THEY 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 creditdependent 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 wellestablished, 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…. CLICK TO READ MORE
