of America's Wealthy

Have you ever noticed those people whom you see jogging day after day? They are the ones who seem not to need to jog. But that’#x2019;s why they are fit. Those who are wealthy work at staying financially fit. But those who are not financially fit do little to change their status.

what is the effect of cash gifts that are knowingly earmarked for consumption and the propping up of a certain lifestyle? We find that the giving of such gifts is the single most significant factor that explains lack of productivity among the adult children of the affluent

PAWs usually price sensitive when it comes to purchasing services? Not always. They are much less price sensitive when buying services that will help them control their family’#x2019;s consumption behavior.

Many of these high-income/low–#x2013;net worth types have no idea how much they spend each year for such items as food consumed at home, food consumed away from home, beverages, birthday and holiday gifts (for each category of recipient), each category of clothing for each household member at each store, baby-sitters, day-care fees, line of credit use, charitable contributions, financial advice, club dues, motor vehicles and related expenses, tuition, vacations, heating and lighting, and insurance.

PAWs are more likely to invest in categories that usually appreciate in value but do not produce realized income. They tend to have a greater percentage of their wealth invested in privately held/closely held businesses, commercial real estate, publicly traded equities, and their pension plans/annuities and other tax-deferred categories. These types of investments require planning. They are also the foundation for wealth. UAWs hold a larger percentage of their wealth in motor vehicles and other assets that tend to depreciate.

Our research shows the opposite. Those who are not wealthy are less likely to shop, haggle, and negotiate than those who are millionaires. Car-buying behavior does indeed help explain why some people are wealthy while most are not and never will be.

Occupation is another factor. We have noted many times that entrepreneurs account for a disproportionately large share of the millionaires in America. Conversely, most of the other high-income-producing occupations contain disproportionately smaller portions of high–net worth types. These include physicians, corporate middle managers, executives, dentists, accountants, attorneys, engineers, architects, high-income-producing civil servants, and professors.

Overall, the self-employed spend more time planning their investment strategies than those who work for others. The self-employed, even those with middle incomes, typically integrate investment planning into their work lives. Most employees, in sharp contrast, have a set of job-related tasks that are independent of planning their investment strategies. Why is this so?
Those who succeed among the ranks of the self-employed never take their economic position for granted. Most middle-aged people who are self-employed have seen good as well as bad economic times. They tend to offset the inevitable changes in their revenue by planning and investing. They must build and manage their pension plans by themselves. They have to rely on themselves for their current and future financial situations. More often than not, only the well-disciplined self-employed survive economically over the long run.

Most millionaires who are PAWs are self-employed. Being self-employed gives one much more control over one’s economic future than does working for others.

PAWS and UAWS also differ in the amount of time they actually allocate to planning their investments.
Planning is typically found to be a strong habit among people who have a demonstrated propensity to accumulate wealth. Planning and wealth accumulation are significant correlates even among investors with modest incomes. In our survey of 854 middle-income respondents (see Table 3-5), for example, a strong positive correlation was found between investment planning and wealth accumulation.