7 Financial Habits Of The Millionaire Next Door

Forget about the Bentley, the Rolex and the sprawling suburban estate. As a culture, we tend to think of millionaires inaccurately.Thomas J. Stanley’s foundational work, “The Millionaire Next Door” paints a MUCH clearer picture of who they actually are along with their 7 (very typically) frugal financial habits.

In this post, I'm going to unpack the difference between the perception and reality of what a real millionaire looks like through the lens of Dr. Stanley's excellent body of research on this. Then I'm going to talk about why I think you should start embodying some of these traits if you ever want to truly win with money. 

Like anything in life and especially in personal finance, real change starts with a shift in mindset and I believe this book is a great resource for you to either start or continue your trajectory toward personal finance mastery.

If you hang around this blog and my content for any amount of time, you’ll know that I’m a huge fan of Thomas J. Stanley’s foundational work, “The Millionaire Next Door”.

This has been one of those books that I can honestly say has changed my life in all the right ways. 

In fact, it’s a resource that helped me change my entire mindset surrounding money (i.e. how to budget, how to spend (and not to spend) and how to live frugally and how to jettison “The Joneses”).

If you’re not familiar, he uses the content of the book to peel back the layers of misinformation about what the average “real” millionaire in America looks like. 

It indeed corrected a TON of misperceptions I had about millionaires for sure (i.e. “real” millionaires display high social status, drive luxury cars, live in upscale neighborhoods and display high-end artifacts such as Rolex watches and Lois Vuitton handbags).

Do you "get down" with Pinterest? Would you consider pinning this infographic to your favorite board?

I can’t commend this book highly enough, no matter where you are on your financial journey. As a money coach who leads our students into: financial organization, budgeting, addressing debt and forging a path to FI (Financial Independence), I’m constantly recommending it to those in my circle of influence.

And so, I recommend it to you because it will help you develop the mental habits that will help you cultivate more financial peace in your life.