Reader’s Digest has an article titled Secrets of Self-Made Millionaires. The “secrets” aren’t exactly groundbreaking:
- Set your sights on where you’re going
- Educate yourself
- Passion pays off
- Grow your money
- No guts, no glory
- Stop spending
… but I always enjoy reading such stories anyway. In addition, sprinkled throughout the article are several interesting quotes which hit home for me.
They are motivated by freedom
What motivates them isn’t material possessions but the choices that money can bring: “For the rich, it’s not about getting more stuff. It’s about having the freedom to make almost any decision you want,” says T. Harv Eker, author of Secrets of the Millionaire Mind. Wealth means you can send your child to any school or quit a job you don’t like.
Most did not start out rich
The reality is that 80 percent of Americans worth at least $5 million grew up in middle-class or lesser households.
They have a passion for what they do
According to research by Thomas J. Stanley, author of The Millionaire Mind, over 80 percent of millionaires say they never would have been successful if their vocation wasn’t something they cared about.
They don’t flaunt their wealth
But many modern millionaires live in middle-class neighborhoods, work full-time and shop in discount stores like the rest of us. […] According to the 2007 Annual Survey of Affluence & Wealth in America, some of the richest people “spend their money with a middle-class mind-set.” They clip coupons, wait for sales and buy luxury items at a discount.
All of these characteristics are ones that I aspire to have!
The idea that “millionaires are all around you but you just don’t notice them” reminds me of the popular book The Millionaire Next Door. In fact, Stanley above was a co-author. (Sadly, the other author Danko now speaks at get-rich-quick seminars.) The book has been bashed at times as being statistically flawed and simply telling people what they want to hear. Perhaps, but I think there is more than a little truth behind it as well.
