Millionaire Next Door Author Dies Tragically...

[MJ DeMarco]

Thomas J Stanley, author of The Millionaire Next Door, dies tragically in a car accident.

http://www.ajc.com/news/news/millionaire-blockbuster-author-dies-in-crash/nkLxS/

A sad story and a sad reminder that we never know when our time will suddenly expire.

Rest in peace.

He also loved cars. As a young man, he worked summers at a Chevrolet dealership while in school. In 2012, he bought his own Corvette. He was driving it Saturday afternoon when he slowed down on Paper Mill Road prior to turning left toward Atlanta Country Club Drive. According to Cobb police, an Acura MDX traveling behind him cut around him to the left, into the opposing traffic lane. As Stanley turned left, police said, the Acura, driven by Jeffrey Fettig of Marietta, slammed into Stanley’s left side. Charges will likely be filed, police said. Attempts to reach Fettig on Sunday were unsuccessful.

 

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[Envision]

But he left a legacy of helping others that will live on forever.

RIP

 

[ChickenHawk]

Oh man, that's really sad. It's true that his words live on, but damn, that's really a shame.

That book really was amazing.

 

[IceCreamKid]

Damn...rest in peace.

I still remember how I felt when I first read that book in high school. The info was so shocking to me, it nearly blew my watermelon helmet off.

 

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[AntEmpire]

Thomas J Stanley, author of The Millionaire Next Door, dies tragically in a car accident.

http://www.ajc.com/news/news/millionaire-blockbuster-author-dies-in-crash/nkLxS/

A sad story and a sad reminder that we never know when our time will suddenly expire.

Rest in peace.

All the more reason for people to get to work now and stop making excuses about why they can't start something.

My condolences to his family.

 

[Vigilante]

Life is fleeting.

What legacy will YOU leave?

 

[ZCP]

Faced my own mortality after my dad passed. Spent a lot of time with doctors. Was down about how much time I have left until I saw the other thread with the 52 weeks and 90 years in boxes. I filled in my life and things I had done.

Conclusion.... I've touched a lot of lives and still have a lot of time left. Time to get back to work!!

 

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[H. Palmer]

Thomas Stanley changed part of my life.

My step-mother likes to give money to all her children, grand children and great grand children every year when the new year has begun. Because she considers me and my wife part of her children, she wants to give us money as well.

Since I read Stanley about 5 years ago I know that children that regularly accept money from their parents are the ones that never get financially independent.

So I made it a habit to ignore her wish, pretend like I don't know she wants to give me something and if I can't get around it, I do accept the envelope and then turn around and donate the full amount to a charity.

End of last year I looked into my "wealth spreadsheet" and I came to the conclusion I had become financially independent, in the sense that my "passive" income (stocks and real estate) is now large enough to support my needs.

I wish I had read The Millionaire Next Door earlier. I'm sure it would have happened sooner.

 

[Ninjakid]

This is terrible. RIP to him. He made amazing contributions to our world.

 

[Admiral]

Hated the book, a very monotonous cash-grab. However, the guy made money with it and that is a great example for work done right regardless of perceived quality.

Rest in peace.

 

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[jesseissorude]

Hated the book, a very monotonous cash-grab. However, the guy made money with it and that is a great example for work done right regardless of perceived quality.

Rest in peace.

edgy, bro


This book has been on my "to read" list for a while. I might have to finally give it a skim.

Terrible news.

 

[Ubermensch]

The book changed my life. RIP to Mr. Stanley.

Someone should write a book called The Billionaire Mind.

 

[Ubermensch]

Felt like I should give a lengthier post to do my appreciation of Mr. Stanley justice.

Everyone dies. It is a part of life.

Thomas J. Stanley left behind a legacy. Whether or not you believe in the afterlife, you cannot deny that Mr. Stanley lives on in the minds of his readers, in the mindsets altered by the knowledge he shared.

Reading MJ's story and Thomas Stanley's books had similar affects on my mindset. Reading MJ's story gave me a real life example of a guy living the life I wanted to live, without chasing a career as an entertainer or an athlete, without going to an Ivy League college. And yet, society outlines those paths as the way to wealth and success.

Years before I ever heard of MJ, I read The Millionaire Next Door, and other similar titles from Stanley. The cool thing about these books is that they are empirically based! Anyone can blab on and on about theories, and what you should do, and the fact is that most things in life have already been done by someone. All you have to do is look for the FACTS. All you have to do is model yourself after a success. It's that simple. Reading the Millionaire Next Door, I learned that the average millionaire had a college GPA of 2.7, and an average SAT score of around 1200. Perhaps the craziest fact is that 70% - 80% are self-made. Self-made, meaning that they did not inherit their wealth.

This fact blew my mind, especially when I fact-checked it with resources like Forbes:

"The wealthiest people in the country are increasingly self-made, leaving behind an era when dynasties inherited and concentrated wealth. Today, more than two-third of the Forbes 400 is made of individuals who made their way to the top by themselves, with an even heavier skew when it comes to billionaires in the fields of technology, finance, and real estate."

Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/afontev...ley-and-wall-street-as-manufacturing-suffers/

Larry Ellison. Bill Gates. Steve Jobs. Oprah Winfrey. Jerry Jones. Mark Zuckerberg.

If you read the Forbes list like the Bible, you'll quickly recognize ideas like "you need money to make money" as the utterly false myths that they are.

I digress.

Back to Mr. Stanley.

While his most popular books published his studies of everyday millionaires, I found his earliest works - Selling to the Affluent and Marketing to the Affluent - most insightful. There, you'll learn what separates ordinary salespeople from extraordinary salespeople, how they communicate with their clients, how they position themselves as experts in their fields, leverage trade associations, informational resources, etc. Even though the books were written eons before the social media age, Stanley's wisdom is timeless.

I am sure that Thomas J. Stanley will be dearly missed by his friends and loved ones. And while I did feel a distinct twinge of sadness when I learned of his death, that feeling is far outweighed by the sense of gratitude I feel because of the lessons I learned by reading his books. Thomas J. Stanley may have died a physical death on February 28th, 2015, but he lives on today the hearts (through inspiration) and minds (through knowledge that sticks with you as you develop) of hustles today.

PS. When I said that someone should write a book called The Billionaire Mind, I meant that Stanley lays out the facts of The Millionaire Mind, the characteristics and personality traits that lead to what I would call average wealth (a net worth of $1,000,000 - $5,000,000), enough to make you a low-level accredited investor. Maybe you drive a nice Mercedes, but you probably drive an American car, don't buy new shoes very often, and a significant portion of your net worth is tied up in a home you own on American soil. The millionaires in The Millionaire Mind made their money by living frugally, and saving over time. Meh. That has never been my definition of success, not because buying a Bugatti makes you happy, but because you only live once - so why not live it crazy?

 

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