The secant method is one of the most popular methods for root finding. Standard text books in numerical analysis state that the secant method is super linear: the rate of convergence is set by the gold number. Never- theless, this property holds only for simple roots. If the multiplicity of the root is larger than one, the convergence of the secant method becomes linear. This communication includes a detailed analysis of the secant method when it is used to approximate multiple roots. Thus, a proof of the linear convergence is shown. Moreover, the values of the corresponding asymptotic convergence factors are determined and are found to be also related with the golden ratio.