It comes from The Millionaire Next Door, and is repeated in The Millionaire Mind. I fully apologize for using 6 year-old data, but I stand by their conclusions. It would serve you well to read both of those books. Please understand that it will go against all of your preconceptions.
Like I said before, therein lies your problem. The wealth creation at the top end of the scale vis a vis the bottom in the last six years has been unprecedented, at least not since the gilded age - that is the very reason for this thread. You have effectively brought a pony express rider to a telegraph fight.
Never have I heard so many people bemoan the fact that the stock market has boomed and the economy has been so strong over the last several years. I guess the libs really can spin anything towards the negative... ...and to read their descriptions of anyone not in the top 1%, you'd think these people were huddling up in shanty's and sifting through the garbage piles for food. It almost makes you forget we are are so wealthy and have such a high standard of living... Typical libpig trash talking of the American way of life. Nothing new here. Libs = Negativity. What's next, complaining about how the Toyota Center is way too crowded after the Rockets win the championship?
trickle up (er down) economics at its finest i dont have a problem w/ the rich having a lot of money. theyre probably smarter and know millions of more loop holes than the avg joe. i do have a problem w/ seeing my dollar buy less and less and less...
What opportunities for creating wealth (other than getting 1000s of people to invest in a money-losing tech company) have we lost in the last six years? Hell, thousands of technical service opportunities, that lend themselves well to entrepreneurs, exist today and didn't six years ago. Stanley republished The Millionaire Next Door and Millionaire Women Next Door in 2004. I'm almost positive that if you talked to him now, he'd tell you that the same principles for wealth creation exist today, even if most fertile fields for wealth creation have changed slightly.
Yes, because none of the top 1% has engaged in any sort of economic rent-seeking. None at all. I certainly don't begrudge people that have earned substantial wealth, (and in fact, I respect and admire the hell out of Gates and Buffett in particular) but it's ludicrous to use "you're just jealous and want government help/handouts" as an argument when the uber-wealthy lobby for and receive government help as well, through bailouts/subsidies/protectionist policies/etc.
What!? No, they don't. Defending wealth creation and defending the wealthy as a class are 2 very different things. We don't have a class system like the Indian caste system. And about your comment that capitalistic ideas are 60 years old and outdated. Sorry, but the worls is becoming more capitalist, with even countries like China embracing those ideas.
Again, you are dating yourself - tech companies drove the expansion in the 1990's. In the last few years the expansion has been driven by a massive accrual in the financial services industry - LBO's, PE, Hedge funds etc. (there are notable exceptions e.g. google). I suppose you could say these guys are creating value, but in my opinion they are basically highly sophisticated middlemen - buy a company, load it up with debt, sell it - repeat. it is fine and dandy that they are creating value (through the PE carried interest tax loophole, in part) but the fact is they are agglomerating wealth and power at the top of the scale to an extent unseen, and to an extent that the "milionare next door" is laughably far behind. The same principles for wealth creation exist? Sure - housing prices are going down so I guess you just have to sit tight, wait for the next rise, and voila, you can be a paper millionaire again by 2017- at which point to super rich will be so far ahead that being a millionaire will barely get you a cup of coffee. That doesn't address the underlying issue of the second Gilded Age.
funny...I've got the Millionaire Next Door sitting here beside me at work. The mindset of a Millionaire is COMPLETELY different from those in the lower and even most in the middle class. Most NEVER buy a new car. Many DON'T have college degrees. MOST are First generation Rich, and came from humble means. MOST work over 60 hours a week. MOST don't spend money on things that go DOWN in value...like expensive Shoes, or game consoles. They DON'T spend a lot of money on their cable TV. They often DON'T rely on credit cards..if they can't spend the cash for it, they often Don't buy it. The problem is that in this instant gratification society, we want (NOW) what are parents didn't have until after 20yrs of marriage. A House, nice furniture, nice car..etc. And we buy these things on credit..keeping ourselves in debt and almost ensuring that we'll never get rich. Most rich people will tell you that the key to becoming rich..more than anything else..is hard work, and staying OUT of debt.
^ none of you people live next door to Steve Schwarzman, and none of you ever will. A bunch of namby pamby bootstraps self-help book back cover is completely irrelevant to this discussion.
What you're saying is the mindset of a millionaire is to be as boring and lead as unfun of a life as possible. Actually have read the book, and it has some good points about how to make the most out of your money. But Sam Fisher is correct. These people aren't Bill Gates, or any of the other mega wealthy people and they won't be.
Because the people you seem to be implying do understand the basics of money and life have done such a wonderful job with it? Given the way things are, I'm pretty tired of the people "who do understand the basics of money and life" running things. They've screwed up royally.
exactly, this is not what this column is about. You can't get that through some of these skulls apparently. I have a lot of respect for the millionaire next door, they won't be buying mike vick's home off the auction block. its a completely different topic
Reading comprehension issues again? Nobody is "bemoan[ing]" the stock market "boom," what is being pointed out is that the "boom" you are referring to is not helping ALL Americans, nor are the gains in the economy translating to an improved situation for all Americans. As has been pointed out countless times before, the rich are getting VERY rich while the rest of us get tiny little gains or tread water. Again, your reading comprehension is way WAY off. Nobody has made comments that even remotely suggest what your strawman idiocy suggests. What is being pointed out is that even though the rich are already becoming richer than the rest of us at an incredible rate, they are also the ones who get the most benefit from tax cuts, corporate welfare, and other government handouts (like farm subsidies). There was a time in this country where we had lots of wealthy people, a booming economy, an educational system that was second to none, and these benefits translated to a huge percentage of Americans. Unfortunately, since then the rich have lobbied for and received a 50% reduction in their tax rate, leading to a declining educational system, higher class inequities, a deteriorating health care system, and a bunch of rich people who keep lobbying for even MORE tax "relief." What should be next is you taking me up on my offer of a reading comprehension course so that maybe you will be able to understand the arguments people make and won't have to make s**t up.
This is ridiculous the govt. gives more hand outs to the rich than anyone else in society. Look at all the tax loopholes that the wealthy receive. Look what the govt. did when certain airlines or automotive companies were going out of business. Try getting that kind of govt. handout if you own a gas station in the middle of nowhere that's going out of business. Look at all the different breaks for investment taxes, estate taxes, etc. Look at all the govt. programs and laws structured to help the wealthy and big corporations which are owned by the uber wealthy. To pretend like the govt. doesn't do more and give more breaks to those people is insane. Look at the tech wealth from the last decade. The internet and all that technology came from govt. funding. The govt. was the first to use what would become the internet, and it was that funding that made it possible. It wasn't hardworking Joe, who went out and decided to not accept a handout and only ate one meal a day so that he could come up with that technology. It was from the govt.
this is about income distribution, not how to get the most out of your dollar. besides, most of the old guys you know who did a lot with their money, they had a lot more value in their dollar. the guy working at the Ford plant today his dollar doesn't buy as much as the guy working at the Ford plant in 1970.
Steve Schwarzman, Bill Gates and the rest of your examples are a statistically insignificant part of our society. The same principles that made millionaires made those worth $10 Million, those worth $100 Million, etc. Generally, in this country, what makes a person wealthy is hard work, ingenuity, and a risk-taking mentality. Those that are worth more typically were better at recognizing the biggest opportunity, or were luckier. The author wants to make it about income redistribution. I'm just saying that it should be about opportunity.
