I read "So You Want To Be A Millionaire" by Liz Pulliam Weston a few months ago and I really liked it. Everyones idea of what a millionaire is and what millionaires really are like is completely different. As "The Millionaire Next Door" showed millionaires are not flash, they aren't extravagent, they don't wear gold and diamond encrusted rolexes.
"Most of the millionaire households that they profiled did not have the extravagant lifestyles that most people would assume. This finding is backed up by surveys indicating how little these millionaire households have spent on such things as cars, watches, suits, and other luxury products/services. Most importantly, the book gives a list of reasons for why these people managed to accumulate so much wealth (the top one being that "They live below their means"). The authors make a distinction between the 'Balance Sheet Affluent' (those with actual wealth, or high net-worth) and the 'Income Affluent' (those with a high income, but little actual wealth, or low net-worth)." Wikipedia
They are the people in economy class, the ones who compare price tags at the grocery store and they do drive domestic cars. Conspicous consumption just brings unwanted attention to them and in our world that could be dangerous.
I know you are thinking well what about celebrities? Have you ever noticed that many of them end up close to bankrupt at least once? They may be talented by they aren't neccessarily financial geniuses. The long lasting wealth that some celebrities display comes from hiring people to set them on track.
