How to Become a Millionaire – The Simple Truth
A week or so ago, I shared some tips from Warren Buffett about how to become a millionaire. Today, I wanted to share some tips from our eight year old.
This weekend, I had an interesting financial conversation with our eight year old. This is the same kid that has an impressive knack for saving. To set the scene, we were tooling around town when the subject of cars came up…
As we pulled up to a stoplight, a particularly sweet ride rolled by. As soon as they spotted it, our kids started marveling at how nice it was, and how much it must have cost. The undertone of the conversation was that the owner must be über-rich. Never one to miss out on a teachable moment, I mentioned that stuff like that isn’t necessarily an indicator of wealth.
Taking a page from “The Millionaire Next Door,” I explained that some of the wealthiest people that they’ll ever meet are the ones that don’t flaunt it. In fact, most people probably wouldn’t even realize that these people are rich — rather, they’ll seem just like “regular” people leading a “normal” life.
This prompted our eight year old to say:
“Why doesn’t everyone just buy normal stuff? That way they could get rich. And if millionaires just bought normal stuff, then they could stay rich.”
While this is a bit of an oversimplification, I think our society could use a healthy dose of eight year old logic. In fact, if more people thought like him, we wouldn’t be talking about negative savings rates and multi-billion dollar bailouts.
Intrigued, I asked him if he wanted to be a millionaire. His response?
“Maybe someday, but not right now. If I was a millionaire, I’d probably just worry about my money all the time.”
From the mouths of babes…
Published on September 29th, 2008 - 8 Comments
Filed under: Miscellany
email this article
- add to tip'd - stumble it - digg it - bookmark it
About the author: Nickel is the founder and editor-in-chief of this site. He's a thirty-something family man who has been writing about personal finance since 2005, and guess what? He's on Twitter!
Related articles...
» How to Become a Millionaire – Tips on Getting Rich from the World’s Richest Man» Feeling Rich: Words to Live By
» How to Become a Millionaire
» Middle-Class Millionaires?
» The Middle-Class Millionaire: Questions for the Author?
» NCN and GRS Join MoneyBlogNetwork
» Weekend Roundup – Countdown to Vacation Edition
» Weekly Roundup – 02/17/06
Was this article useful? Please sign up to receive our content via e-mail:
Great deals...
Readers’ choice...
Recent articles...
- Did Congress Make the Homebuyer Tax Credit Retroactive?
- Congress Extends $8000 Homebuyer Tax Credit, Adds New $6500 Credit
- Lending Club Update - October 2009 Performance
- How Much to Budget for Car Maintenance?
- Series I Savings Bonds Now Paying 3.36%
- Use Weight Loss Strategies to Get Out of Debt
- Weekly Roundup - Disney Shanghai Edition
- How to Save Money on Vacations
- Most and Least Reliable Cars - 2009 Edition
- Get 100 Free Trades from OptionsHouse Brokerage
Recent comments...
- APRIL DAYS: I FOR ONE HOPE THAT THE FIRST TIME HOMEOWNERS TAX CREDIT IS EXTENDED BECAUSE...
- JB: I drive a 1999 car and save $60 a month for car repairs, oil...
- Greta: My significant other and I bought a house in February 2009. My boyfriend...
- Jay: Don't forget nCleaner 2nd for turning off widows firewall and windows defender...also use the...
- Bryan: @Doug - you said it... if you simply delayed the closing, it would have...
- Sympathetic Dish TSR: @ Bonnie: Is your HD tv a Flatscreen LCD style? If so then a...
- John DeFlumeri Jr: Thanks for explaining the tax credit. Too bad for those who purchase in...
- Hank: I always budget $100 a month for car repairs. I constantly find myself going...
Most talked about...
- Dave Ramsey is Bad at Math
- $8,000 Homebuyer Tax Credit
- Dish Network Customer Service SUCKS
- How to Claim the First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit
- $15,000 Homebuyer Tax Credit
- Reduced Credit Limits? Share Your Experience
- Would the "Fair Tax" Gut the Economy?
- Tax Stimulus Rebate Payments to Start Early
- Pay Off Mortgage Early? Or Invest?
- The Best Online Savings Accounts (Updated!)
- Life's Too Short to Drink Cheap Beer
- $7500 First Time Homebuyer Tax Credit
Wow, that is one astute and precocious kid.
Comment by Terry — Sep 29th 2008 @ 6:23 amIt just goes to show, while the principles of proper money management might be difficult for some to live by, there are pretty simple to understand. If you always live below your means, you should never need to worry about money.
Comment by RDS — Sep 29th 2008 @ 6:32 amOut of the mouth of babes comes some pretty amazing wisdom.
Comment by Andee Sellman, One Sherpa — Sep 29th 2008 @ 7:18 amMy own son once asked me whether I thought it would be a good idea to have a debt / equity indicator on every car which I thought would certainly work out who owned the car rather than who was paying to drive it.
But wait there’s more… A couple of months later he asked whether there should be a debt / equity indicator on the letterbox of every house in our street to see who really owned the house or who was simply a part owner and paying lots of interest to the bank!!!
I guess the moral of the story is to listen to our kids. They can always teach us something if we’re prepared to listen!!
If I *could* live below my means that would be a miracle.
Comment by Terry — Sep 29th 2008 @ 7:31 amHeh, smart kid! I think he’ll do well by himself once he leaves the house.
Comment by Blaine Moore — Sep 29th 2008 @ 10:14 amthat is bad a$$. perhaps McCain can use him?
Comment by Budgets are Sexy. — Sep 29th 2008 @ 12:39 pmIt’s too bad more adults don’t pay attention to smart financial instincts like your kid does! Hm.. could be he’s a future Warren Buffett in the making?
Comment by Living Within Your Means — Sep 29th 2008 @ 8:33 pmI’ve always maintained the philosophy that in order to be good stewards of not only our money but the world’s resources, we should all be buying “normal stuff” and in moderation. The more resources we use up, the less there is for others.
Economy is based on demand. If we demand less stuff and extravagance and demand more charitable organizations, renewable resources, etc, the world would be a much better place.
Comment by Colombian Coffee — Oct 2nd 2008 @ 12:39 pm