It's much of what your upper middle class parents should have taught you, but it's not everything, If money is all you care about, you will do well to follow the advice in this book. If you are not a millionaire but want to be, read this book. Yet they also try to enjoy the fruits of their labor, and they share their wealth as much as possible. Truly wealthy people certainly plan for the future, invest properly, and save much of their income. And in the end, that's where this book fails. Save for retirement of course, but never forget that we only get one life. This woman might never see retirement, might never enjoy all that money she carefully hoarded, might forever miss out on the joys and experiences that wealth can provide. Yet in the process of doing so, they live like paupers. In one example presented in the book, a woman expressed the goal to retire with five million dollars. The generation of wealth is not a goal in itself. After all, a wise person would not leave a large financial legacy without the tools to use it properly. It is important to teach children self sufficiency, but it is equally, if not more important, to teach one's children to manage million dollar investment portfolios, and to make informed decisions on budgeting and allocations of large amounts of money. If one follows the advice in this book religiously, a first generation millionaire family will likely end up a third generation pauper. The sections involving children are especially worrisome. Hoarding money by not giving to charity, or even your own children, does it's own kind of spiritual damage. Saving money by not going on vacation deprives both you and your children potentially life changing experiences. Living in better neighborhoods might be more expensive, but they are often safer, provide better schools, and may generally provide a better investment in real estate. Single minded dedication to amassing wealth is often penny wise and pound foolish.

But there are issues with some of the advice the authors provide. The book provides many examples of folks who did, indeed find financial success. Careful planning, living below one's means, adequate income and proper investing can lead to economic self sufficiency. If you wish to retire as a paper millionaire, the basic advice presented in this book is sound, particularly if you happen to have disposable income.

The millionaire next door audio book