The Millionaire Mind

HEY LIVE IN LOVELY HOMES LOCATED IN FINE neighborhoods. Balance is their approach to life. They are financially independent, yet they enjoy life—they are not “all work, no play” type of people. Most became millionaires in one generation. Neither their lifestyle nor their wealth was generated from being highly leveraged financially. They are not credit junkies. How did they accomplish this? How did they balance their need to become wealthy and economically productive with their need to enjoy life? They have the millionaire mind.

Early in my career of studying wealthy people, I had a glimpse of this segment of the millionaire population. In 1983 I was asked to interview sixty millionaires from Oklahoma. What I learned from them was simple, yet the message had a lasting impact on me: You cannot enjoy life if you are addicted to consumption and the use of credit. 

These Oklahoma millionaires were just the opposite, as demonstrated by one focus group of ten. All ten were seasoned business owners, executives, or professionals. All were first-generation wealthy. Some were credit dependent earlier in their careers, but they eventually saw the light. They went cold turkey, breaking the cycle of borrowing to consume, earning to consume, and borrowing more and more money. Others never became addicted to credit or the need to display their success.

All ten were multimillionaires. They lived in fine homes in well established, older neighborhoods. They drove American-made motor vehicles. They enjoyed life. They were not workaholics. They spent a lot of time with their families and friends, borrowed little money, and became wealthy, in most cases, before they were forty-five years old. My interview with this group was scheduled to last about two hours, but it actually went on for nearly four hours. I only had to ask a few questions the members enjoyed telling their own stories about becoming wealthy. If there were a Focus Group Hall of Fame, all ten of these millionaires would be inducted during the first round.

There were many important points made about how one can become an economic success, but one statement was riveting. It was made by Gene. He mentioned that those who are “credit-dependent” are in fact controlled by someone else, some institution

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