This woman might never see retirement, might never enjoy all that money she carefully hoarded, might forever miss out on the joys and experiences that wealth can provide. Yet in the process of doing so, they live like paupers. In one example presented in the book, a woman expressed the goal to retire with five million dollars. The generation of wealth is not a goal in itself. After all, a wise person would not leave a large financial legacy without the tools to use it properly. It is important to teach children self sufficiency, but it is equally, if not more important, to teach one's children to manage million dollar investment portfolios, and to make informed decisions on budgeting and allocations of large amounts of money. If one follows the advice in this book religiously, a first generation millionaire family will likely end up a third generation pauper. The sections involving children are especially worrisome. Hoarding money by not giving to charity, or even your own children, does it's own kind of spiritual damage. Saving money by not going on vacation deprives both you and your children potentially life changing experiences. Living in better neighborhoods might be more expensive, but they are often safer, provide better schools, and may generally provide a better investment in real estate. Single minded dedication to amassing wealth is often penny wise and pound foolish. But there are issues with some of the advice the authors provide. The book provides many examples of folks who did, indeed find financial success. Careful planning, living below one's means, adequate income and proper investing can lead to economic self sufficiency. If you wish to retire as a paper millionaire, the basic advice presented in this book is sound, particularly if you happen to have disposable income. So if you say to yourself,'I already know most of this stuff', then look around and ask yourself 'Am I the Millionaire Next Door?'. I guess I always knew all this, but apparently I needed this great book to tell me knowing but not doing is just as bad as not knowing at all. Once I calculated that I was really paying 40% of my net worth in income taxes, it became painfully obvious that simply increasing my net worth contributions will automatically reduce my income taxes and therefore burn down this 40% ratio from both ends. Finally, I learned that the govt taxes earnings and not necessarily net worth. Simply put more away and I will be in the same position at the end of the month, penniless but with a higher net worth. Truth is, I am spending whatever is left. I thought that because I ran out of money at the end of the month that I must be saving as much as I could afford at the beginning of the month. The extra $10k I might spend on a luxury import will translate into $100k less I'll have 15 years from now. I have always tried to become rich so I could drive a great car.

The millionaire next door audiobook dl