Stop Acting Rich: ...And Start Living Like A Real Millionaire

With the financial crisis, high unemployment, and tight credit, you may be saying to yourself: who is acting rich these days? We're barely making ends meet. You would think that our wastrel ways are over, we're erasing debt, and stocking up on savings. The reality is that not only are we spenders who barely understand the concept of frugality, we are big spenders on expensive elite brands, and we do it in an attempt to emulate the rich people we see on television, in magazines, and down the street. The recession may have caused us to take a breather, but every indication is that we will pick up right where we left off when gentler economic winds blow again. Before you spend another dime, read this book and understand how to become rich instead of act rich.

Stop Acting Rich . . . And Start Living Like a Real Millionaire will upend every assumption you have about wealthy people: where they shop, what they buy, and most shockingly, where they live (it's not where you think). Did you know that three times more millionaires live in homes valued at under $300,000 than over $1 million? Would it stun you to learn that more millionaires drive Toyotas than BMWs? How about a second home? Not for the millionaire. Bestselling author of The Millionaire Next Door and The Millionaire Mind and leading authority on the wealthy, Dr. Thomas Stanley uncovers the truth about spending to show you how you can really live rich. It all starts with where you live. Live in a prestige neigh?borhood and you will spend more on everything from your car to your watch. Real millionaires understand that living in communities where their neighbors have less net worth than they donaturally leads to spending less. It's easier to be rich when keeping up with the Joneses hardly costs anything. Dr. Stanley's research also uncovers what makes rich people happy.

Life satisfaction comes not from cruising down the highway in a chunk of your net worth, but from having the financial resources to choose—to spend time with family and friends, to volunteer, to pursue interests. Stop Acting Rich . . . And Start Living Like a Real Millionaire rips the lid off just about every assumption we have about what rich looks like. Few people become rich by way of a high income, and even fewer high-income people are truly rich. The good news is that almost anyone can become wealthy—even without a super high income—if you would just stop acting . . . and instead start living like a rich person.