The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko. This is a popular book that describes what the average millionaire really looks like. I've read this book before, but it was good enough to warrant a reread.
The book was split into a couple of large sections. First, they discuss who the average millionaire is and how they got to be that way. The book characterizes most millionaires as first generation millionaires who drive older cars and wear "normal" clothes. Several interesting anecdotes are shared describing the surprise between how people perceive "millionaires" and what real millionaires are like.
The second half of the book talks about children of millionaires and the concept of Economic Outpatient Care (EOC). EOC is when rich parents provide financial support to their children and the book discusses how that financial support, though well meaning, is often detrimental to their children's success in life.
My wife and I like this story as an explanation for how "stuff" can motivate you to spend more money:
Take, for example, the affluent parents who gave their son Bill and daughter-in-law Helen a $9,000 rug that we were told contained millions of hand-tied knots. Bill is a civil engineer who works for the state. He earns less than $55,000 a year. His parents feel compelled to help him maintain a lifestyle and level of dignity congruent with someone with a graduate degree from a prestigious university. Of course, the expensive rug looked out of place in a room filled with hand-me-down furniture and inexpensive light fixtures. So Bill and Helen felt compelled to purchase expensive walnut dining room furniture, a crystal chandelier, a solid-silver service, and expensive lamps. Thus the gift of the $9,000 rug precipitated the consumption of nearly that same amount for the other "affluent artifacts."
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