Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating: 
Summary: Good Read
Comment: Quite the eye-opener about how many supposedly rich people are actually being supported by their parents. I did think it had a lot of undertones about how being cheap, I mean frugal, was noble in its own right and there's nothing worth spending money on except charity and education. But it was motivational, inspirational and educational.
Customer Rating:
Summary: this book exceeded my expectations
Comment:
This is the best book I have read in months.
I think the authors could have made just as strong a case with half the number of pages, but I would still give this book `6-stars' if I could.
Why?
1 - It's an easy and inspiring read.
2 - It's free of unnecessarily poetic language.
3 - It's free of unfounded claims. The authors `opinion' is not the essence of the book.
2 - The evidences are strong and speak for themselves.
4 - It tells you something you couldn't just guess.
5 - It has a lasting impact on your thinking.
I must add one thing. When people say they want to be rich, what I believe they mean is: how can I make lots of money. That's not the question this book focuses on.
This book shows you who are the people who make up the large majority of millionaires in this country (less than 5% of households), how much they make, what they do for living, what kind of live they live, what kind of parents they have, how they manage their money, etc.
Fascinating book! I strongly recommend it.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Self-help book for sale
Comment: If you are a cardiologist pulling in more than $300,000 a year, waste all your money on country clubs and Range Rovers and can't figure out why you haven't banked a million bucks yet, this is the book for you. Well, it would be if you had the humility to follow advice. However, if you are trying to raise three kids on a government mid-manager's $40,000 a year and would like to improve your plight, this author has little use for you. I would be $10 closer to being a millionaire if I hadn't bought this book. Hey - at least I did buy it used.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Realistic Approach for Accumulating Wealth
Comment: The authors of this book give a more realistic approach on how to join the ranks of America's wealthy. Always live well below your means is one of the rules. There are others. The authors discover that most of the wealthy households were not located in upscale neighborhoods. These people also drove ordinary cars, work the right jobs and dont dine out as much. These people are in complete opposites to the households in posh neighborhoods that have little real wealth and are consumers with minimal savings and investments. This is a must read for the consumptive types.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Underlying assumptions
Comment: This is an interesting book with some insights to offer. Though these ideas are not earth-shattering or new, the presentation is novel, increasing the chance that some of the simple and clearly true advice offered may actually sink in. On the other hand, the authors have some underlying moral assumptions which they themselves may not realize are dubious, and which color their work,
This is what I mean: First, as to their insights, the authors demonstrate how wealth is acquired and maintained by the people who actually accumulate it, millionaires and/or those people who retain and build on a sufficient portion of what they earn to become financially independent. They define this as an ability to continue indefinitely in their current or similar lifestyle, without any additional earnings.
Theses people have certain traits and choices in common- a lot of which would be admirable without reference to money- such as doing what they think is appropriate and sensible, rather than what their neighbors do and admire. They drive used cars, instead of wasteful new vehicles, spend on education for their children, rather than fancy clothes, etc.
Perhaps most importantly, from a financial perspective, they live at or below their means, and save and invest a substantial portion of their income. In a time when our personal and national debt has come home to roost, this can seem like utter genius. Sure, we all know it, but as a group, we seem to have been entirely unable to execute this feat. If you want to know how to plant a garden, ask the guy who has long maintained a beautiful garden himself, otherwise, ask his gardener- not the person with a scabby yard full of weeds- even if he has a degree in horticulture. Probably.
We live in a fantasy world, fueled by the unrealistic media image of the lifestyles of ordinary people- who are waitresses and aspiring actors (eg "Friends"), yet share spacious New York apartments that a merchant banker could barely afford. Advertisements of credit card companies tell us that these and other acquired luxury goodies are what we deserve, and offer them to us in exchange for signing over our futures to indentured debt servitude.
I buy much of this advice, especially the part about not spending more than I earn, and hope to win the struggle to avoid debt and save and invest enough to retire without living on dogfood. It is an interesting presentation, done via tons of data about what wealthy people actually do. Despite being dated statisically, this evidence makes the author's points convincingly; I'd bet that further data collection would be consistent with their first 2 efforts.
I do, however, see a fundamental flaw in the authors' value system. They so admire their exemplary subjects for their courage and common sense that they are utterly uncritical of their priorities. The accumulation of wealth to the extent of leaving an estate behind at death is the virtue, while all spending of earnings beyond that necessary for a modestly comfortable life (with the possible exception of certain charitable contributions) is presumed to be in aid of a pretentious and contemptible seeking of status and/or empty, transient amusements.
Phooey. The authors themselves admit that subsidized children of the wealthy are crippled by an inability to imagine a less luxurious lifestyle than that provided for them- so what's the point of having more than you need to retire fearlessly, if you want to, or if it becomes necessary? Money in a big pile for when you die- or as an abstract measure of your accomplishnent or worth-is useless and, dare I say it- greedy.
Money spent on education for its own sake, making or supporting art and the environment, travel, research, and other life enriching activities should not be viewed as status seeking, useless behaviour; it is money well spent. A life boiled down to economic survival is a desperate existence, and if we are lucky enough, and disciplined enough to be able to provide for own financial survival, in my world view, it is a waste and a sin to ignore all of opportunities for a life that is so much more.
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