Oakland, CA | East Bay; Financial Planning Lessons: The Millionaire Next Door

Hi, I’m Eric Wolfers. I’m the managing member of First & Main Financial. We’ve been helping clients with wealth management and financial planning since 2001. We also help clients with 1031 exchanges into Delaware Statutory Trusts and Donor Advised Funds as well as providing 401K plans—the best 401K plans I’ve ever seen.

Today I want to do a book review of sorts, about a book: The Millionaire Next Door.

I read this book years ago and it has some incredibly simple messages that ring true. The interesting part about the book is that someone studied millionaires in an effort to try to share that information with the financial services industry so they can better serve or win the business of millionaires.

And the surprise that came out of that book was that most millionaires, the majority of millionaires, were just average people that saved money. People had save money for a decent number of years of their lives, multiple decades, saved and invested wisely. So, some of the most simple messages that ring true for anyone are: save money, save money all the time.

If you’re a student you might not be able to save money, but if you are making money and you save money and you invest the money, it will turn into more money over time.

Many people in our society have a hard time creating wealth, but choices can be made that allow you to accumulate wealth.

Some of the other key points about the average millionaire, back when the book was written, was that they just don’t spend extravagantly. They live within their means—which goes back to point one: always save money.

And there are very high-quality, low-cost investment solutions available. People don’t necessarily need to work with someone like us; although people often do like to count on us and our expertise. But, there are great solutions out there, you just have to know what you’re looking for.

The financial services industry generally isn’t doing you any favors with the number of products and information that they’re pushing, mostly just to get your attention and get your assets, so they can be paid on your your investments.

I recommend The Millionaire Next Door, it’s got some amazing simple messages to follow throughout life; and anyone can be a millionaire, if they save for long enough and save enough and invest well and invest wisely.

If you are looking for some financial guidance; whether for a one time financial plan or continuing advice on your investments, we invite you to meet with a First & Main Financial planner for a free consultation. We would be more than happy to sit down with you, assess your situation and review our services to help navigate your financial future.