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"    Ever drive through a neighborhood full of four-car garages and waterfront views and wonder, Who are these people and how did they get here? Author Ryan D&amp;#039;Agostino knocked on the doors of 500 residents of America&amp;#039;s wealthiest enclaves and asked them exactly that. Just in time for the recession, he shares what he learned in his new book, Rich Like Them. The takeaway:  MC: An almost scary level of focus and intensity was a common thread among the people you spoke with. What&amp;#039;s an example?  RD: One guy was a broker in the &amp;#039;60s when the market was pretty bad. He decided to sell municipal bonds when no one else was doing it and spent all day cold-calling for hardly any commission \u2014 he&amp;#039;d make $35 an hour doing $5 million trades. His coworkers thought he was nuts, but when the market turned, a client called and wanted to buy big. Others followed. Once the broker had a client with a private plane, the guys at work changed their question from &amp;quot;What are you doing?&amp;quot; to &amp;quot;How did you do that?&amp;quot;  MC: A lot of the people you interviewed have an inherent modesty about them. RD: You&amp;#039;d think the instinct would be to join the upper class and mention The Club and your new Porsche, but most bragged about what they weren&amp;#039;t buying. The first thing one couple in Atlanta told me, before I even got through the door of their $5 million house, was that they drove 10-year-old cars. Another guy said, &amp;quot;It&amp;#039;s not like we have a plane or anything.&amp;quot; One family didn&amp;#039;t have a dining-room set and were proud to say they didn&amp;#039;t care. Jeff Weisfield, a produce broker/real-estate speculator worth millions, bragged that he flies coach and stays at a Motel 6 when he travels. It was sort of heartening in a way. Something made them want to say, &amp;quot;Just so you know, we keep it real.&amp;quot; MC: When they did splurge, what kind of stuff did they buy for themselves? RD: One man had a human-scale chessboard in his backyard. He would have massive parties, where everyone would stand in as a chess piece, and he&amp;#039;d have a gondola in the swimming pool and a guy dressed as a gondolier. There were lots of security cameras built into trees. One guy bought the Ferrari Mondial convertible that Pacino drove in Scent of a Woman.  MC: What are you going to do with the money you get from writing this book? RD: I&amp;#039;m going to put it toward the all-important down payment for a home. I just want a house with a big backyard. It&amp;#039;s the dream. Of course, a home theater would be nice, too. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.marieclaire.com/career-advice/tips/a2380/thats-rich-wealthy-neighborhoods-ryan-dagastino/>