The Frugal Life of a Millionaire 

Emeritus Professor Bill Danko stands by his research: Frugality is the best way to achieve wealth.

ALBANY, N.Y. (Sept. 29, 2020) — Frugality pays, is the overarching message from Bill Danko, emeritus professor of the School of Business and co-author of The Millionaire Next Door, which spent 3 years on the New York Times bestseller list.

Danko was recently interviewed for Breakwater Financial by UAlbany alum Abe Ringer, who received his MBA in 2005. Danko, whose latest co-authored book is Richer than a Millionaire – A Pathway to True Prosperity, says that hard work and frugal living is the path to riches.

Ringer said that in both books the “central message is that those who are actually rich are not the ones who appear rich with flashy displays of wealth, but rather they are the hard working, frugal and humble ones you’d never expect to be rich in the first place.”

Danko spent 31 years on the Marketing faculty at the School of Business, including nine as department chair, and his studies focused on consumer behavior and wealth formation. In addition to the two Millionaire books about wealth in America, his academic publications have appeared in the Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Advertising Research, and other leading journals.

In his Breakwater interview, Danko says that the COVID-19 pandemic has brought new challenges, citing a “staggering death count, business shutdowns, sudden unemployment, lower consumer confidence, self-quarantines, social unrest, education disruptions at all levels, and so on.”

Still, he says, the message of frugality resonates, and families need to budget carefully, look for remote job opportunities and save when possible.

You can read the entire interview, including Danko’s thoughts on charitable giving and “life satisfaction.”

For more news, subscribe to UAlbany's RSS headline feeds