Get to Know DataPoints
The science of building wealth.™
At DataPoints, we help financial professionals understand client money mindset. Our suite of behavioral assessments help uncover money attitude, risk tolerance, money beliefs, and wealth-building competencies. Based on over 40 years of research, including the data that led to The Millionaire Next Door, our insights provide financial professionals a roadmap to help clients avoid the behavioral challenges to achieving financial success.
Our Mission
For all clients and financial professionals to understand their unique money-related personality in order to achieve financial goals
Our Company
Learn about our products, partnerships, and research.
Our Team
DataPoints is a small business headquartered in Marietta, Georgia, just outside of Atlanta.
Sarah Stanley Fallaw, Ph.D. is the founder and President of DataPoints, co-author of The Next Millionaire Next Door, and continues the research of the Affluent Market Institute. Her research on psychometrics and financial psychology has been featured in conferences and publications including Industrial and Organizational Psychology and the Journal of Financial Services Professionals. Sarah received her Ph.D. in Applied Psychology from the University of Georgia in 2003.
Timothy L. Fallaw II is currently general counsel and chief legal officer at DataPoints. Prior to joining DataPoints in May 2016, Tim served as Director of Tax Controversy and Sr. Tax Counsel for United Parcel Service in Atlanta, Georgia, and was a partner at the law firm of Alston & Bird LLP. Tim received his J.D., magna cum laude, from the University of Georgia School of Law in 2000 where he was elected to the Order of the Coif and served on the editorial board for the Journal of Intellectual Property Law. He received his B.B.A. in accounting, summa cum laude with honors, from the University of Georgia in 1997.
Our Advisory Board
John Grable, Ph.D., CFP®
Professor John Grable teaches and conducts research in the Certified Financial Planner™ Board of Standards Inc. undergraduate and graduate programs at the University of Georgia where he holds an Athletic Association Endowed Professorship. Prior to entering the academic profession he worked as a pension/benefits administrator and later as a Registered Investment Advisor in an asset management firm. Dr. Grable served as the founding editor for theJournal of Personal Finance and co-founding editor of the Journal of Financial Therapy. His research interests include financial risk-tolerance assessment, psychophysiological economics, and behavioral financial planning. He has been the recipient of several research and publication awards and grants, and is active in promoting the link between research and financial planning practice where he has published over 100 refereed papers, co-authored two financial planning textbooks, and co-edited a financial planning and counseling scales book. Dr. Grable currently serves on the Board of the Financial Therapy Association, and he writes a quarterly column for the Journal of Financial Service Professionals.
Noel J. Sitzmann
Noel Sitzmann is a private equity CEO and board director with a 25-year track record of shareholder success in acquiring, building, operating and selling businesses. In addition to sourcing transactions and raising capital for his own deals, Mr. Sitzmann has advised businesses of all sizes on capital raising and growth and exit strategies. From 2012-2019, Mr. Sitzmann was the Chairman and CEO of Focus Pointe Global (FPG), a leading provider of high-quality qualitative and quantitative marketing research data collection services, and achieved growth in sales and profitability through increased investment and an acquisition strategy to expand FPG’s national presence. Prior to FPG, he spent 11 years as the CEO of PreVisor, and grew the business 20-fold from a niche player to the leading global provider of technology-enabled talent measurement solutions. In addition to advising DataPoints, Mr. Sitzmann serves on the board of directors of Modern Hire and 919 Marketing. Mr. Sitzmann is a graduate of Marist College and the Fordham Gabelli School of Business.
Our History
Our products, services, and mission are rooted in the research that the fueled The Millionaire Next Door.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Dr. Thomas J. Stanley began work that helped to change the way the world views wealth and affluence. His groundbreaking work on affluent populations, particularly what was called the “blue-collar wealthy” led to the bestselling book The Millionaire Next Door, as well as many other academic publications and other books.
In the early 2010s, Dr. Fallaw began incorporating the findings from the research from both the Affluent Market Institute, as well as academic work in the fields of industrial psychology and financial planning, to identify the factors or competencies that were related to the ability to build and sustain wealth. From this research, DataPoints assessments were born.
Today, DataPoints continues the research and work on the psychological components of wealth building through its continued focus on the scientific measurement of characteristics that relate to financial success.
Rooted in The Research & Data of Thomas J. Stanley, Ph.D.
Dr. Thomas J. Stanley served as the chair of the Advisory Board for DataPoints from 2013 until his death in 2015. Dr. Stanley was America’s foremost authority on the affluent, and was a respected researcher, advisor, and author of several highly-regarded, award-winning books on America’s wealthy population. He was the author of The Millionaire Next Door and The Millionaire Mind. These books spent more than 170 weeks combined on the New York Times’ Best Sellers list. His work has been cited in the national media, including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Forbes, Fortune, Time, Money Magazine, U.S. News and World Report, and USA Today. Dr. Stanley was also chairman of the Affluent Market Institute through which he has developed research-based marketing and selling strategies for identifying, attracting, and retaining wealthy clients. Dr. Stanley received his doctorate in business administration from The University of Georgia. He was a university professor for 20 years, leaving to pursue a career in research and writing about America’s millionaires. At Georgia State University, he was named Omicron Delta Kappa’s Outstanding Professor.