Book Reviews

The Millionaire Next Door
Thomas Stanley
Copyright 1998
Read: 5-1-2021
My Rating: 1/5



Such a difference in opinion in 18 years. What was once my all-time most recommended book is now an "avoid". In a nutshell the book says "Spend less than you earn" and "People that act rich are not necessarily wealthy". I know that this was one of the first finance books that I read, but I'm cringing at myself for missing all of the issues this book has.

He really pushes certain ideas like owning your own business is the key to wealth, and then claims that he is not saying this. Technically he doesn't, but all he talks about over and over is the 80% that are business owners this and that. It becomes incredibly misleading. In a 245 page book, it's not till page 137 that he gets around to saying "People often confuse our message about the relationship between being wealthy and being an entrepreneur".

This is actually a problem theme he has for the entire book. He will give a stat like "most" or 2/3rds of people do XYZ. Then spend pages and pages about this, and then never mention what the other 20% or 1/3rd of people do. It really comes across as "those people are not important".

This is not a book for someone that believes in FIRE, index funds, or want's some clear actionable items to build wealth. In truth I have no idea of who this book might be for.


The "General" Issues

  • O my God is this boring. I like stats and tables, but the way in which this is written is a cure for insomnia.
  • Poor organization. Multiple times in the book he says things like "people have misunderstood when I said XYZ". Of course they have, the ideas are a jumbled mess. Not to jump ahead, but when comparing the first 50 pages of this with the updated version in 2018, you can really see what I am talking about. Concise and organized, he is not.
  • No summation. Ok, that was a lot of random facts, can you summarize?
  • Poor statistics for a statistics book. There are a lot of 80% of people do XYZ so XYZ is important. Ok, so what do the other 20% do. It's not like 20% is nobody.
  • The views on Men and Women are right out of the 1950's.
  • 3 of the 8 chapters are about parenting

Some Specifics

  • "most did not receive any inheritance". What kind of number is "most"?
  • 80% are college graduates, then talks for chapters about how blue collar people can get ahead of those "gifted kids".
  • 66% work 44-55 hours a week and are 57. Errr. Work-A-Holics unite! So glad I was successful.
  • "most invest at lest 15%". I am so,,,, underwhelmed.
  • We hold 20% of our wealth in stocks. WTF, so where is the other 80%?
  • And I love comments like "Most of us would not hesitate to share some of our wealth with our daughters. Our sons should not need subsides from their parents"
  • Fewer than 1 in 10 millionaire are active investors, almost 30% keep their investment for 6 years. 6 years huh?
  • "People often confuse our message about the relationship between being wealthy and being an entrepreneur. We are not telling people to give up their jobs to be entrepreneurs. You can be wealthy if you follow the defensive strategy of millionaires who are used vehicle prone shoppers.". Ok, Ok, "Used vehicle prone shoppers", what the hell?
  • "Never tell children that their parents are wealth". And just how the hell are they supposed to teach their children about money income and wealth?