In a way, this is a book about the psychology of the United States. As a nation we have always extolled the freedom to make our fortune.
Of course, only a small percentage have become truly wealthy, but the rest of us have attained a high standard of living.
Yet the character of wealth and how to attain it changes over time. This book looks at the wealthy of today, not the Rockefellers of yesterday. Not even the millionaires next door of 1996. But this generation of the upper most classes of America.
Too many Americans associate the wealthy either with the stereotypes that may have been true in the past or with the media images of rich celebrities.
This book did a broad survey to find out how today’s wealthy got that way (it wasn’t by clipping coupons, but many of them still do so), their attitudes, their shopping habits and their lifestyles.
One big surprise — their favorite store is Target. Bloomingdale’s is on the list. It’s above Wal-Mart but behind Costco.
This book captures a moving process of wealthy people going from middle class to wealthy to super-wealthy, over decades of time.
There’s not as much “how to do it” as some may like. It’s not one of those self-help “do as the wealthy do and you’ll be wealthy too” books.
For one thing, many of them did not set out to become wealthy. They did what they liked — often for decades — and the money eventually found them. They aimed at creating great businesses, not at getting rich. Many are still getting used to the idea of being rich. Even most of the super-wealthy still consider themselves middle class at heart.
In many ways the new elite are a tribute to the spirit of entrepreneurialism. Yet I have little doubt that many people around the United States are doing what they love, but have not yet had great success.
It may surprise some readers to discover that many wealthy believe that character, not luck or inheritance or even business skills, made them wealthy.
The authors learned that the wealthy can be divided into five categories they label Neighbors, Mavericks, Patrons, Directors and Wrestlers. These are not hard and fast categories. People can go from one group to the other as they age and become more used to their status as wealthy people. Their tastes and shopping habits change over time.
So there is not one, uniform wealthy class in the United States (or the world, since many of the wealthy of the world are similar). Everybody who aspires to sell them any product or service needs to study this book as their bible.
the books – smells like content
What are some good nonfiction books for young adults to read?
I recently finished all the books I wanted to read for 2007 (so it was a week late, big deal) Can you recommend some good books (reasons would be helpful) for me to read in 2008? I especially love nonfiction. I have read and loved books as a turning point, Freakonomics blink. I will give 10 points to the person who convinced me of his book is the best. Thank you.
A short history of nearly everything by Bill Bryson. It is a fantastic book and reminds me why I was so enamored of science in school. It also leads the point Start many times that we're very, very lucky to be standing here, doing what we do every day. The Black Swan: The Impact of the highly improbable by Nassim Nicholas Taleb. This book is entertaining and enlightening, and very readable. Has an important message about how the world works, that the world is not governed by the predictable and the average, but by chance, the unknown, the unpredictable – big events or discoveries or unusual people that have big consequences. The change is not so uniform, but in unpredictable spurts. These are the Black Swans title: completedly unexpected and unusual events or new ideas or technologies that impact huge in the world. Indeed, Taleb argues that history itself is primarily driven by Black Swan. God is Not Great: how religion poisons everything by Christopher Hitchens . No matter what your religion is this is a good read, thought provoking, informative and entertaining at the same time.
