RE: OT
For our recently retired friends. Thomas J. Stanley is coming out with a new Millionare book called The Millionare Mind. It is based on a survey of 1,001 high-income respondents. Some excerpts can be read at pioneerplanet.com and pioneerplanet.com
Who are they?
Here's a brief sketch of those with the millionaire mind:
* Is a 54-year-old man married to the same spouse for 28 years. Has three children.
* Has an average household net worth of $9.2 million; annual realized income of $749,000.
* One in three (32 percent) are business owners or entrepreneurs; 16 percent are senior corporate executives; 10 percent are attorneys; 9 percent are physicians.
* Is self-made affluent, i.e. 84 percent inherited less than 10 percent of their household new worth; 61 percent never received a single dollar from inheritance, gifts, estates or trusts.
* Integrated the home-purchasing decision with overall financial or wealth-building strategy.
* Purchased current home 12 years ago for $560,000; valued today at $1.4 million.
* Is aggressive and resourceful when negotiating the purchase of a home; 82 percent have the mind-set of ``being willing to walk away from any deal at any time.'
* One in 4 searched for a ``bargain' home that was part of a foreclosure, divorce settlement or estate sale.
* Has median outstanding mortgage balance of about $98,000 or about 7 percent of the current market value of the home.
* Understands the key, basic success factors that the American economy rewards, i.e. integrity, discipline, getting along with people, having a supportive spouse, hard work, affection for career and strong leadership qualities.
* Is four times more likely to rate these basic success factors as very important than graduating at the top of their college class or even having excellent investment advisers.
* Believes that hard work is much more important in achieving economic success than genetic high intellect.
* Learned much more in school and college than what was printed in textbooks. Fully 73 percent of those with SATs under 1,000 ``learned to fight for their goals because they were labeled as having average or less ability.'
* Nine out of 10 graduated from college. Overall as a group, they had a 2.92 undergraduate grade-point average (on a 4-point scale).
* More than 8 in 10 reduce the worries associated with financial risk by: hard work, preparation, focusing, being decisive and planning. Nearly 4 in 10 (37 percent) rely on having strong religious faith to reduce such fears.
* Most selected their vocation because it allowed them to use their abilities and aptitudes fully.
* Married a spouse who had qualities that are complements to both a successful marriage and wealth accumulation, i.e. they are honest, responsible, loving, capable and supportive.
* The ``wealthy' quality was not a major factor in explaining choice of spouse.
-- Dr. Thomas J. Stanley |
