Millionaire Women Next Door: The Many Journeys of Successful American Businesswomen

Millionaire Women Next Door: The Many Journeys of Successful American Businesswomen | Thomas J. Stanley | Very Interesting Book

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Millionaire Women ...

	Millionaire Women Next Door: The Many Journeys of Successful American Businesswomen Thomas J. Stanley Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2004 - 320 pages average customer review:based on 27 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Eight years ago, Dr. Thomas J. Stanley swept aside the mythical magic curtain of wealth to reveal The Millionaire Next Door. America found out just who and how common the truly wealthy were in this country¿and we learned the characteristics and habits that made them so. Now the author of the follow-up The Millionaire Mind focuses on one of the least understood but increasingly rich demographics: Millionaire Women Next Door.¿Why write another book that profiles millionaires?¿ Stanley asks. ¿The vast majority of the millionaire respondents (92 percent) in The Millionaire Next Door were men. . . . I felt that it was indeed time for successful businesswomen of the self-made variety to be heard.¿ And heard they are in this book that is destined to become every bit as informative, quoted, and inspirational as the author¿s earlier works. Readers everywhere will be fascinated by Stanley¿s thoroughly researched findings and conclusions. More than a simple extension of his studies of male millionaires, Millionaire Women Next Door presents groundbreaking concepts involving the nature, lifestyle, and business choices of successful American women that reach far beyond the scope of the author¿s previous studies. The book examines the choice of businesses elected by self-employed women, ranking over 150 categories in terms of their profitability and probability of success. It also describes the women¿s background, highlighting the fact that most millionaire women were raised in nurturing family environments that were literally training grounds for success, instilling the values that make this group one of the most generous in American society as demonstrated by its level of giving to charities, family, and friends. While many characteristics such as frugality and simplicity of lifestyle are similar to those of their male counterparts, Stanley demonstrates that most millionaire women work harder and do better¿at school, in business, and in investment practices. Millionaire Women is sure to be one of the most read, reviewed, and discussed books to come out this year. Make your own wise investment for a wealth of solid sales.

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Role-Models for Would-Be Millionaires

Question: What's the one thing a woman can do for herself if she wants to be a successful businesswoman or a millionaiare?
Answer: Find a role-model, and emulate the things she does.

Thanks to Thomas Stanley, women don't have to network to find the mentor they need. They'll be able to find her right in the pages of this book.
With abundant statistics and case profiles, Stanley presents us with successful women from varied backgrounds, and shows us exactly how they did it.

The book is rich with details, and focuses on the "5-W's" (of good journalism):

WHO these women are.
WHAT they do and how they decided to do it.
WHEN they made the decisions that propelled them to success.
WHERE they live and work, and come from.
WHY they are so successful.

Recommended reference to keep in your "how to succeed" library.

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Very Interesting Book

When I read The Millionaire Next Door, I was intrigued. However, I was left yearning for similar information regarding women. Well, I found it in this book. It was very interesting to read statistical information about successful women.

Not Quite Stanley's Best, But Well Worth A Read, Nonetheless

I just finished reading this book after picking it up at a bookstore about five days ago. I read from it every chance I got, and though on the one hand, I have to agree with those readers who pointed out that the book was tough going at times, on the other hand, I also have to agree with other readers who had very good things to say about the book, as the favorable reviews are well deserved. First I will cite the bad about the book, and then I will cite the good.

First the bad. The book appears to rely heavily upon convenience sampling and voluntary response. The author seems to have shared mostly only those stories sent to him, or more plainly, that just fell into his lap. Second, like his two other millionaire books, the author uses the book as a platform to share with us the things he values, and appears only to look for that information or evidence which supports his values, never once addressing information that contradicts his position. Third, in keeping with the standard paradigm of women = victim and male = (opportunistic) victimizer, (which always plays well to the target demographic of the book), the author's attempt to make out this group of women as selfless, do-gooding heroines was a bit overdone. The millionaire women are seen as generous and charitable as a group, and the millionaire men are portrayed as heartless misers who penny-pinch at every turn. I felt especially incensed when Stanley went out of his way to make excuses for some millionaire womens' poor choices in mates- the so-called 'Marginal Bobs' (the book titled, Smart Women, Stupid Choices, comes readily to mind for some peculiar reason). By association, if some of the men made poor choices in terms of mates, would they too be given sympathy and generous excuses, or are we to believe that they deserve what they get?

And now the good. Aside from the obvious attempts to play to the book's target audience (middle class, educated wage-earning women) and attempts bordering on the egregious to trumpet the merits of personal financial planners of various stripes, the book did have quite a few good points about it. We learn that if we divide the millionaire women into two groups, those that give the most to charitable causes tend to have lower annual earned incomes and higher net worth. These women tend to give just for the joy of giving, and seek to make the world they live in a better place. Many people took issue with the inclusion of a chapter about a dyslexic man who did good; however, I think the point of the chapter was to show that even those with identifiable disabilities can become millionaires, be they male or female, so long as they play to their strengths, live below their means, save and invest, avoid a lifestyle centered around consumption, and most of all, have a source of thoughtful, intelligent mentoring available to them. Readers that read the book carefully will glean some powerful information from this book, such as the following: 1) you can not change the past, but you have considerable control over your future, 2) those who are professional, service-oriented and customer-focused will always beat the competition, 3) it pays to play to your native strengths, 4) great investors are not born, they are made through trial and error, so go ahead and make a few mistakes, and 5) most important, limit borrowing only to those things that generate a realizable (net) income- a lesson all of those would-be real estate moguls and Robert Kiyosaki mimics would do very, very well to keep in mind.

In passing, I did not think that it was appropriate for Stanley to profile two college professors in his chapter on wealthy educators, simply because in order to become a college professor, one has to spend, at last count, a minimum of at least seven years beyond the Bachelor's degree to receive a doctorate. These days, most places won't allow you to teach on the faculty without a PhD, and more than a few people on faculties do not get tenure. In my mind, it would have been better for him to profile a wealthy elementary or high school teacher, as this is a goal that is more attainable for most readers. Still, I got a good kick out of his story of the matronly professor who touched the lives of so many deserving students.

In sum, I found the book to be a very worthwhile read. Though many would dismiss the book's more important contents as common sense, it is hard to believe that many people still don't get it. Readers should keep in mind that it all comes down to the choices we make, and take special care not to equate one's net worth with one's self worth, a trap too many Stanley devotees tend to fall into. I still contend that ongoing investments in one's health and continuing education will lead to satisfying increases in one's wealth.

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Smart read, flaws and all...

This book is definitely worth a read for two reasons:
(1) the subject matter is an area where there just aren't a lot of books, and
(2) this book says some of the non-politically correct things that most books / shows / people in society like to side step, but that its really validating to hear.

Like his other books, his focus is almost entirely on self-made women, rather than those who come from financial means. I was a bit startled to read that one woman's mother told her to pick a job working with men - not competing with women - because the work and pay would be better. Hadn't heard that from anyone but my own grandmother - and it's proven to be some of the best career advice I ever received.

On the other hand, this book did feel much less organized and less thoroughly researched than Stanley's earlier books. Like some reviewers have noted, there is a chapter on a dyslexic gentleman who does well for himself. It's a good story, but leaves the reader wondering why it's in THIS book, exactly.

The tone can be rather patronizing - it acknowledges that women's relationships can be a huge factor in how they save money (working at home v. careers, dodging the egos of husbands and male coworkers, etc.), but it also very clearly and supportively acknowledges a woman's need to be capable of financial independence. You walk away from the book feeling like a woman's best option is to achieve as much as a man does, but keep her mouth shut about it. Which may be true - if it is, kudos for having the guts to say it. But either way, I'd have preferred a little more examination of the socio-economic factors that come into play in this regard, since based on the author's coverage, it's a bigger factor for women than the millionaire men he's covered previously.

I'd also have loved a more in-depth look at HOW women make the money, rather than how it affected them to have the success that they did. Other than an admittedly great story about ONE car saleswoman, we don't get much of a look at the in-depth beliefs and daily work habits of these women. Instead, we get an in-depth look at their upbringings, their marriage habits ... which is all well and good, but it'd be better with both the past and the present (financial and non-) being examined.

The reader gets jumped from investigations of millionaire women's relationships and upbringings, to their professional choices, spending habits, bits of wisdom, etc. and it all is never really tied together as a cohesive whole. It seems that he just grabbed a cool story here, a reader's letter there, and made a passing grab at a spreadsheet or two, and threw it all together for the reader to sort out.

The book is a definite potluck - a little bit of everything. But the individual components are very interesting, very rare, and its information that I - and a lot of other women - are definitely interested in hearing. I've recommended it quite a bit. It's well worth wading through the hotchpot of goodies to pick and choose the items that motivate and instruct you.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

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