Engineers are more successful than doctors and lawyers at transforming income into wealth, according to an extensive new survey by author Thomas Stanley, Ph.D in his bestseller,Stop Acting Rich...How to Live Like a Real Millionaire. Dr. Stanley attributes engineers’ thrifty ways to the secret of their wealth accumulation. “Engineers in general are a frugal group. They are less likely to favor expensive status-denoting products and brands than others. For many of them, substance, design and endurance are more important factors in selecting a product, even a home, than showy style and status connotations.”

Estate data from the Internal Revenue Service confirms that engineers have a high propensity to accumulate wealth. About 1 in 13 (7.6%) of all male decedents with a gross estate of $1 million or more was once an engineer. Yet engineers account for only 2.3% of the male working population in this country. Thus, engineers are overrepresented by a multiple of 3.3 times the expectation, given their overall representation in the male working population.

Dr. Stanley’s findings also showed that:

  • Mining and geological engineers ranked number one in percentage of millionaires among the top 200 high-income-producing occupational categories in America.

  • Overall, engineers produced about 22% more wealth per dollar of realized income than did millionaires in general.

  • Within the same wealth, income and age cohort, engineers who are millionaires tend to live in neighborhoods where the median price of a home is about 12% lower than for millionaires in general.

    Wealthy engineers also tend to keep their cars longer, 5 years and 7 months, than the median for the millionaire population in general - 4 years and 4 months. Overall, they pay about 11% less for their vehicles than do typical millionaires.


    • Engineers Week 2010 Set For Feb. 14-20

    Activities for National Engineers Week 2010 have been announced and will take place Feb. 14-20, 2010. Founded in 1951 by the National Society of Professional Engineers, Engineers Week (EWeek) is a formal coalition of more than 70 engineering, education and cultural societies, and more than 50 corporations and government agencies.

    Dedicated to raising public awareness of engineers' positive contributions to quality of life, EWeek promotes recognition among parents, teachers and students of the importance of a technical education and a high level of math, science and technology literacy. It also motivates youth to pursue engineering careers in order to provide a diverse and vigorous engineering workforce.

    Each year, EWeek reaches thousands of schools, businesses and community groups across the United States. Activities for this year are as follows:

    Feb. 14-16:Future City Competition Finals, Washington, DC.

    Feb. 18:Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day.

    Feb. 18:Federal Engineer of the Year Award Banquet. Presented by NSPE.

    Feb. 20:Discover Engineering Family Day at the National Building Museum.

    Follow-up activities includeMarch 10-11:A 24-hour Global Marathon for Women in Engineering and Technology. Topics focus on encouraging young women to consider engineering.

    For more information, visitwww.nspe.org/PartnersStates/eweek.html.

    ZweigWhite Honors Winners at 2009 Hot Firm Conference

    Recently, ZweigWhite honored its 2009 Hot Firm winners with a special awards reception and banquet in Las Vegas. The annual event was a follow-up to ZW’s announcement last August of its rankings of the 200 hottest engineering, architecture and environmental consulting firms of the year. The rankings appeared in a special issue ofThe Zweig Letterfor the 10th year in a row.

    Many first-timers made the list.Hill International, Inc. (Marlton, NJ) which ranked second in 2008, took the number one spot. The firm grew 239% between 2005 and 2008, thanks to strong international expansion through acquisitions and 40% organic growth in the last few years. To view the complete list, click here.

    The list is based solely on gross revenue for both fiscal year 2005 and fiscal year 2008, as verified by financial statements or income tax returns reviewed by third parties. The list is limited to firms based in the United States and Canada deriving the majority of their revenue from the practice of engineering, architecture, planning, environmental consulting, or allied disciplines. Design/build firms are also eligible.

    Only firms that were in business as of Jan. 1, 2005, and had 2005 revenue of $1 million or greater, were eligible. Firms were ranked from 1 to 200 based on percentage growth and dollar growth. Dollar growth and percentage growth were weighted equally to give both small and large firms an opportunity to make the list. Each firm’s two rankings were added together, and the 200 firms with the lowest combined rankings comprise the list.