It's a sad day for Mustachians everywhere, author of Millionare next door passes

[MishMash]

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/author-of-%E2%80%9Cthe-millionaire-next-door%E2%80%9D-dies-%E2%80%94-7-key-insights-from-his-book-213300777.html

[MoneyCat]

I don't see what is so special about that book.  It is really repetitious and doesn't really offer a lot of insight into much of anything.

[DrSweden]

R.I.P. A great book. It made me realize why my father became rich. The degree of similarities are sometimes scary.

[MishMash]

I don't see what is so special about that book.  It is really repetitious and doesn't really offer a lot of insight into much of anything.

I must say it was probably the first thing I read that made me think that a regular person COULD become a millionaire, and that it was a possibility for me.  I grew up in a materialistic family that was always broke, my parents would routinely lament how people could buy USED cars etc since they weren't "safe".  This was probably the first thing I read that debunked most of my raising and got me started on the trail to Mustachianism.

[Eric]

Previous discussion here:

http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/welcome-to-the-forum/death-of-the-author-of-millionaire-next-door/

[slugline]

TMND is repetitious. I just re-read it in the wake of Stanley's passing.

However, while there have always been individual anecdotes of thrift-to-weath around, I don't know of anyone that had previously done the extensive survey research and catalogued the characteristics of a large group of wealthy people like Tom Stanley did. I believe that is the truly groundbreaking aspect of his work.

Prior to the 1990s, I had always assumed that being rich meant being showy with luxury goods.

[lifejoy]

R.I.P. A great book. It made me realize why my father became rich. The degree of similarities are sometimes scary.

I'm in the exact same boat - I was reading that book, and I phoned up my dad:

Hey dad, what kind of car do you have?
Toyota.
Ok... what kind of watch?
Seiko.

WHaaaaaaaat. And many, many other similarities.

His books can be repetitive, but they sure are neat. And it's great to highlight the differences between the actual rich, and the "glittering rich" (look rich by are actually in debt up to their gills).

[libertarian4321]

I don't see what is so special about that book.  It is really repetitious and doesn't really offer a lot of insight into much of anything.

The book was far from perfect.  I won't nit pick it's many questionable formulas, etc.

But in general, it was SPOT ON, and in contradiction of what almost every American thought the "rich" were like.

It helped dispel the notion that most millionaires were like the glittering rich you'd see on "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous"- ostentatious, self absorbed movies stars, athletes, and CEOs who bathed in Crystal in hot tub in the back of their Bentley while screwing 20 $1,000 per hour hookers at the same time. 

Most millionaires and multimillionaires are NOT "Donald Trump" or similar "hey, look at me!" a-holes, but just regular folks.

As a true millionaire next door type (well, I wasn't quite a millionaire when the book came out, but well on my way), I always wondered if there were more folks like me who lived like the middle class, but had significantly more assets.

Now, I'm the multi-millionaire next door.  I still live in the same (middle to slightly upper middle class) neighborhood I lived in back in '97.  I still live the same lifestyle I did when I was a $100,000'aire.  Hell, I really don't live a whole lot higher than the lower middle class lifestyle I grew up in- there are a few exceptions- the larger house, my wife's Beemer, but I still mostly live like my parents. 

TMND flew in the face of "conventional wisdom."  It helped me realize that I was not alone, that there are people like myself all around.

A very flawed book in many ways, but at the same time, a revolutionary work.