At Dave Ramsey's recommendation, I bought a copy of Stop Acting Rich, a book by a fellow who has done extensive research into the habits of American millionares. I don't know that I would recommend the book myself, the thing doesn't flow well, but the concepts are terrific and have changed the way I look at things. Here's one topic covered in the book.
What kind of car do you drive? Is it the kind millionares drive? I'll leave the question in this post and will come back and give the millionares' results tomorrow.
Me, I drive a Nissan Altima with over 100,000 miles on it.
6 comments:
So what do millionaires drive? I'd always assumed they had someone drive them.
Hmmm... So the MG doesn't count?
I think they're getting at all the BMW, and Audi's and Lexus etc.
I've got to agree. People in my neighborhood buy, lease, whatever these $40k and up cars. Actually, a lot of trucks. Everyone's got these $50k SUVs around here. And in Minnesota, you don't get 15 years out of a vehicle.
I drive a '99 Subaru Outback Sport. I only put 2k miles on the MG this year. Not good.
I'm a car nut as KT will testify. I can't imagine spending so much on cars. In 2004, we bought a Mazda 6 wagon, it was too much money at $22k, but it was the right car. Meanwhile, the lady across the street just came home with a Cadilac CTS. It might be used, but I don't know.
Of course, I'm paying for private school. Hmm, what's more important, what I drive, or the quality of my kids' education. Hmm.
The people I know that I am *sure* are millionaires (as in, they could, with no more than a couple of weeks' notice, plunk down more than a million dollars without having to sell their house first), don't drive flashily expensive cars. They drive something generally reliable, serviceable, and rugged, and not too new (but not so old that it's in the shop all the time, either). I would not be surprised to find out that a common millionaire car was a mid-range Toyota, or one of the smaller Ford pickups.
My father (who used to be a building contractor and had occasional business dealings with a few millionaires) once told me the distinguishing feature of a millionaire was that they were incredibly cheap, and would never pay for anything unless they absolutely had to. After all, you get rich by *getting* money, not by *spending* it.
How is this different from "The Millionaire Next Door"? Sounds like a retread. I definitely drive like a millionaire. Average fleet age in Burtonia is 9.5 years. To put it in "Millionaire Next Door" terms, high income people drive expensive cars. High net worth people drive modest, reliable, paid-off vehicles.
Kelly +1
Jeff, good point.
I drive a Tacoma 4WD pickup with 190 large on it. That sounds like it's in Tim's ballpark.
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