Quotes from Thomas J. Stanley

Eighty percent of America's millionaires are first-generation rich.

There is a fundamental reason beyond Mr. Friend's perceived social and educational deficiencies that explains why he became a UAW: His parents taught him the ways of the UAW.

How do we define courage? Courage is behaving in a way that conjures up fear. Yes, Larry, courageous people, entrepreneurs, recognize the fear in what they are doing. But they deal with it. They overcome their fears. That's why they are successful.

This last question is highly significant. Not only are the most prodigious accumulators of wealth frugal, their spouses tend to be even more frugal.

Their consumer behavior had an impact on their son. They constantly sent him a message: One earns to spend. When you need to spend more, you need to earn more. L

his insensitivity to the benefits of investing go beyond his need to consume. His parents had no understanding or appreciation of invested dollars. Nor does he. And his parents passed this lack of wisdom on to him. Mr.

It is my belief that the number of households in America that are interested in looking wealthy is far greater than the number that are interested in being wealthy. p122

you would be wise to use your expertise to help you make your investments. If you're well versed in antiques, why not leverage your knowledge? You

Although millionaires have much more experience in making investment decisions, they allocate significantly more hours than do nonmillionaires in an effort to become even better investors. That is one of the main reasons that millionaires remain wealthy. Business

My surveys indicate that there is a significant correlation between income and satisfaction with life. In other words, earning more money may make you somewhat happier, but spending that money (particularly on cars) won't. If we make the appropriate statistical adjustments for income differences in life satisfaction, then we find that the average satisfaction among Toyota drivers [vs BMW] is higher. p173

A self-made millionaire stated it best when he told us: I can't get my wife to spend any money! Most people will never become wealthy in one generation if they are married to people who are wasteful.

A good start is to keep an accurate record of each and every expenditure that your family makes each month. Or ask your accountant to help you set up a system for tabulating and categorizing these expenditures. Then work with her to develop a budget. The goal is to enable you to set aside for investing purposes at least 15 percent of your pretax income each year. By the way, this "15 percent method" is Mr. Gif-ford's simple strategy for becoming affluent. CAR-SHOPPING

Economic independence belongs to those with the willingness to allocate time, money, energy, and cognitive resources to achieve financial goals.

The affluent tend to answer "yes" to three questions we include in our surveys: Were your parents very frugal? Are you frugal? Is your spouse more frugal than you are?

You know, Bob, the real patriots out there are people who earn big incomes—$100,000, $200,000, and $1 million or more a year—and spend it all. Congress should mint a new medal for this type of patriotism, Bob. It would be called the Congressional Medal of Taxation and Consumption. And as long as these patriots keep training their kids to be medal winners, we are in good shape.

Mr. Allan is extremely perceptive in his understanding of under accumulators of wealth. In essence, he feels that products change people. If you acquire one status product, you will likely have to purchase others to fill up the socially conspicuous puzzle.

being a well-educated, high-income earner does not automatically translate into financial independence. It takes planning and sacrificing. What

In all three cases, the person makes a higher income than does Mrs. Rule. Yet none is a millionaire. In fact, Mr. Petersen, the marketing manager, has zero invested in stocks. He never invests any of his income. But he lives in a $400,000 home that is surrounded by others in the high-tech field who have big hats and bigger mortgages, but no cattle. Too many high-income/low-net worth types live from paycheck to paycheck, fearing a sudden downturn in our economy. OUR

TABLE 3-3 INCOME AND WEALTH CONTRASTS 2:

You will never become financially independent without purchasing investments that appreciate without income realization.

What if your goal is to become financially independent? Your plan should be to sacrifice high consumption today for financial independence tomorrow. Every dollar you earn to spend is first discounted by the tax man.

Even at this stage of life, I don't

costs of this so-called deal in time and effort? Most high-income generators, whether they are PAWs or UAWs, work more than forty hours a week. Typically, the amount of time remaining each week is allocated in ways that are congruent with their goals. All

I found that the typical millionaire had more than 30 percent of his wealth invested in publicly traded stocks. More often it is in the low-to-mid-20-percent range.