Are most celebrities (particularly actors) good with their finances?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think male celebrities tend to be worse with their money. Look at Johnny Depp. Thought he would always be Hollywood’s darling and blew it all on yachts, lavish parties, impressing women. When you’re young and at the top of your game, you think the money will always come in. Eventually you get old, have a scandal or two, and find that nobody wants to watch you anymore.

Women tend to be smarter because they 1. Realize there is a ticking time limit, and their roles will drastically decrease by age 40 and 2. They often step back when they have kids to focus on family. So they start up other businesses that don’t rely on their constant presence. Rihanna, Lady Gaga, Kylie, Selena, JLo all have cosmetic companies. Jessica Alba has Honest, Gwenyth has Goop, Reese has Draper, Drew Barrymore has multiple businesses.

Women also don’t have a second, smaller head that makes them make dumb financial decisions to get laid.

The odd male celebrity will perhaps start a liquor or wine brand, but it’s not as common.

Parties and wine collections.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Jessica Simpson has done very well.

And Ryan Reynolds and Selena Gomez.

[Anonymous]

I assume most of them have firms managing it for them and saving them from themselves.

I would have no idea how to manage and forecast if my income suddenly exceeded a normal UMC salary. I think that’s true for most of us .

[Anonymous]

Some are bad with money.

But generally, I think it’s just hard because you have to employ all these people (manager, agent, so much beauty prep) and initially may not be making that much. And the more famous you get the more free stuff you get. There’s probably some pressure to spend if you are out with people, like cover dinner with friends.

And it’s not a stable job, so you have to be much more responsible than the average 25 year old even if you start with more to spend. Many 25 aren’t saving at all, but they may have a reasonable expectation to work for the next 40 years and they will probably make more in their 40s and it will work out ok for them. If you aren’t an actress/actor in demand for decades, it’s hard to plan for.

[Anonymous]

Some are, some are not.

But I always think of Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgewick who by all accounts have really tried to live a low key life and not get caught up in the tabloids with bad behavior divorce messed up kids etc.

And even they lost a whole bunch of their money to someone they trusted who embezzled it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some are, some are not.

But I always think of Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgewick who by all accounts have really tried to live a low key life and not get caught up in the tabloids with bad behavior divorce messed up kids etc.

And even they lost a whole bunch of their money to someone they trusted who embezzled it.

Madoff.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some are, some are not.

But I always think of Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgewick who by all accounts have really tried to live a low key life and not get caught up in the tabloids with bad behavior divorce messed up kids etc.

And even they lost a whole bunch of their money to someone they trusted who embezzled it.

Madoff.

That's what I was thinking but didn't want to look it up

I was once a more-or-less paid companion to someone my age in my 20s, her parents wanted someone to travel with her on her whims and whatever else since they thought it was safer for her to have someone with her at all times.

She had a trust fund that also got liquidated after Madoff. Her family were members of the Boca Raton country club of legend. And I think had Sopranos levels of city contracts for things.

She's in her 60s now (as I am) and she seems to have somehow dumped out OK last time I looked. She posts pictures of her manicures but she's definitely no longer on the Fen Phen plan she was on 30+ years ago.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Jessica Simpson has done very well.

And Ryan Reynolds and Selena Gomez.

Also, love them or hate them, the Kardashians/Jenners have done well. Kris Jenner is a smart woman, and the girls control their own money apart from the fathers of their kids.

[Anonymous]

I always wonder what happens to actors when their careers dry up or they have a big hit for a while but then nothing--like the cast of Mad Men minus Jon Hamm and Elisabeth Moss, like the guy who played Pete. You don't often hear of actors starting over in other fields. Do they make enough to live on for the rest of their lives? I saw an article about Timothy Busfield (Thirtysomething) and Melissa Gilbert (Little House on the Prairie). They moved to a small house in upstate New York. Economizing? How do people like that support themselves years after their last jobs?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think male celebrities tend to be worse with their money. Look at Johnny Depp. Thought he would always be Hollywood’s darling and blew it all on yachts, lavish parties, impressing women. When you’re young and at the top of your game, you think the money will always come in. Eventually you get old, have a scandal or two, and find that nobody wants to watch you anymore.

Women tend to be smarter because they 1. Realize there is a ticking time limit, and their roles will drastically decrease by age 40 and 2. They often step back when they have kids to focus on family. So they start up other businesses that don’t rely on their constant presence. Rihanna, Lady Gaga, Kylie, Selena, JLo all have cosmetic companies. Jessica Alba has Honest, Gwenyth has Goop, Reese has Draper, Drew Barrymore has multiple businesses.

Women also don’t have a second, smaller head that makes them make dumb financial decisions to get laid.

The odd male celebrity will perhaps start a liquor or wine brand, but it’s not as common.

Parties and wine collections.

Nicolas Cage is another example. Many houses, lavish living, multiple marriages. I think he had to declare bankruptcy at one point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some are, some are not.

But I always think of Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgewick who by all accounts have really tried to live a low key life and not get caught up in the tabloids with bad behavior divorce messed up kids etc.

And even they lost a whole bunch of their money to someone they trusted who embezzled it.

Madoff.

That's what I was thinking but didn't want to look it up

I was once a more-or-less paid companion to someone my age in my 20s, her parents wanted someone to travel with her on her whims and whatever else since they thought it was safer for her to have someone with her at all times.

She had a trust fund that also got liquidated after Madoff. Her family were members of the Boca Raton country club of legend. And I think had Sopranos levels of city contracts for things.

She's in her 60s now (as I am) and she seems to have somehow dumped out OK last time I looked. She posts pictures of her manicures but she's definitely no longer on the Fen Phen plan she was on 30+ years ago.

I went to the Boca Raton Country Club - I have some very rich relatives who were members and they invited me for lunch. While we were there a busboy got caught on fire on one of the grills and the manager immediately sent him to the hospital and sent a waiter with him. They walked past me on their way out and the manager was telling them "you'll be paid for the full day." I remember thinking "Oh, this IS a fancy place, and not just because we're right on the ocean."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some are bad with money.

But generally, I think it’s just hard because you have to employ all these people (manager, agent, so much beauty prep) and initially may not be making that much. And the more famous you get the more free stuff you get. There’s probably some pressure to spend if you are out with people, like cover dinner with friends.

And it’s not a stable job, so you have to be much more responsible than the average 25 year old even if you start with more to spend. Many 25 aren’t saving at all, but they may have a reasonable expectation to work for the next 40 years and they will probably make more in their 40s and it will work out ok for them. If you aren’t an actress/actor in demand for decades, it’s hard to plan for.

That's the thing to understand is that these big name celebrities are akin to being a business financially. They basically have to support a staff of security, assistants, publicists, makeup and style people. So the ones who blow the money really end up.in trouble because they can't afford the staff to keep the whole machine going.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was wondering about James Van Der Beek auctioning off his memorabilia for his cancer treatment. I would have thought he was wealthy and wouldn’t need to worry about that.

Did he fall off the sag insurance? I thought he had been acting enough to meet the minimums for that. It’s good insurance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I always wonder what happens to actors when their careers dry up or they have a big hit for a while but then nothing--like the cast of Mad Men minus Jon Hamm and Elisabeth Moss, like the guy who played Pete. You don't often hear of actors starting over in other fields. Do they make enough to live on for the rest of their lives? I saw an article about Timothy Busfield (Thirtysomething) and Melissa Gilbert (Little House on the Prairie). They moved to a small house in upstate New York. Economizing? How do people like that support themselves years after their last jobs?

Or when they shit the bed and crash a big career— like Kevin spacey being pretty much homeless, begging in the press for old friends to send work his way

[Anonymous]

Athletes often seem to be worse than actors/actresses