Forget Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos: The -2-

Zwick: There are forces that grow the pie: falling interest rates and a shift from a capital-intensive manufacturing economy to a less capital-intensive service economy, so you can own all of a large business without raising outside capital. Globalization opens up markets, and deregulation across state lines lets people expand across state borders. Then falling tax rates, which took off in the 1980s and were accelerated by the 2001 Bush tax cuts and the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, mean owners keep more after taxes.

MarketWatch: What do you most want readers to take away from the book?

Zwick: The book has a bunch of cool stories that are fun to read, inspiring in a lot of cases, and sometimes maddening. The foundation is unprecedented tax-data research we've done over the past decade, which told us where to look to make sure those stories were representative of the broader phenomenon. The stories are the reason to read the book, because they're more entertaining than raw data points.

Zidar: Everywhere millionaires have created the blueprint for how to get rich in America today. It's a road map for success. Many, many wealthy people have followed this path, and it's far more attainable than trying to be Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos.

Michael Sincere is a freelance financial writer and the author of several books, including "Understanding Stocks," "Understanding Options" and "Help Your Child Build Wealth."

-Michael Sincere

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09-21-26 1523ET