Inventing Elephants

For some, wealth is what we can see and touch, such as sports cars and designer purses.

For others, wealth is not worrying about your next paycheck, no fancy trappings required.

Of course, sometimes wealth has nothing to do with money, which is also a conceptual thread that winds through The Millionaire Next Door, but the focus is on money, as in millions of dollars of money and who has it and who doesn't.

It was interesting to watch the comparison between the two main types play out as the authors dramatized and revealed the differences in habits and perspectives of those who have more money than their income and those who have only their income (perhaps with some parental padding) and look as if they have more money than they do because they spend all of their income.  The book relied heavily on the ability of data to poke holes in our (and the authors') assumptions based on appearance.

Essentially, Stanley and Danko showed how wealth requires thinking about the whole system.

Even though the advice boils down to "spend less than you save." there is more that goes into what actually happens, and it's usually not as obvious as a family member getting sick on the practical side or believing that you are worthy of being rich on the metaphysical side.  There are elements of structure determining behavior - such as working at a high-status job that seems to require high-status, and expensive, trappings - and there are delayed effects - such as what can happen when the wealthy give adult children money.

I read this book because it was recommended at The Personal MBA.  Some of what it discussed I'd never really thought about before and I was glad to be exposed to the concepts.