Hard Work, Not Smarts Can Make You A Millionaire

Jet, March 6, 2000

When it comes to getting rich and earning the distinctive title of millionaire, hard work and creativity may put you closer to a seven-figure lifestyle than academic prowess.

The average millionaire made B's and C's in college, said Thomas J. Stanley, author of The Millionaire Mind. The average SAT score was 1190--not good enough to get into many top-notch schools. In fact, most millionaires were told they were not intellectually gifted, not smart enough to succeed.

"I find no correlation between SAT scores, grade-point averages and economic achievement. None," said Stanley, who surveyed 1,300 millionaires for his new book. "Admittedly, there are some very bright people in the data, but not many."

Instead of relying on natural genius, millionaires choose careers that match their abilities, Stanley said. They might not have great analytic intelligence, but they are creative and practical. They focus on a goal, take calculated risks and then work hard.

In The Millionaire Mind, Stanley studied the top I percent of house holds--people who have an average net worth of $9.2 million and earn $749,000 a year.

The average multimillionaire in Stanley's study is a 54-year-old man, married to the same woman for 28 years, with three children.

Nearly half of the millionaires are business owners or work as senior corporate executives. They say the keys to success are being honest and disciplined, getting along with people, having a supportive spouse and working hard.

Stanley himself is proof that hard work and ingenuity pay off. The Atlanta resident has gotten rich by writing about the rich. For years, he was a marketing professor at Georgia State University. He wrote three textbooks about marketing to wealthy people and gave seminars around the country. But he felt he was going nowhere.

So he took time off to write what he calls "the home-run book," The Millionaire Next Door, with researcher William D. Danko of Albany, NY, in 1996. The book has been on The New York Times' bestseller list for more than 150 weeks.