4 straightforward habits that helped self-made millionaires build wealth, according to The Millionaire Next Door

• Researcher and author Thomas J. Stanley interviewed and surveyed over 1,000 millionaires for “The Millionaire Next Door,” where he outlines their habits and advice.
• One millionaire says a critical step in his own journey was learning how to save before he got involved in investing, and saving more as his income increased. 
• Another millionaire says wealth-building goals should be about financial Independence over being rich — the latter will never truly be reached. 
• And, a millionaire parent says it’s important to teach kids these habits by example, which will help both parents and children later in life. 
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Author and researcher Thomas J. Stanley interviewed over 1,000 millionaires for his book “The Millionaire Next Door,” and found out that many people who built their own wealth have several habits in common.

But when it comes to saving, investing, and building wealth, the millionaires Stanley interviewed pepper the book with pieces of advice for other people who want to build wealth, from tips on investing to teaching children about money. While some millionaires have had names changed for publication, the millionaires tend to be self-made, with few Stanley interviewed inheriting money. 

Here are four pieces of advice from self-made millionaires for anyone else who wants to build wealth:

1. Have a solid saving pattern down before investing

A doctor, whom Stanley refers to as Dr. North, told the author during an interview that he had always been a saver. But, he stresses that investing was a secondary move. 

“When I was going to school, my wife taught,” North tells Stanley. “We had a small income … even then we always had a rule … to save — even then we saved. You can’t invest without something … the first thing is to save.”  

Investing is important, especially when it comes to working towards long-term goals like retirement. But, North says saving is even more important, and should be done first. 

Most experts agree that saving should be a foundation that’s built before investing — after all, investing is a risk. Generally, building an emergency fund of several months of expenses in a liquid account like a high-yield savings account before devoting any money to investing in a brokerage account is a good way to make sure you’ll be covered in case the unexpected happens. 

2. As you earn more, keep saving and investing more

North also told Stanley about his history with saving: “When I was 11 years old, I saved my first $50 from working in a grocery store. It’s just like today … only today the number of zeros change … More zeros, but it’s the same rule, same discipline,” he says. 

Earning more can sometimes mean spending more. But for North, who became a millionaire through years of investing, saving, and living affordably, earning more means saving and investing more. To build and keep wealth, it takes years of work, investing, and saving, according to many millionaires Stanley interviewed for the book.

North and many of the other millionaires say a higher income should mean a higher savings balance, not more or nicer things. 

3. Build wealth to be financially secure, not rich

Society’s perception of what it looks like to be wealthy or a millionaire is often skewed. Multimillionaire W.W. Allan told Stanley that oftentimes, building wealth with the wrong motivations puts it out of reach. 

“If your goal is to become financially secure, you’ll likely attain it … but if your motive is to make money to spend money on the good life … you’re never going to make it,” he says. 

Becoming financially secure is a finite goal, while living lavishly is less finite. While there’s a number to strive towards for goals like retirement and homeownership, being ‘rich’ will require more and more money as trends and times change. It’s never achieveable, Allan says. 

4. Teach your children about money, but not about being rich

One of the cardinal rules Stanley lays out for wealthy parents is to not let children know that their family is wealthy until much later in life. It’s a rule North led his family by for years, but he says that you should be teaching kids about money from a young age. 

“Kids must be trained to take responsibility for their actions. Today all my children are well-disciplined and frugal. They adhered to the rules. Why? Because their parents did,” he says. 

It’s not uncommon for children of wealthy families to start relying on gifts from family and parents to live, Stanley found in his interviews. In fact, Stanley found that the more dollars a child receives from family, the less wealth they build on their own. In turn, teaching your children about wealth will help your own wealth later, as Stanley found that giving to children hurts parents’ wealth, too.

North found that teaching his wealth-building habits to his children and modeling it himself made a big difference in the way they’ve grown up, helping them to avoid the pitfalls of other millionaire children.