I love the idea of the millionaire next door (MND). This comes from the book, “The Millionaire Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of America’s Wealthy”, by Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko. The authors talk about how ordinary people can become millionaires by – amongst other things – living within their means.
According to the book, one of the characteristics of the MND is the emphasis of economic prosperity over social status. My interpretation of this, is having a neighbour or friend who is a millionaire, but without you realising it. Essentially these people do not make it obvious that they are wealthy. You mostly find out by luck or gossip.
With the prevalence of social media, you can see the amount of people that portray a life that is not true. People fake it. Most only show off the amazing moments of their lives, but hardly the dull or sad times. There are psychological reasons to this behaviour, which we will not discuss here.
The behaviour of the MND is the opposite – they try and keep the success and material wealth to themselves. This sort of behaviour is difficult considering most of us love the idea of being rich and famous. Let’s face it, when people know that you are a millionaire, they will like you. Some will even claim to love you. The MND is not phased by such vanities.
The millionaire next door mindset is not for everyone. Some people just prefer to be the well-known millionaires. That has its own advantages. But for me, I embrace the mindset of the millionaire next door. When I do become a millionaire someday (or maybe I already am), I hope you only find our by luck or gossip.