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TOM@RICHHABITS.NET
In my five-year long Rich Habits Study I studied the habits of 233 wealthy individuals and 128 poor individuals. I asked each individual 144 questions about every aspect of their lives, which translates into 51,984 questions. Thanks to my study, I learned some interesting things about the wealthy that I never knew or read about before.
One of those interesting things was the fact that 92% of self-made millionaires said they did not drive a luxury automobile. I just assumed most wealthy individuals owned luxury cars, so this surprised me.
Another data point which caught me by surprise was that 97% of the self-made millionaires in my study did not lease their cars. Instead, they almost all purchased their cars and took excellent car of their cars, which enabled them to drive their cars for ten years or more. These millionaires only replaced their car when either the transmission or engine needed to be replaced.
Here’s another interesting factoid – 55% of the self-made millionaires in my study purchased only used cars. These were typically new cars coming of a two or three-year lease.
I learned from my Study that most self-made millionaires saw cars as a utility or tool to get them from point A to point B. They weren’t interested in or didn’t need to impress others by driving some luxury automobile.
Before I embarked on my Rich Habits Study, I had driven a Mazda RX7 sports car, Jaguar, Lincoln Continental and even leased a Mercedes. Nice cars!
My Study data caused me to think long and hard about any future cars I would drive.
In 2013 I purchased a new 2013 Hyundai Elantra. It cost me about $26,000 back then. I decided to pay $500 a month, with the goal of paying off the loan on my car within 4 years, which I accomplished.
When I purchased that car, I wanted to do what most of the millionaires in my Study did and drive it until the transmission or engine needed to be replaced.
Like my self-made millionaires, I have been diligent about taking care of my Elantra. I have been driving this car for 11 years now and have, at this writing, 196,400 miles on it. This year, I set a goal of trying to hit 250,000 miles or more on my car.
I think my self-made millionaires would be proud of me.
Tom Corley is an accountant, financial planner, public speaker, and author of the books “Effort-Less Wealth: Smart Money Habits At Every Stage of Your Life” and “RichKids: How to Raise Our Children to Be Happy and Successful in Life“. Corley’s work has appeared on CNN, USA Today, The Huffington Post, SUCCESS Magazine, and many other media outlets and podcasts in the U.S. and 27 other countries. Tom is a frequent contributor to Business Insider and CNBC.
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