We are an independent, advertising-supported comparison service. Our goal is to help you make smarter financial decisions by providing you with interactive tools and financial calculators, publishing original and objective content, by enabling you to conduct research and compare information for free - so that you can make financial decisions with confidence. Bankrate has partnerships with issuers including, but not limited to, American Express, Bank of America, Capital One, Chase, Citi and Discover.
How We Make Money.
The offers that appear on this site are from companies that compensate us. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site, including, for example, the order in which they may appear within the listing categories. But this compensation does not influence the information we publish, or the reviews that you see on this site. We do not include the universe of companies or financial offers that may be available to you.
At Bankrate we strive to help you make smarter financial decisions. While we adhere to strict , this post may contain references to products from our partners. Here’s an explanation for .
Editorial Integrity
Bankrate follows a strict editorial policy, so you can trust that we’re putting your interests first. Our award-winning editors and reporters create honest and accurate content to help you make the right financial decisions.
Key Principles
We value your trust. Our mission is to provide readers with accurate and unbiased information, and we have editorial standards in place to ensure that happens. Our editors and reporters thoroughly fact-check editorial content to ensure the information you’re reading is accurate. We maintain a firewall between our advertisers and our editorial team. Our editorial team does not receive direct compensation from our advertisers.
Editorial Independence
Bankrate’s editorial team writes on behalf of YOU – the reader. Our goal is to give you the best advice to help you make smart personal finance decisions. We follow strict guidelines to ensure that our editorial content is not influenced by advertisers. Our editorial team receives no direct compensation from advertisers, and our content is thoroughly fact-checked to ensure accuracy. So, whether you’re reading an article or a review, you can trust that you’re getting credible and dependable information.
How We Make Money
You have money questions. Bankrate has answers. Our experts have been helping you master your money for over four decades. We continually strive to provide consumers with the expert advice and tools needed to succeed throughout life’s financial journey.
Bankrate follows a strict editorial policy, so you can trust that our content is honest and accurate. Our award-winning editors and reporters create honest and accurate content to help you make the right financial decisions. The content created by our editorial staff is objective, factual, and not influenced by our advertisers.
We’re transparent about how we are able to bring quality content, competitive rates, and useful tools to you by explaining how we make money.
Bankrate.com is an independent, advertising-supported publisher and comparison service. We are compensated in exchange for placement of sponsored products and, services, or by you clicking on certain links posted on our site. Therefore, this compensation may impact how, where and in what order products appear within listing categories. Other factors, such as our own proprietary website rules and whether a product is offered in your area or at your self-selected credit score range can also impact how and where products appear on this site. While we strive to provide a wide range offers, Bankrate does not include information about every financial or credit product or service.
It would be natural to expect someone who earns a high salary to be socking more money away than a lower-earning employee. But that’s usually not the case.
High-status incomes, like those earned by doctors and lawyers, often come with expectations for high-status living, according to the authors of the book “The Millionaire Next Door.”
Authors Thomas Stanley and William Danko developed profiles of different types of individuals to define their style of building wealth. Prodigious Accumulators of Wealth, or PAWs, have little need for expensive homes, cars and technology and typically save well more than the average person. They spend less than they earn and can often end up as millionaires even on a modest salary.
The opposite end of the spectrum is the Under Accumulator of Wealth. These UAWs have a low net worth compared with their income in part because they feel the need to measure their success based on how they compare with their neighbors. Doctors and lawyers often fall into this category. It’s the “better than” theory. Others in this group include those who fall prey to the “better off” theory, meaning they are driven to prove they are financially richer than their parents by buying a larger home, luxury car, country club membership — you get the idea.
Another intriguing belief among UAWs is that income is a readily renewable resource, resulting in confident overspending on homes, cars and luxury items. “The Millionaire Next Door” was written before the latest deep recession. I’m betting the attitude of the PAWs don’t change with the state of the economy, but it would be interesting to note if it has changed among the under accumulators.
How would you define yourself: as a UAW, a PAW or somewhere in the middle?
Keep up with your wealth and mortgages and follow me on Twitter.
Get more news, money-saving tips and expert advice by signing up for a free Bankrate newsletter.
Share