Are you a millionaire next door?  Do you want to be the next millionaire next door?  Follow these 7 traits from the book “The Millionaire Next Door” to find out how.

They live well below their means.In their research, Stanley and Danko found most millionaires weren’t heavy spenders. The majority spent less than $200 on shoes and only half could justify paying more than $235 for a wristwatch. Another surprising finding: two-thirds of the millionaires they surveyed said they followed a household budget.

They allocate their time, energy and money efficiently, in ways conducive to building wealth.For example, the authors found that millionaires were more likely to invest time planning their household finances than, say, shopping for a car. On the flipside, most people would have a lot more fun allocating time comparing car prices than sitting down with a financial planner and figuring out how much more money they have to save to be able to stop working at a certain age.

They believe that financial independence is more important than displaying high social status.“They inoculate themselves from heavy spending by constantly reminding themselves that many people who have high-status artifacts, such as expensive clothing, jewelry, cars, and pools, have little wealth,” the authors wrote. 

Their parents did not provide “economic outpatient care.”Millionaires rarely become millionaires in their own right if their parents are constantly financing their lives. Otherwise, they risk becoming too financially dependent to make their own way.

Their adult children are financially self-sufficient.Teaching kids to be self-sufficient not only encourages them to create their own financial security but ensures that they won’t be draining their parents’ finances later on.

They are proficient in targeting market opportunities--Essentially, the wealthy become wealthy often by targeting occupations that serve other wealthy people (that’s their “market”). That’s where the real money is, Stanley and Danko argue. Jobs that serve the wealthy — for example, estate planning, law, accounting — often come with bigger paychecks.

They chose the right occupation.The authors found that roughly half of the millionaires they interviewed owned a business of some sort, but the vast majority said they would not encourage their children to follow in their footsteps. Millionaire couples with children were five times more likely to send their children to medical school than other parents in America and four times more likely to send them to law school, according to their findings.

Via Yahoo by Mandi Woodruff