The Millionaire Mind
Encyclopedia
The Millionaire Mind Published February 1, 2000 by Thomas J. Stanley
, draws from the authors' research of America's affluent to examine the ideas, beliefs and practices of the segment of the financial elite that use little or no consumer credit
. The book debuted at #2 on the New York Time's Bestseller list on February 18, 2000 and received press and reviews from Fred Barnes
, Katie Couric
and Donald Trump
.
, The Millionaire Mind analyzes the common environmental and lifestyle factors that preceded and resulted in this researched segment's ability to accumulate wealth. The book raises the following questions:
What success factors made them wealthy in one generation?
What part did luck and school play?
How do they find the courage to take financial risks?
How did they find their ideal vocations?
What are their spouses like and how did they choose them?
How do they run their households?
How do they buy and sell their homes?
What are their favorite leisure activities?
Dr. Stanley's research on how the average American millionaire
attained financial success are based on in-depth surveys and interviews with more than 1,300 millionaires. Personal details from this research are shared in the book include memories from their school days, personal thoughts on being "the smart kid in the dumb row," making difficult financial decisions, selecting a vocation and spending habits.
Web blogger, Jim Lippard
, also criticizes Stanley's work with a similar accusation, stating, "This is a deeply flawed book. It purports to be a description of the characteristics and attitudes that make wealthy people wealthy, but it is based mostly on their self-assessments without comparison to a control group. I suspect that this heavily underplays the role of random chance in success, and attributes causation where there is only correlation. Further, the author displays clear biases on a number of topics, which leads him to engage in ad hoc interpretation of his data, sometimes to argue for conclusions that are contrary to the clear implications of the data—such as his arguments for the importance of religion in the lives of millionaires."
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Thomas J. Stanley
Thomas J. Stanley is an American writer and business theorist. He is the author of several award winning books on America's wealthy, including the New York Times’ best sellers The Millionaire Next Door and The Millionaire Mind. He received a doctorate in business administration from the University...
, draws from the authors' research of America's affluent to examine the ideas, beliefs and practices of the segment of the financial elite that use little or no consumer credit
Credit (finance)
Credit is the trust which allows one party to provide resources to another party where that second party does not reimburse the first party immediately , but instead arranges either to repay or return those resources at a later date. The resources provided may be financial Credit is the trust...
. The book debuted at #2 on the New York Time's Bestseller list on February 18, 2000 and received press and reviews from Fred Barnes
Fred Barnes (journalist)
Frederic W. Barnes is an American political commentator. He is the executive editor of the news publication The Weekly Standard and regularly appears on the Fox News Channel program Special Report with Bret Baier...
, Katie Couric
Katie Couric
Katherine Anne "Katie" Couric is an American journalist and author. She serves as Special Correspondent for ABC News, contributing to ABC World News, Nightline, 20/20, Good Morning America, This Week and primetime news specials...
and Donald Trump
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump, Sr. is an American business magnate, television personality and author. He is the chairman and president of The Trump Organization and the founder of Trump Entertainment Resorts. Trump's extravagant lifestyle, outspoken manner and role on the NBC reality show The Apprentice have...
.
Summary
Following up the bestseller The Millionaire Next DoorThe Millionaire Next Door
The book The Millionaire Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of America's Wealthy is by Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko....
, The Millionaire Mind analyzes the common environmental and lifestyle factors that preceded and resulted in this researched segment's ability to accumulate wealth. The book raises the following questions:
What success factors made them wealthy in one generation?
What part did luck and school play?
How do they find the courage to take financial risks?
How did they find their ideal vocations?
What are their spouses like and how did they choose them?
How do they run their households?
How do they buy and sell their homes?
What are their favorite leisure activities?
Dr. Stanley's research on how the average American millionaire
Millionaire
A millionaire is an individual whose net worth or wealth is equal to or exceeds one million units of currency. It can also be a person who owns one million units of currency in a bank account or savings account...
attained financial success are based on in-depth surveys and interviews with more than 1,300 millionaires. Personal details from this research are shared in the book include memories from their school days, personal thoughts on being "the smart kid in the dumb row," making difficult financial decisions, selecting a vocation and spending habits.
Criticism
Author, professor and finance consultant, Donald Mitchell criticizes The Millionaire Mind saying, "because of the way the sample was selected, you won't get much variety...[and that a] control group is essentially missing....Web blogger, Jim Lippard
Jim Lippard
James Joseph Lippard is an American skeptic and activist freethinker who has written and spoken widely.Lippard works for Global Crossing as its head of information security....
, also criticizes Stanley's work with a similar accusation, stating, "This is a deeply flawed book. It purports to be a description of the characteristics and attitudes that make wealthy people wealthy, but it is based mostly on their self-assessments without comparison to a control group. I suspect that this heavily underplays the role of random chance in success, and attributes causation where there is only correlation. Further, the author displays clear biases on a number of topics, which leads him to engage in ad hoc interpretation of his data, sometimes to argue for conclusions that are contrary to the clear implications of the data—such as his arguments for the importance of religion in the lives of millionaires."
Reviews
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