According to multiple outlets, Heather Mills, ex-wife of Paul McCartney, has managed to burn through $54.5 million dollars in less than two years. Heather received the funds in her divorce from McCartney in 2008.
Heather claims that plenty of the money was given to charities or “ethical businesses†and she also paid for a couple properties for her daughter.
Just to put this in perspective. In order to go through that much money she’d have to have a burn rate of $2.27 million dollars a MONTH.
Unfortunately Heather didn’t take time out of her busy schedule to peruse the multitude of personal finance blogs out here. Had she done that, she might have realized how she could have made that initial money work for her so that she’d have a lasting legacy and fund her “causes†indefinitely.
Imagine if she’d invested those funds to generate annual income that she could have used for her charity causes, supported her daughter indefinitely etc. This seems very similar to the fate of lottery winners who get a large sum of money and then use it like an unlimited bank account, only to have regrets when it’s all gone.
Let’s just do some simple math and see what she could have done.
$54.5 million invested very conservatively could have easily yielded 4%. That equates to $2,180,000 each year, or $181,000 a month. That’s without eating in to the principal. So unfortunate……
why does her toddler need properties??? just crazy. she needs to sell them and save that money. i won lotto money and paid my house and cars off and used some to redo the house some (new windows and outside doors mainly) and saved the rest.