Last week I shared the story of Arkad from the Richest Man in Babylon.
This week I’m referencing a different book called The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas Stanley.
It’s one of the first books I read on personal finance almost 20 years ago.
The title is so perfect. When many people think of a “millionaire,” they think of some high roller wearing a fancy suit leaning against a luxurious car.
They rarely think of an engineer or even a teacher leaning against a used Honda Accord. But that’s a more accurate picture of a millionaire.
There are so many misconceptions regarding wealth and millionaire status and that’s just one.
Here’s another:
Rich people are born with their wealth. The studies simply don’t support that. In fact 88% of millionaires are self-made and received nothing or very little in the way of inheritance.
Now that I’ve mentioned two of the popular myths regarding millionaires, here are a few characteristics which hold true of millionaires.
- They take personal responsibility – Millionaires don’t blame their parents, an unfortunate event, or anything else for where they are in life. They own where they are.
- They are intentional – This simply means that they have a plan and they follow it. They don’t simply go with the flow and hope for the best. They have specific goals and work towards them. They have a budget. Whether, you make 20K per year or 7 figures, you still need a plan.
- They know it takes time – I say this a lot because I’m super proud of it. I have a 25 year old coach on my team that has started invested hundreds of dollars per month for retirement. I have been intentional about encouraging him to do so. He will be a millionaire. It won’t happen overnight but it never does. It’s all about consistency over time.
Which one of these 3 characteristics do you need to improve on?
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