A few years ago I read The Millionaire Next Door (see chapter 1). I was fascinated by this book. It showed that, in general, the people who act rich are not rich, and the rich usually don’t “act rich.”
A good measure of wealth is this: if your income was cut off, how long could you survive without changing your lifestyle or taking out additional debt? By that measure, an amazingly high percentage of those living in your area’s silk stockings district are fakes. They are consuming so much of their income that their net worth is a fraction of what you might imagine.
I also read part of Rich Dad, Poor Dad. That book was such hooey that I didn’t even finish it. A good analysis of the book and its author is at http://www.johntreed.com/Kiyosaki.html. I think this guy is practically a fraud.