Millionaire image

Public opinion probably considers Paris Hilton a bad example of wealth, notorious for gluttonous consumption and reckless waste of resources.  She leveraged her multi-million dollar inheritance into notoriety, then used her name to sell stuff.  Thousands may lay down good money to buy her celebrity fragrance, still it rankles people that her pampered position in life was unearned in the first place: unearned, undeserved, and managed badly.

But does this description apply to most wealthy Americans?  Not at all, as reported in The Millionaire Next Door: Surprising Secrets of America's Wealthy, by Thomas Stanley and William Danko.  The surprise is that, movie and tv fiction to the contrary, those secrets are so humdrum -  apparently, most of them live below their means and invest the rest!

They live in average homes valued at around $320k and don't drive the newest cars.

Here's an excerpt from the introduction:

"Why do I continue to write about rich people?  It is not for the benefit of rich people!  What I write is designed to enlighten those who are confused and misinformed about what it means to be rich.  Most Americans have no idea about the true inner workings of a wealthy household.  The advertising industry and Hollywood have done a wonderful job conditioning us to believe that wealth and hyper consumption go hand in hand.  

"Yet . . . the large majority of the rich live well below their means.  As one millionaire woman trained as an engineer told me, "After college my husband and I both got good jobs.  We lived on one income and saved the other."

Looks like most millionaires earned their financial security.