The Millionaire Next Door Post 5

An interesting topic came up in "The Millionaire Next Door" the topic was parents who give their children money, gifts, etc and do not teach them how to spend carefully and how to take care of their money. The author calls this economic outpatient care, wealthy parents that give their kids what they want. This book shows studies that show that kids who receive economic outpatient care, end up not earning a lot of money. They are dependent on their parents and do not know how to be smart with their money and possessions. They also have a safety net and that is their parents. Some people need the money or else they cannot put food on the table, people who have received economic outpatient care are not in this position, they do not have their backs against the wall. However, people who have economic outpatient care from their parents usually get put through college without worrying about it. Therefore, they have their education taken care of and do not leave college in debt.
Every page in this book has a lesson and makes me self reflect a lot, which I believe is a good thing. I am happy I read this book and hope to find more like it!

The Millionaire Next Door Post 4

This book is still very interesting to me. The author seems to have how to be a millionaire understood through his studies. I wonder how he does for himself...probably pretty well with this book being a great success. The millionaires Stanley talks about in this book are well educated. 4 out of 5 have college degrees, the 1 in 5 being the rare occasion. 18% have masters degrees, 6% have medical degrees, 6% have Ph.D.s, and 8% have law degrees. I think of each stage of schooling as a weeding out process. Most kids go to high school, not all go to college but the majority do. Some do not make it through college while some do. Out of the some that do a small amount go to graduate school and make their way through. If you make your way through you have survived! It is the survival of the fittest, the fittest being who can stand school the longest. However, each degree one earns the more valuable they become. Someone with a masters in business as well as a law degree is worth more than someone with just one of those degrees, let alone someone with neither. Although this book does not say graduate school has anything to do with being a millionaire.

The Millionaire Next Door Post 3

As I continue through this book I am still enjoying it. The author, Thomas Stanley did extensive research to write this book and I think he is a very smart man. I want him to take care of my money when I get older. The author explains what a Prodigious Accumulator of Wealth or a PAW, who is someone who is very good at dealing with their money. Someone who invests their money in places that they will likely have a good return, and someone who does not spend frivolously. The author also talks about how it is much easier to become more wealthy when living in not very wealthy or high status community. Because someone is not living in a high status community it means they are spending less on their home, taxes on their home, and the size of their land can be increased. I am really enjoying reading this book, I am glad Daniel recommended it to me. There are similarities to the book I read second quarter, "7 Habits of Highly Effective People." Both books give advice on how to live what many would consider a better or a more effective life. I enjoy reading these and trying to apply some of these skills and ways of life to myself. I find it easier said then done, but I am working on it!

The Millionaire Next Door Post 2

I ended my last post talking about a lawyer who feels the pressure to keep up their appearance. On the other side of the spectrum you take a farmer who does not live near people with great wealth nor do they feel the pressure to look the part. That farmer is spending far less money than the lawyer therefore, they may be making less but are spending less so it is not much of a difference.
The author talks about people who take good care of their money. They place safe investments, and if they place a risky investment it has a chance for a big reward. People who gamble or put money into long odd stocks are not taking good care of their money will lose large sums of it.
The author has been study wealth for over 20 years in American and uses real life examples. This book talks about the idea of "spending tomorrow's cash today" and how dangerous this is. This leads to debt quicker than anything. "Spending today's cash tomorrow" creates wealth, and spending that money intelligently, and in ways that make give them good returns on their money over a period of time.  I am enjoying reading this book and it has opened my eyes to how to really acquire wealth in America. I feel this book can help a lot of people who have struggle financially and people who are well off. Everyone can be helped!

The Millionaire Next Door Post 1

All second quarter I listened to my buddy Daniel rave about the book, "The Millionaire Next Door." He told me several times how I "must" read the book. So, when we got a second book assignment I knew right away what I would be reading, the highly recommended book, "The Millionaire Next Door."
This book disproves many peoples, including my own theory on this countries millionaires. Millionaires are often thought to be big time businessmen, celebrities, doctors, etc. Two-thirds of the millionaires in our country own their own business. Taking a step back the common misconception on how to acquire wealth can be blamed on the media and what fascinates our people. The millionaires we celebrate are the athletes, movie stars, and musicians, and we often celebrate the wrong ones. Our media throws this in our face and there is no way of avoiding it besides ignoring it. However, people don't and it is hard to do, so those are the millionaires we hear about. Although, the other two-thirds are who should be celebrated. People who worked hard to own their own business.
You are also hit with the statistic that 80% of millionaires are first generation.
We also view wealthy as a Lawyer who drives wears beautiful Italian suits and drives a BMW. This book examples how these people are spending their money to keep up the appearance of being wealthy, in turn this lowers their wealth. The counter argument being if you are making a lot of money you should spend it to enjoy it, because how much does money really matter?

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People Post 2

The next section of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People the author wrote about effective habits. He believes effective habits are made up of, knowledge (what to, why to), skill (how to), desire (want to). An effective habits has one of those three. The book then goes on to talk about Maturity Continuum. Which the author explains as going from dependence to independence to interdependence. This makes sense, as an infant people are completely dependent on a caring figure. Usually a mother, then as kids grow up they become less and less dependent and struggle with their parents to find the right balance of independence. While some parents may feel their child still needs to be dependent. As people move through life they become more interdependent. Interdependent is understanding people need others to live. We can do it, we can put all our talents together and accomplish something is an interdependent idea. I believe the earliest kids see interdependent ideas work are often with athletics or in theatrical productions. I personally found it most in athletics, I also found that the more everyone buys into the interdependent ideas of the whole is greater than the some of its parts, the better the whole could be. An interdependent idea is to first seek to understand before seeking to be understood. A independent idea is a private victory, putting first things firsts. I see baseball as a sport with many independent victories lead to a greater, interdependent victory. Each at bat is an independent competition between the pitcher and the hitter. The team to win more of those independent battles usually wins the game, as a team, an interdependent idea. I find this book to be very interesting and spark many self reflecting questions for myself. I am starting to try some of the effective habits the book mentions.

Class 1/22/15

We have finished our store front project in class. We are also working on finishing the presentation for the project. Our practice run did not go very well with Ms. Stevens and Mr. Fischer, well it was okay. We have a number of things to work on however, I believe we will be ready to present come Friday. Our presentation had too many works on the screen and we were not all well prepared. Our group did not work particularly well together, and we did not communicate well about splitting up and helping each other on the work. Our group was often split, I am good at uniting people and I wish I used that skill more with our group. Dan is a work horse and likes to be in control and I could have been a better compliment to him by helping the group run more efficiently. However, I felt I did a good job with the sock project that I was in control of. We sold all our socks and made a profit. We sold 16 socks for $12 and two for $15. There was a lot of interest in buying our socks and I wish we could have had more to sell. I was in charge of this project and got all the socks sold and Dan and I collected all the money. So I am happy with my work on that project. I feel with the store front I did my part and left it at that. If I were more committed to helping the group run well I feel we would have ran better and in turn produced better work. I am excited for our  presentation, and I believe we have a strong group and can hopefully get some people excited and interesting in our business. Who doesn't love a dog care? Go Pats!