Modern Maturity magazine's July-August edition focuses on millionaires and attitudes about money, but the surveys and interviews suggest that while most people would like to be rich, accumulating great wealth doesn't really change anything.

In the magazine reporter Susan Garland interviews researcher Thomas Stanley - author of "The Millionaire Mind" - about habits of the rich. According to Stanley, the average millionaire has a simple lifestyle, works hard for his money and isn't flashy.

"They are not involved in conspicuous consumption," he told the magazine. "These people buy quality shoes, but they resole them. Nearly half have their furniture refinished. If you buy furniture that's good quality, you can have it for five generations.

"It's the same with their homes. They rarely move. And their houses tend to be good investments.

"For example, the typical millionaire bought a house for $550,000 about 12 years ago in a nice neighborhood. Today that home is worth $1.2 to $1.5 million. More than half of these millionaires live in a house that was built in 1958, with three or four bedrooms. These homes are not mansions."

Stanley's book was the result of a nationwide survey of 733 millionaires who had an average net worth of $9.2 million.

Then if millionaires are living relatively simple lives, Garland asked Stanley "who's buying all the fancy cars and other exotic stuff?"

Said Stanley, "The worst culprit is the corporate two-career couple who make from $70,000 to $120,000 a year. They've got two Jaguars, two Volvos that are leased. They've got an au pair. They live in a $400,000 to $500,000 house. They've got club dues. They're the highest credit users in the United States.

"It's astonishing how much they spend. And they look down their noses at the guy who lives next door who's worth $10 million. He's got a 10-year-old car. He goes to work in a uniform every day, and it says 'Richard' on it. They don't like this guy. They tell him he ought to clean up his yard a little bit."

In the same issue, Modern Maturity, a publication of the American Association of Retired Persons, polled Americans on their desires to be millionaires.

It found that 27 percent of men and 40 percent of women said "no" when asked if they would like to be rich - which more than half defined as having about $500,000 in total assets.

The survey found that 4 out of 5 of those surveyed said "they feared that wealth would turn them into greedy people who consider themselves superior," and 75 percent said "wealth promotes insensitivity."

Published: May 17, 2000

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