Posted on 01/04/2004 1:31:24 PM PST by Holly_P
"On the day I made the final payment on the house, I sealed the envelope and put the stamp on it," said Karen Manzo, 58. "Then I got up and walked through the house as if I owned it."
"Because we did," said her husband, Joe, 56.
"That was a powerful moment for me," Karen said.
At a time when the average American family has credit-card debt estimated at $9,000, the Manzos walk a different path. Middle-class people who live completely without debt, they follow the frugal prescriptions of one of their favorite books, "The Millionaire Next Door," a 1996 bestseller written by two professors who studied the nation's affluent.
The way to become wealthy, the Manzos say, is to live as if they're not wealthy. Or, in the words of the book's authors Thomas Stanley and William Danko: "Being frugal is the cornerstone of wealth-building."
The Manzos have made investing mistakes and lost money during the stock market's downturn. But they expect their thrifty lifestyle to bring them to a prosperous retirement in 10 years.
"As a byproduct of just trying to be debt-free, we accumulate wealth," said Karen, a lab technician in New Jersey. They declined to reveal their incomes or assets. But their financial planner, Lauren Locker, said they have accumulated an impressive amount on moderate incomes: "We would all be lucky to be in their position," Locker said.
The Manzos' lifestyle would not work for everyone. Their wedding 30 years ago cost all of $700. They do without cable TV. Karen squeezes the toothpaste tube "till it screams" and buys her clothes at Burlington Coat Factory and Value City (her sister teasingly calls her Karen Kmart).
Their tidy house in Paterson, N.J., was paid off in 15 years. (Danko, a professor at the University at Albany, State University of New York, said millionaires typically own less expensive houses than they can afford.) Though the Manzos, who are childless, are comfortable there, many middle-income families with children would prefer to avoid Paterson's troubled schools.
The Manzos also track their spending meticulously in two spiral notebooks — one green, for money; the other black, because they're always in the black.
As a result, they are able to save all of Karen's paycheck — about 40 percent of their pretax income.
"I think some people feel, 'What's the good of having money if you don't spend it?"' said Joe Manzo, a quality manager at a factory. "But there's a price to be paid. Debt is a self-inflicted injury. It's the choices you make. I like SUVs, but I drive a '99 Ford Escort. Our identities aren't tied to possessions. You could lose your possessions. Who you are is not what you own."
His wife sums it up: "I want to be as common as an old shoe."
It's not that the Manzos never spend money. They go to Broadway shows, sponsor a scholarship at a Paterson Catholic school and have vacationed in Costa Rica, Panama and Europe. Being thrifty, Karen said, means "I can purchase anything I want because I have a financial nest egg."
Although the Manzos describe their income as average, "The Millionaire" book points out, "Wealth is not the same as income. If you make a good income each year and spend it all, you are not getting wealthier. You are just living high."
The book gives the following yardstick for measuring assets: You should have an amount equal to your age times your annual income, divided by 10. So, for example, a 40-year-old couple with $100,000 income should have net worth of $400,000 — not including home equity.
If you have double that, you're wealthy. The Manzos say their assets put them in the wealthy zone — before the stock-market bubble burst.
"We made — and lost — a fortune in the stock market," Karen said. She ignored her husband's advice to sell tech stocks before their value collapsed in 2000.
After that, they went to Locker, the financial planner, for help. Karen also joined an investment club affiliated with the National Association of Investors, which advocates long-term investments in companies selling at the right price.
Karen's frugality was born of an Indiana childhood watching her parents struggle to raise five children on her father's salary as a draftsman. Her mother didn't hold down a job or even know how to drive. Karen wanted wider horizons and financial security.
She took 10 years to work her way through college. The fact that her education was so hard-won makes her even more determined not to squander the money it has helped her earn.
Her husband had help from his parents to pay for college, but it came at a great sacrifice to his father, a welder.
Karen is such a believer in debt-free living that she keeps a copy of "The Millionaire Next Door" at work to show to co-workers and summer interns. She recently spoke about her strategies to about 15 of Locker's clients. "She doesn't have a nickel of debt — there's not another client I have like that," Locker said.
But several of them told her they could not imagine cutting their spending so radically. Even if they could, they said, their spouses would be unlikely to go along.
The Manzos know they couldn't have reached their financial goals without working together — a point also made by "The Millionaire Next Door."
"We don't agree on everything, but these are the core beliefs that have sustained us for the 30 years we've been together," said Joe.
"There is no arguing about money," Karen said. "That argument is never in our household. One of the byproducts of a debt-free lifestyle is that you eliminate the Number One cause of marital breakdown."
That may be one reason why, in the book's words, "financially independent people are happier than those who are not financially secure."
"I'm definitely a contented person. I'm happy with my life," Karen said. "We have everything we want."
I don't know why you are thanking me in advance, since I freely agree that there are none (that I know of). I hope you're not confusing my criticism of my country on this subject for a lack of patriotism. (US Navy, Submarine Service, 16 yrs and counting)
We have seven children...........three in college right now. Two oldest graduate this year..........and both debt free, and they put themselves through school. Tuition, books, living expenses, you name it. Not a dime of debt.
One did it by holding down two or three jobs at a time, yet maintains an amazingly high GPA in a very rugged major. The other worked a job and had help from Uncle Sam (he's in the National Guard, plus did the Army ROTC thing, etc.).
It IS do-able. I couldn't be more proud of these kids, and the fact that THEY did it gives them immeasurable pride as well.
Their degrees plus zero debt......not a bad way to start one's career. :)
I agree, but some people are so prideful, they wouldn't buy something on sale even if it was the perfect item.
I agree. My hubby and I save for retirement, but we aren't obsessive about it. After all, we could retire and die the next day. On the other hand, we could live another 30 years. It's about striking a balance, I think.
EXACTLY!
Just don't pay your property taxes, you'll find out just who really does own your property faster than you can say 'forfeiture'.
Wow, what a wonderful example of keeping private things private. ;^)
I guess it's okay for her but not for me? Another one of those sort of deals?
Buy land, and pay the taxes. Buy as much as you can find. they are not making any more.
I own land in 4 states, now, and have three houses, paid for! The taxes I pay on them, are worth every dime, though they are way too much... I can walk through them, whenever I wish!
The difference is, I don't have anything to hide. I've been very upfront with my addiction and my faults to the whole forum. I don't think you've been upfront even with yourself.
But listen, I can't fix you, nor do I care to try. You simply do not factor in my life as anything more than a past event from which I can, and have, drawn lessons -- and this is by your choice, mind you.
Further, this direct conversation is just going to degenerate to something very negative. I will continue to reference my life and my experiences. You cannot control everything; for example, you cannot control what I say. However, I will try like heck not to mention you. For the record, I've not listed what I view are your faults in any message, with the sole exception of the parting treatment. That's the only part where I find that to be very difficult not to mention you. But I imagine over time I will be able to get past that.
My dad is 80 (81 on the 26th). He 'retired' for the third time, to the Armed Forces retirement Home, in Nov. After settling in for the weekend, he went down to the chaplains' office, and 'volunteered' to help (he retired as an Episcopal Priest).
The head chaplain has cancer, so my dad has been doing his job. He just made an offer to the admins, to go full-time. He has no interest is 'retiring'! He just wants some reasoin to keep living! He is also hoping for a larger room...
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