Review of Brett Wilder’s The Quiet Millionaire

I was recently sent a copy of The Quiet Millionaire – A Guide for Accumulating and Keeping Your Wealth by Brett Wilder. At first, I was skeptical because the book was written by the CEO of a financial management firm.;I was bracing myself for a 422 page sales pitch. Fortunately, I did read the book and I was glad because the book was great.

If I have to describe the book with just one word, I have to say “encyclopedic.” The book is a comprehensive compendium of knowledge that offers many insightful advices and ideas. It covers the full gamut of financial topics including tax, investing, debt, college planning, retirement, insurance, business ownership…basically everything that involves money. Although I consider myself financially astute, I learned a lot from reading this book.

My favorite concept from the book was about selecting the right college for your children. Here, Brett wrote:

“Select schools where the student profiles in the top twenty percent of all applicants with respect to grade point average and college entrance exam results”

Based on my own experience, I thought this was a sound advice for the following reasons:

The student could learn more because he is properly challenged but not overwhelmed.
The student could enjoy other extracurricular activities because there is less pressure to keep up with the smart kids.
The parents could spend less money; not having to send their kid to a more competitive (usually more expensive) school.

That said, I did have a few complaints about this book:

Brett usually went into just enough detail for me to want more.
This book was printed on unusually thick paper. I think they could have made it less bulky and more environmentally friendly.

In conclusion, Brett’s book will always be on my desk as a trusty reference.

4 Comments

Brip Blap
September 19, 2007, 19:49

I like the “20% school” idea. That’s more or less what I did in attending a state university, when I could’ve attended more “prestigious” private schools. I got good grades, was always at the top of my class, and I didn’t have to kill myself studying so I was heavily involved in athletics, social, academic and charitable activities. So based on that I’ll have to check this book out, since I agree with Wilder’s ideas in that area.
keeyit
September 19, 2007, 21:09

Thanks for the recommendation of this book as well as your comments on it.
Pinyo
September 20, 2007, 7:00

@Brip Blap – Unfortunately, I did the opposite. I chose to go to partially funded Ivy League and declined full scholarship to a state school. My GPA was hovering around 3.0. I was miserable and was not active in other activities because I was overwhelmed. Lastly, I graduated with debt and my performance was not good enough to get me into a medical school. That said, it was a complete opposite for my Master program and I graduated as one of the top students in my class with 4.0 GPA; and the degree was fully funded by scholarship from work.
@keeyit – welcome to Moolanomy and I am glad you liked the post.
Kamp
April 5, 2008, 10:08

This is probably one of the best books I’ve ever read on personal finance, investing and just understanding the overall industry. I now understand why I need to do certain things and when. The advice is sound, easy to understand and I have personally found to be extremly successful. I will recommend this book to my business partners, family and friends. The college funding section was so eye opening, even though my children are past this need, I wish I would have read when they were younger it would have changed my planning. The retirement section was amazing and has changed my families life. Thank you, Thank you…a great resource and life changing book.