re: Who are the "Hidden Millionaires" in small towns

Locally it's fishermen who invested in the processing side or bought land and turned it into a huge profit. Most are unassuming. You'd never know they had wealth.

There's a whole book on this subject

In Mississippi, we have a saying. "Don't judge a man's wealth until you've seen the shoes on his feet and the tires on his truck."

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Is there any truth to this. Outside the medical professions, I don't really see how this would work.

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There's a ton of truth to this. It usually refers to people with: A. successful small businesses, B. oil money, C. land wealth (ag, rental property, or timber), or D. a lucrative professional career.

Small towns often have people who aren't show-offs with their wealth. For example, one of my distant relatives lived in a modified trailer home on family land surrounded by his cousins, children, and grandchildren. He had worked his way up in the local chemical plants and now was in upper management at one. He was secretly worth millions, but he still lived a simple life. There are tons of people like that.

My wife's grandmother was one of the richest people in her town, but she lived in a very normal house and drove a regular used car, so few people knew about it. Her wealth was in rental properties, owning several buildings in the town's downtown.

Just because one has the money doesn't mean they need a gold-plated private jet, an expensive sports car, or a giant house. His house was all him and his wife needed since their children were all grown and had their own families and careers. His truck got him to and from work and the deer stand, so he didn't need a sports car. He contributed lots of money to the local church and schools, but never would put his name on it. There's only so much money a man needs, the rest is just for showing off.

I think our public schools do a very very bad job of explaining to children where wealth comes from. One can only earn so much money from their own time and labor. In order to become truly wealthy, one needs to earn money passively. True wealth is built from owning producing land, inventing something, or building a successful business that produces even when you're not in the office.

Most people my age think that the only ways to make money are to work jobs, and the only way to become rich is to somehow make it as a professional athlete or entertainer.

Most people don't recognize wealth.

Every town has a couple of guys with a million dollars worth of trucks or bull dozers or buildings or retail inventory etc. that are millionaires.

Anyone can be a millionaire too if they really want too. Get up, go to work, live cheap, invest all your cash flow in the business, borrow money only for the business and stay in business.

The staying in business part is the hardest because it takes perseverance.

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The leaders in debt were the local farmers, but this was the era of increasing property value and farmers were borrowing against their land value, investing the money and trying to pocket the spread, most lost their shirt.

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sounds to me like the farmers were borrowing against their land for the next season's operating funds....pretty typical in that business.

You all forget. This is the OT. We're all millionaires.

Seriously though - how could anybody retire if they didn't have a million somewhere? A mil ain't what it used to be.

Million dollars does not go very far. Cost of living in small towns pretty low. $300,000 in Mamou would probably get you a mansion. In the midfle of BR it gets you a 1500 sf house.

My grandfather worked for the phone company for 35 years died with $4 mil in the bank lived a miserable life. Never spent a dime.

Moderation.

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There was a guy in Ruston that I used to see cruising around in a Viper. He looked like a hobo but he was loaded. I think he made his money with daiquiri machines.

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Dolf Williams?

They are the people who usually own most of the land or is associated with several businesses (the family who owns the funeral home is usually that family).