Review by Myra Salzer
Confession time: I didn’t actually read this book by Paul Sullivan. I listened to the audio version. It was definitely worth the listen, and I purchased a few physical books to give as gifts. The gist of the book defines both sides of the thin green line: that invisible line that separates the rich from the wealthy. I so appreciated Sullivan’s take on this perspective. We’ve all heard lines like, “Money isn’t everything!” – but have we explored what money is? In other words, on a scale of 1 to 10, if zero dollars in the bank is a “1,” and $1 billion in the bank is a “10,” if money isn’t everything, what is it? A “4?” An “8?”
By having this distinction between rich and wealthy, we get a new perspective. Money isn’t an absolute. It’s relative. And your relationship with it is relative to your life. Sullivan defines “rich” as those with a certain lifestyle, while “wealthy” is your lifestyle relative to dollars in the bank. One can manage to live a “rich” lifestyle with cars and houses and vacations and their kids’ private schools and designer clothes. “Wealthy” people, however, enjoy that lifestyle affordably with what’s in the bank. In other words, the “wealthy” don’t have to close a deal tomorrow to pay their mortgage at the end of the month. The “wealthy” live above the thin green line. The “rich” do not.
While the examples of pro athletes and lottery winners are familiar, the example of the super-high-income earner living beyond their means offers a poignant reminder about how easy it is to get sucked into a keeping-up-with-the Jones mentality. High incomes don’t guarantee “wealthy,” and Sullivan gives many examples of people in this income range who are living below the thin green line.
Throughout the book, Sullivan personalized the principles by giving examples of his own life, and how his background and his wife’s background – and their relationship with wealth – differ, and how he applies the principles to ensure that his family lives above the thin green line.
I recommend this book to anyone who wants some motivation to adjust their relationship with their money to guarantee a life above the thin green line.
For those of you who, like me, often go to the audio version, this book translates very well in that format. There are no graphs or pictures that you miss out on by listening rather than reading. It was refreshing that Paul Sullivan himself read the prologue, Lunching with Wealthy People.
This book is available in all the usual outlets, including Amazon.