I’ve been lightly following Nicolas Cage’s money problems over the last few months. It’s always a little bit surprising to see someone who has clearly made many millions over his lifetime deal with such large financial problems that he’s forced to sell many of his assets.
When you look at the assets that he has acquired, it starts to become pretty clear why he’s in financial difficulty. Here are just a few of the things that Nicolas Cage has purchased:
Two castles
15 palatial homes
A number of yachts and Rolls Royces
I can only imagine how much he has spent furnishing all those houses and paying the maintenance costs on so many assets. It’s easy to see how the money could run out. If he could have just limited himself to one castle, 7 or 8 homes and scaled back on the total number of boats and cars, maybe he wouldn’t be having to sell some of these assets during an economic downturn where he is faced with getting far less than he paid for them.
Anyway, here’s an article that talks a bit more about his situation:
http://money.cnn.com/2009/11/17/pf/Nicolas_Cage_lawsuit_manager.cnnw/index.htm
This is a classic example of… “Wealth is not what you make, … it’s what you KEEP”
And while Nicholas Cage is a BIG example, the truth is that most people don’t know how to live below their means. That’s why a lot of people struggle financially (regardless of the economy being good or bad). Living BELOW (and not AT) your means is always key.