A commercial of a few years back had a wealthy man in a limo doing something that indicated frugality. A young man expressed surprise that “a man like you” would be so thrifty. “How do you think a man like me got to be a man like me?” he responds.
The extensive research of Stanley and Danko reveals the commercial was quite accurate regarding the frugality of millionaires. But it was wrong to suggest that they get limos after they have “arrived.” They become millionaires in large part due to frugality, and they remain frugal after they get rich.