A Pathway to Prosperity with Dr. William D. Danko

In this episode of the Franklin Planner Podcast, host George Wright III interviews Dr. William Danko, bestselling author and wealth-building expert. Dr. Danko shares insights from his landmark books, ‘The Millionaire Next Door’ and ‘Richer Than a Millionaire,’ discussing habits of ordinary millionaires, the importance of frugality and saving, and the Golden Rule’s role in achieving true prosperity. He also delves into personal stories that shaped his values and career, including caring for his quadriplegic brother and the creation of the Milton and Mary Danko Golden Rule Award. Dr. Danko emphasizes the importance of intentional living, charitable giving, and practical financial planning for achieving both financial success and life satisfaction.

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Episode Timeline

01:27 Dr. William Danko’s Background and Family Influence

07:19 Core Concepts from ‘The Millionaire Next Door’

17:38 The Golden Rule and Charitable Living

23:04 Timeless Principles for Financial Success and Happiness

26:17 Final Thoughts and Practical Advice

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Episode Transcript

Welcoming Dr. William D. Danko – Bestselling Author and Wealth Researcher

George Wright III: Welcome back to the Franklin Planner Podcast. My name is George Wright III, your host. Um, John Harding isn’t with me today, but we have an amazing guest. I’ve really been trying to get, uh, this guest here for a little while. So, Dr. William Danko, how are you doing? 

Dr. William D. Danko: Hey, I’m doing really well, George. Thank you. 

Family Legacy and the Golden Rule Award: How Personal Hardship Shaped Wealth Principles

Losing His Father at Age 5 and Caring for Quadriplegic Brother

George: Yeah, I’m really glad that we could spend a minute, I think just for the narrative of helping people to, um, know a little bit more about you let me give them a little introduction. So for those of you listening, we’re gonna be talking today about some amazing topics, and Dr. William Danko is a bestselling author, researcher, one of the nation’s [00:01:00] leading experts on wealth building behavior. But he is also the co-author of a landmark book called The Millionaire Next Door, and the book Richer Than a Millionaire, and it’s really shaped how millions understand financial independence, the values, and true, true prosperity. And with over three decades of academic and research experience, he brings this rare combination of insights, data, real life wisdom. So, uh, author, speaker, um, recognized expert. I’m so glad to have you here and I want kind start out by just giving, before we jump into the book and some of these core topics that I think are gonna help people, I wanna talk a little bit about the origin of this whole value driven life that you have had such a, a great impact on you have a legacy for your parents, uh, through this creation of the Milton and Mary Danko Golden Rule Award.

I thought that was a great award. So maybe you could help me give a little bit of background on you and why you did this and how, you know, their example of giving, especially under hardship, really shaped the financial and [00:02:00] life principles that you now teach. 

Dr. Danko: Yeah. Um, you know, it all depends how far back you wanna go, but when I look at the life I’ve had, and I think I’ve had a very blessed life in, in so many ways. But what really shaped my, uh, worldview, my father died when I was five years old and he was 38, and that was the first funeral that I attended. And when I look at his background and the archive of material my mother kept, um, it– when he got out of World War II in the Navy, he had a 70% disability. And then, you know, he had kids, including myself, and um, he had a very short life. But that disability serving in the South China Sea and all the [00:03:00] pain that goes along with war. It, it really made me understand that, my gosh, he was a great father for those few years that I knew him, but the sacrifices that he made for his wife and for the kids, uh, was just so immense.

And then when my brother, uh, Tony, um, became a quadriplegic in his early twenties, my widowed mother took care of him, and my gosh, it’s, it’s a heavy burden, that’s for sure. But when she had her stroke, uh, in 1996, the same year that The Millionaire Next Door came out, I really, really, really had to reevaluate, um, what are my priorities, and one of my top priorities was to keep my brother [00:04:00] out of a nursing home.

My mother subsequently died and I, I, I hate to use that term, inherited, but I, I, I was the key guy and I took it, kept my brother, bought him a house. I was making, uh, royalties from The Millionaire Next Door. And it’s, uh, it was the right thing to do and it, so it really started when I was five all the way to the present. And you know– 

How Caring for His Brother Redefined Success and True Wealth

George: Yeah, because you talk, you talk pretty openly about caring for your quadriplegic brother and how that really reshaped your definition of success, contribution, and what really matters in life, which kind of goes to the core of The Millionaire Next Door as well. 

Dr. Danko: Yeah, absolutely. You know, certainly, you know, The Millionaire Next Door, you know, gives the outline in, in philosophy of how to build wealth, but to really have true wealth

you must be charitable, and where [00:05:00] did I get that idea from? Well, dealing with my brother, but, and no doubt, our friends in the Franklin uh, Planning business have this very short 3,500 word essay from Benjamin Franklin, Richard Saunders, A Way to Wealth, written in 1758. And in this essay he says, “No matter how frugal and prudent and focused and industrious you may be, you do not have true wealth unless you are charitable.” And that really was profound, you know, ’cause again, getting back to my brother, um, I would, um, hire healthcare aides on his behalf and that generally worked. But Friday, Saturdays, and Sundays for a 20 year period, I [00:06:00] was basically under house arrest.

I, I was the aide and that’s when I said, look, I gotta get rid of my Mercedes. I bought a wheelchair van and that really opened up a lot of horizons for him and me. And quite frankly, I got really great parking with my, you know, there’s an upside to that, really great parking. Um. But I, I would do it again in a heartbeat.

But during those periods when I would be the number one guy caring for him, uh, we would talk about life. You know, ’cause look, we came from the same genetic stock and here I am, a bestselling author, PhD, you know, world traveler and, uh, doing all sorts of great things. And here’s a guy who couldn’t even scratch his nose. And, uh, you know, he did did a total care. But anyway, he was [00:07:00] still pretty articulate. He was a college graduate and we would talk about, what’s it all about, you know? And… 

The Origin of The Millionaire Next Door: Decades of Research on Affluent Behavior

Meeting Tom Stanley and Early Studies of the Millionaire Market

George: Yeah, what’s crazy is your background, uh, and the reason I started with that, just to give the context for our listeners, I want to talk about three core things today.

Dr. Danko: Mm-hmm. 

George: You wrote this. multiple New York Times bestselling book, co-wrote this book, The Millionaire Next Door, which talks about building wealth. And then you have a core concept that I really love about the Golden Rule and really, you know, ways that you can create a pathway to true prosperity. And you then co-authored this final book called Richer Than a Millionaire, which really talks about what’s more important, right? So I wanna break all three of those down, but I believe that they all came from this foundation of background that you had. Would you agree? 

Dr. Danko: Yeah. Yeah. They, yeah, they really did. Um, you know, I’ve always been a pretty good student. And again, some of the advice my mother gave me in my very young years, because my father only had a 10th [00:08:00] grade education and my mother was a high school graduate, and my mother said, “Bill, stay in school.” And I took her literally, I never left because when I went to the university, that’s where I met Tom Stanley.

I was one of his students in a consumer behavior class. And that marketing course really opened my eyes to the power of marketing because it talked about, you know, anthropology, sociology, psychology, and the whole of what it means to be a, a customer and, and how do you understand the needs of a customer and therefore meet their needs and at a profit, you know, the whole idea of marketing, right?

George: Yeah. Yeah. 

Dr. Danko: And so that one course. Well, Tom Stanley, he was, he didn’t even have his PhD yet when he taught that course. You know, he was a, b, d, all but dissertation. But [00:09:00] he really opened, some people call it all but dead too. No, but he’s, no, but all but dissertation. But he finally, he saw my work ethic and, I mean, I happened to get an A in his class, but he invited me, um, after that class to participate in his very first study of the affluent market. So it really started in 1973, the, the in earnest, you know, doing questionnaire surveys and so forth. And he encourag– and then he went on to another school. But he encouraged me to get my PhD and I did at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. And, uh, came back to the faculty at, uh, the State University of New York at Albany. And, uh, I was there for 31 years, so I never left school. 

George: Well, and it, and look, I mean, you, you’ve had decades and decades of research and you and I have known each other for quite a while. 

Dr. Danko: Yeah. At least 20 years at least.

Core Habits of Ordinary Millionaires That Still Hold True Today

George: Yeah. I mean, geez. It is, it’s, [00:10:00] let’s, let’s break down The Millionaire Next Door. You know, this is, look, let’s say 25 years later, decades of research. What would you say are the core habits of ordinary millionaires that still hold true today? And let’s talk just a minute about that book. 

Dr. Danko: Yeah. And, and The Millionaire Next Door, um, it really comes down to the basic mantra of when you’re young, you work for money, and when you’re old, money works for you. And so what you need is an entrepreneurial spirit that really helps and get this mechanism for, for creating, uh, income. And once you have the income, you get it through your head that I have to be a saver. And when you’re a saver, it means you’re frugal. This is so easy when you’re, uh, when in graduate school, if you just act like a graduate assistant for a big portion of your life. 

George: Yeah, yeah. 

Dr. Danko: And, and not have a, a [00:11:00] flamboyant lifestyle, it’s, uh, it, it can really help build wealth and, you know, so. From my own personal perspective, you know, yes. I, I’ve been extremely successful because I always lived like a graduate assistant in, in so many ways, you know, buying used cars and being a saver. And, uh, they, and the rewards were, I was able to get, you know, my three kids who are all in their forties now, um, get ’em out of college debt free, help them launch their careers. They’re, one of my sons is a PhD mechanical engineer. My daughter is a PhD mathematician faculty member at a university, and another son is a computer systems, uh, analyst with a major aerospace company. And so they all have successful careers because. And I love it. When my daughter once said, when, when [00:12:00] she was getting her PhD, I said, Christie, why in the world are you putting yourself through this? I mean, she has three kids. Uh, also she goes, dad, I saw you do it. I can do it. So. Living parents are role models. Yeah. Parents are role models, that’s for sure. And they’re watching what you’re doing and when, so yeah. 

Frugality, Saving, and Avoiding Lifestyle Inflation

George: Yeah. But, but you’re talking about these common habits, um, of ordinary millionaires, right? Frugality, early savings, avoiding lifestyle inflation, that type of thing. 

Dr. Danko: That’s right. And, and this idea of being directed, you know, having a focus, you know, like staying in school, building a career, and creating this consistent flow of money that you can then invest across a diverse set of, uh, assets and, uh.

Self-Imposed Economic Scarcity: Intentional Living in a Consumer-Driven World

George: Well, well, well, and I, and I think successfully of right now, it’s more applicable than ever. And, and that’s why I was gonna ask, you know, you talk a lot about, you know, [00:13:00] talking about the average person now, right? We have, uh, we have listeners that are, um, seniors, we have listeners that are younger. But you talk about a common theme that I wanted you to just, you know, bring some value to, and that is this idea of self-imposed economic scarcity and intentional living. And I bring it up because with Franklin Planner, we talk about lead your life and a lifestyle of planning and stewardship and long-term thinking. How does self-imposed economic scarcity, which is a common theme of the book apply today and to these principles you’re talking about? 

The $40,000 Rolex Story – Opportunity Cost of Lifestyle Inflation

Dr. Danko: Yeah. It, it, it applies more than ever because what we have is a, a, a society– First, I love America and I love our western values, but we have such a consumer driven economy and we have this bigger, faster, better mentality. We need a new power every couple of years, you know? No, you don’t. You know, you know, let, let me, let me repent on one of my sins right here. You, [00:14:00] you see my $40,000 Rolex? Yeah. They say, well, how can that be $40,000? It’s stainless steel. Let me tell you the story. It reminds me every day about what a dumb decision it was to buy this. In 1993, I was doing a seminar in Zurich, Switzerland, and after the seminar I was walking down the Bahnhofstrasse with some of my students.

We go past a jewelry store and I said, you know, I need a Rolex. You know, I had a pocket full of Swiss francs. I was young. I was wild. 1993, gosh, bought less than $2,000. I bought it. And, why did I call this a $40,000 watch? Because over the next 25 years or so, from 1993 to, uh, to last December, had you put this, had I put this into a, uh, just an S&P 500 with a 10% growth account it would be worth over [00:15:00] $40,000 today. 

George: So, so it’s a $40,000 bad decision. 

Dr. Danko: Truly. Yeah. Yeah. 

George: And, and, but it’s your mindset, right? I mean, look, people, people need to, to realize that how you view your life, if you’re leading your life and you’re being in control of what you’re trying to create in prosperity in your family and things like this, every decision has consequences, but also, also every decision has a return, right? 

Dr. Danko: It, it does. You know, I mean, I look cool, right? You know, that’s, that’s 40,000. But, and when I got home in 1993, my wife said, you did what? So I had to put up with a little bit of the, uh, you know, static. But it’s been, uh, it’s been a very reliable wristwatch. I’m glad I have it. It reminds me about that principle of living below your means and having a better use for your money. You know, my physician, uh, I, I saw him a couple of weeks ago. He says, you know, because he’s read The Millionaire Next Door, [00:16:00] and he said because of that book, he moved out of a high end neighborhood in the, in New York and he moved to a more, what you might call a upper blue collar type neighborhood because he says, you know, they’re just regular people. Yes, he makes a very good income, but he doesn’t want his kids to be brought up in this “I need more because all my friends have more.” So… 

George: Yeah, it’s a great, it’s a great philosophy, uh, to, to not only talk about, but to show that your, your actions, your, whether you’re older with children, and, and that’s why I say, you know, we have a lot of our listeners that have kids and grandkids and the examples and things that are set, not just for them, but their way and, and this common theme of self-imposed economic scarcity is so, is so key, right? But I also like… Go ahead. 

Economic Outpatient Care: Avoiding Dependency in Adult Children

Dr. Danko: No. Well, with the kids and the grandkids, there’s, you know, one of the key chapters in The Millionaire Next Door is about economic, outpatient care, [00:17:00] about how you subsidize your adult children because they get kind of used to these yearly gifts and you, you create a cycle of dependency. You, you think you’re doing them a favor by easing the burden. But they have to struggle a little bit as well. Oh, look, I’m generous with the kids, but they don’t ask me for money, and they don’t know when the generosity is going to occur either. 

George: Yeah. 

Dr. Danko: And so they can’t count on it. But, um, yeah. 

The Golden Rule as a Pathway to True Prosperity and Wealth

George: Well it’s, it’s important though that if we’re we’re being intentional and we’re trying to create impact and legacy, it’s important to have these key rules. And, and it leads me to the, the other one I wanted to talk about, which is, you know, the golden rule and, and I love how you referred back to Benjamin, uh, Franklin and, you know, a, a, a way to wealth, but, you know, a pathway to wealth and wellbeing. This idea of the golden rule. You know, your research shows that the golden rule, loving your neighbors as yourself is not only a moral principle, but it correlates with greater prosperity as [00:18:00] well. How does that, how does the data support that? 

Dr. Danko: Yeah, well, in, in Richer Than a Millionaire, another empirical study that I do with my colleague Rich Van Ness, um. We’re, we’re both emeritus professors and we have oceans of free time. And, and, but it really, it wasn’t until when my brother died in, uh, 2015 that I really had lots of more free time to, to devote to the book, and the book came out in 2007, 2017. But the basic concept of it, it was based on discussions of, you know, look it personally, I have taught over 10,000 students in 15 week blocks over a 31 year period. And, uh, you know, I got to know a lot of them, you know, quite, uh, in depth. And when I look at their struggles about [00:19:00] what do they wanna do for a career and how, like, they are like a, uh, adrift on the high seas of life, you know, not knowing what direction to take. That really helped motivate the book, again, along with Franklin’s, you know, thinking, uh, in the way to wealth about you must be charitable. And, and that became the basis of the, of course, the Golden Rule Award I created, named after my parents, and now it’s been, uh, uh, you know, 25 years in the making. It started in 2001 and the most recent reward award last week or two weeks ago, um, was given out. And what I’m trying to do is encourage students to be recognized for being generous with their time. It’s not based on grade point average. It’s not based on money. Well, although they do get, it’s a $2,000 [00:20:00] scholarship, but nevertheless, 

George: Right, right. 

Dr. Danko: Half of it goes to a charity of their choice and half goes to their tuition payments.

It’s, it’s just a mechanism for me to encourage this idea of, uh, the Golden Rule and being a giver instead of just a taker all the time. So I’m just trying by one small part of the universe. I’m trying to encourage at least 25 students. 

George: Yeah. 

Benjamin Franklin’s “A Way to Wealth” and Charity as True Wealth

Dr. Danko: And, but it goes on every year. I’m still on the committee that selects. But this idea of, you know, the economic outpatient care. Look what, especially appendix three of The Millionaire Next Door gives a litany of about 150 job titles of people who have become very wealthy doing ordinary things, be it farming, being, uh, mechanics. Being a, being an attorney, being a university professor, there’s, there’s no such thing as a bad job. I think Earl Nightingale once said that there’s no such thing as a bad job. It’s [00:21:00] if you put your heart and soul into it, you can really develop it and become kind of the leader in that particular, um, sphere. 

So once the parents make this money, there are four things they can do with it. Towards the end, what are they gonna do? Spend more on themselves? No, they already have a frugal lifestyle. Are they gonna give it to their kids? Oh my gosh. And dead in their senses. And, and let them think, you know, look, they were born on third base and all they have to do is just enjoy this, uh, this gift or die with a huge estate tax. That’s no fun either. But the fourth thing that’s logical is that you could be charitable with your money and your time for that matter. 

George: Yeah. 

Dr. Danko: And the golden rule. So this became the basis of how do we look at those people who have achieved great [00:22:00] success financially, which of course, The Millionaire Next Door helps ’em do, but in the Richer Than a Millionaire, we asked a question in the surveys. Now that you’ve achieved it on a scale that was created by, uh, in the psychology literature, uh, it’s now in the public domain called subjective wellbeing, SWB. And in the book you can look at how to test yourself on how well adjusted you are. And well, I score very high on well adjusted, however, about 20% of the very affluent people in our country score very low. In other words, they’re rich and miserable with life. A saving grace is though those people who have a modest net worth who score very high, are very well adjusted. So. 

Richer Than a Millionaire: What Separates Wealthy and Happy from Wealthy and Unhappy

George: Yeah, [00:23:00] this is an interesting concept because, uh, it it’s sort of a leading path.

It’s one of the reasons why I wanted you on it, because we talk about timeless principles. Of success and prosperity and happiness and fulfillment. And generally the two are kind of mutually exclusive. And what you’ve kind of talked about is that there are wealth principles and also, uh, charitability and, and, and golden rule and things that also contribute that go hand in hand. But ultimately, this book you wrote with Richer the Millionaire, uh, Richer Than a Millionaire, talks about how money and happiness is what, you know, what truly makes people prosperous because you’ve got this idea that, um, you know, some high net worth individuals are unhappy while some modest millionaires are deeply fulfilled. So what is it that separates the wealthy and happy from the wealthy and unhappy? 

Dr. Danko: Well, you know, here’s the thing. I can’t demonstrate causality because it’s survey research, but there’s a [00:24:00] lot of association. On the variables and one of the ones in, in a pretest of the questionnaire for Richer than a Millionaire, one of the questions was a yes no, and, and is God central to your life? Yes or no? Just about everybody who said, I am very happy with my life and I’m also rich, God was central. 

George: So that was a common characteristic in the data. 

Dr. Danko: And I understand, and you know what, when it comes to charity too, you know, I have a, a, a number of, uh, uh, uh, very good Jewish friends, and they tell me about this concept of Tikkun Olam, heal the world and as part of the philosophy of what it means to be a good Jew. And so you’re, when you heal the world, you know, you become very charitable and, and you have [00:25:00] causes, you’re, you’re trying to, uh, support. And in Islam, one of the five pillars of Islam is being an alms giver, being charitable. And in Christianity, my goodness, you know, the, the fundraising letters for, uh, now Saint Theresa, but when it was Mother Theresa of Calcutta, uh, on fundraising envelopes, it would say that what you’ve done to the least of these you’ve done unto me says the Lord.

Okay? It’s. It, it’s about being charitable and of course it, we also have the, uh, acts of mercy, uh, corporal and spiritual acts of mercy that are based on the gospels in Christianity about, you know, feeding the poor or well feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, clothing the naked, visiting prisoners, all these things.

Godly people tend to embrace these things. Which makes them [00:26:00] givers and as a giver you actually become wealthier because you’re finding there is a very good reason that you have the money, that it could be used for the benefit of others. 

Practical Advice for Leading Your LIfe with Purpose and Planning

Are You at Peace with Your Soul? The Serenity Prayer

George: Hmm. Yeah. That, that, uh, really pulls together both the wealth and the charitable giving. I, I think that, um, you know, for a lot of the listeners, let’s say for our Franklin Planner listeners who want to lead their life, who wanna have both financial success and a meaningful life, I, I’m curious, with all this data and research and the books that you’ve written and things, what questions would you have our listeners ask themselves to ensure that they’re planning with purpose, not just planning for economic income? 

Dr. Danko: Yeah. Right, right. Because you know we all have different lives, but can you answer the one question? Are you at peace with your soul? 

George: Mm-hmm. 

Dr. Danko: If the answer is yes, that’s highly correlated with your life satisfaction [00:27:00] because when you are not at peace with your soul, you’re angry with the world. You know, one of the things that, that, that, that drives me, um, I like reading history and Reinhold Niebuhr, a theologian, a German theologian on the eve of World War II in 1937. He wrote The Serenity Prayer. The Serenity Prayer goes like this. “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference.” So many times, you know, we’re, we’re, we’re tilting out windmills, trying to change things that we have no control over, right? 

George: Yeah, yeah. 

Dr. Danko: But what things can you change in your life? Well, you can change your [00:28:00] diet, your exercise plan, your course of education. You know, we hear about students in, in tremendous debt from tuition. Well. And they find they can’t find a job that’s worthy or, or, or worthwhile enough to pay off all their debt. Well, maybe they shouldn’t have chosen the major they wanted to choose 

George: Yeah. 

Dr. Danko: Instead of one. You know, the, the advice I have given my students is follow your dreams, but don’t forget to make a living. Okay. 

George: Yeah, right, exactly. Practicality, right? 

Dr. Danko: Yeah. Being out there chasing butterflies is wonderful and it may be fulfilling. You also have to have a way of paying the bills and becoming economically self-sufficient. 

George: Yeah, and I, I love, that’s why I love your messages because you go from, you know, you, you have these data rich messages of prosperity and wealth, but also what’s [00:29:00] truly gonna create happiness. But it has to translate to you having a practical life and actually having direction and, and purpose behind what you’re doing, right? 

Dr. Danko: That’s right. It it, the purpose driven life, right? Yeah. One that’s worthy of your time and effort. I mean, we all have this finite amount of time and how are we going to spend that time? Well, for the good of our neighbor in Hence, yeah. Do want to others as you would have them do unto you, right? 

George: Yeah. 

Dr. Danko: The golden rule. 

George: Yeah, what you think– 

Dr. Danko: I’ve learned it from my parents 

George: and passed it on to, 

Dr. Danko: And passed it on

Early Habits for Families: Teaching Compound Interest, Self-Reliance, and Values 

George: to even more, and obviously in a huge way, uh, globally now, but, um, what are some, some really powerful early habits for families? In other words, you know what, um, we have a, a kind of a mixed listener base. We, what are some important habits parents can help their children’s develop, children develop so that the next generation grows up more financially capable, self-reliant, and grounded in values? What would be some of your [00:30:00] recommendations? 

Dr. Danko: Yeah, the, um, show them the power of compound interest. That, that’s certainly a very good thing. You know, I have seen, um, too many people living paycheck to paycheck and not have this long-term horizon of saying I have to save and invest and build wealth. Uh, all we have to do is look at some of the scandals that are going on in our government. You know, DOGE I think is really good. Yeah. It’s a very high profile example about the waste in government saying, well, look, we have this welfare state, everybody can participate.

You know, we’ll change the criteria. You know, you don’t ha– we, we ha, labor participation, I think is is really key. And if you look at the data on labor participation of able people, it’s down historically. And what we have to [00:31:00] have is a robust society where people are working for a living. Contributing givers.

You know, oh gosh, 20 years ago there was a book called Bowling Alone by Robert Putman, a Harvard sociologist, and he kind of lit the fire on this saying, I mean, two bowls alone, right? It’s a group activity, right. But what we have is so much, uh, division within our society. We don’t have bowling leagues anymore, and Kiwanis is on the downs downturn, and you know, practicing religion is on the down downturn. We have less group participation, less cohesion, and if we can build in our own families, here’s the cohesion. We will sit down at the dinner table and we will talk, no cell phones. We will talk, we’ll talk about the [00:32:00] day. We’ll talk about aspirations. Again, oh gosh. Maybe 40 years ago, a book that came out was titled The World’s Smallest Classroom: the Family. 

George: Wow. 

Dr. Danko: Well, what have we done? We have destroyed the family. We’ve made it easy to just, oh, well, you know. What’s marriage all about? Look, here’s one of the big issues. We now have a replacement rate fertility rate for a woman, 1.6 children. We need at least 2.2 in order to replace our population. What kind of society are we going to have if we don’t have any people to live in the society? 

George: Yeah. That’s why I love these conversations because these conversations I think will resonate, but they’re, they’re embedded in timeless principles that have proven this isn’t just great ideas, like these are, these are timeless principles and values that have been proven, and when we create awareness and we [00:33:00] have conversations about them, what happens is they can be then reembedded into the family, the world, prosperity. We’re, we’re, we’re finding that there’s this, and I, I, I deal with thousands of entrepreneurs on a monthly basis, and, you know, there’s just an epidemic of disconnection and, and depression and mental anxiety, and especially as you’re aging. Yeah. So these are principles that are not just grounded in how to create wealth and prosperity and happiness. There truly answers to a lot of problems. Would you agree with that? 

Dr. Danko: I, I, I do wholeheartedly. It’s about, you know. I came, I grew up in a single parent household, but the point is, there was love in the household. There was an expectation of caring for your sibling in the household. There was the expectation of being a giver. You know, use your talents for the benefit of others. Um. 

George: And all those translate to the monetary as well as the happiness level. And I think you’re right. You made a point that I wanna really point out, and that is no matter what your [00:34:00] circumstances are, economically, spiritually, emotionally, um, you know, environmentally, the principles remain the same. They’re not different depending on what your certain circumstances are, correct? 

Dr. Danko: That’s right. You know, be the change you wanna make. You know? 

George: Yeah. In the world, in your life, in the world, everywhere. 

Dr. Danko: Yeah. So when you think about, yeah, okay, so how can I, you know, increase my longevity to increase the opportunity of compounding of my money? Well, you know, don’t drink too much. Don’t get, don’t eat too much, exercise more. You know, I’ve been married for 51 years now. And, uh, yeah, one wife, three kids, six grandkids. It’s, uh, it’s been a real blessing, you know? 

George: Yeah. Well, you, you’ve created a, you’ve created a life, um, that, that not only are, you know, you can be proud of and that you enjoy, but it’s also been a life lesson in learning for a lot of others. I, it’s one of the reasons [00:35:00] why I wanted to just kind of have this healthy conversation, because I’m gonna put in our show notes links to The Millionaire Next Door and, and, and Richer Than a Millionaire and a lot of the data, ’cause I think people would be blown away that all of these principles we’re talking about, especially with your research, are grounded in facts and data and, and, and validation. And I think sometimes people need that mentally to accept timeless principles, even though they should accept them on their own merit, right? 

Dr. Danko: Yeah. And this is the thing, um, and, and I learned this in my young years with Tom Stanley about, look, we can all have opinions about what we want to do, but let’s get some survey research. And the survey research points you in a direction. And in fact. And both of the books Richer than a Millionaire and Millionaire Next Door, we have what is called convergent validity. It means it’s not just one survey at one point of time. It’s 40 years of research [00:36:00] that went into this and looking at IRS Data and Census Bureau data, syndicated data.

And when you get so much convergence on these basic truths, I mean, they’re hard to deny. 

George: Yeah, they really are. 

Dr. Danko: And he said, well, I, but, but I wanna do my own lifestyle and do my own thing. I said, well, you know, I don’t know if that’s good or not, right? I need the data. But I do know the data that I have and, and my colleagues have is, um, is solid. It converges. It’s bolstered by the sociology literature, like Bowling Alone and what is a DK here, and it’s bolstered by what do we have if we have no people to support our society, you know? So we need a greater fertility rate. We need people working. We need this idea of I gotta be a worker and a saver and an investor.

And I have that compound interest work on my behalf. 

Final Challenge: Be Frugal, Prudent, Industrious, and Charitable

George: Wow. What a great, what a great list. [00:37:00] That, like, that is an amazing list. I, let me, let me, I, I gotta ask you this because I know I wish we had some more time, but I, I’m gonna, I’m gonna definitely re-invite, we’re gonna come back together, but you are now at a point in your life, um, where creating significance and legacy is important to you. We have hundreds of thousands of listeners, and I’m curious what your, you know, kind of final piece of advice, whether it would be advice on, we always end our, our, um, our episodes with a challenge to our audience, and so maybe we could combine up both what you would like to have for some impact for our audience and, and a challenge to them. What advice would you give them? 

Dr. Danko: Yeah. 

George: To be able to have a more prosperous, happy life? 

Dr. Danko: It comes right out of this book, Benjamin Franklin. Wade Wealth, The Way to Wealth, the concluding paragraph goes something like this: “The townspeople heard the message, agreed with it, [00:38:00] and then practiced the contrary life.” You see, it’s the old story. You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink. You see, we know what the answers are, or at least many good answers based on the empirical research and next door and enricher. But Franklin 250 years ago also had the answer, you know, be frugal, be prudent, be industrious, be charitable. That’s what you gotta do to be wealthy. And if you choose not to, it’s like being a university professor. Say, my gosh, what’s wrong with these students? I’m telling them what they have to know. 

George: Well, you know, you’ve done a, you’ve done a good job of providing the logic a lot of people need in order to validate and justify and promote and motivate themselves to do [00:39:00] these things. And so I, I, like I said, I’ve, I’ve known you for a super long time now. I can’t believe it’s been that long. Um, but I do appreciate your, your knowledge, your wisdom. We’ve had you speaking all over the world, and, um, the message is there and it resonates, and I think there’s no better time than now for the message.

Dr. Danko: Yes. Yeah. I, I agree. I, and I thank you for this, uh, venue that we can, I can continue educating my people, my students out there. 

George: Yeah. I love it. I love it. Well, well, Dr. Danko, thank you so much for being here. And, and listen, if you’re listening to this show, I would encourage you to share the message. Um, and we wanna hear from you. Hit us up on, uh, at Franklin Planner on Facebook, Instagram. You can, uh, click on the show notes and get some context for us. But, um, I’ll leave you with this thought. You know, do what you can to lead your life and lead it with intention. Lead it with principle and lead it according to some of the values that Dr. Danko has talked about with, uh, Benjamin Franklin that are so timeless. 250 years more, more applicable [00:40:00] today than ever. And we’ll look forward to having you, uh, on our next show. Thanks guys. Have a great day. Thank you. 

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Thank you for joining us on this Journey to create your best life and to lead your Life and Teams. Please share this show, and we look forward to the journey we will take together.

The Franklin Planner Team

About Guest: Dr. William D. Danko

Dr. William D. Danko is a much-sought after adviser on marketing and the behavior of the affluent. He co-authored The Millionaire Next Door, a research-based book about wealth in America that has been ranked as a bestseller by The New York Times for more than three years. Over four million copies have been sold and it continues to be featured in national book chains. More recently, he coauthored Richer Than A Millionaire ~ A Pathway To True Prosperity, a book that shows how to build wealth with a greater purpose in mind. It offers special value to younger people with the ambition to be wealthy and happy, yet lacking sustainable strategies and tools. His publications have appeared in the Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Advertising Research, and other leading journals. He has presented his research findings in nearly every State, as well as in Australia, Canada, Germany, Poland, Switzerland, and Taiwan.

Guest Resources

THE MILLIONAIRE NEXT DOOR

RICHER THAN A MILLIONAIRE