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Even Celebrities Need to Balance Income With Expenses

Hello All,

We’ve covered this before, but its worth repeating.   One of the core principles of building wealth is to be sure your expenses don’t exceed your income. This rule holds equally true regardless of your place in society.   As an example, I wanted to include this video of Pamela Anderson.

Miss Anderson is well known for her role in the Baywatch TV series as well as some of her other more controversial work in films such as “Barbed Wire” as well as for her issue advocacy for with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

More recently however, California State public records indicate she owes back taxes to the tune of $500,000.   While its difficult to speculate as to what the ultimate cause of her fiscal woes is, celebrity blog reports indicate that she has recently decided to refurbish both a home in Canada as well as a house in Malibu.  In particular, the home in Canada appears to be part of an extensive development with over 9 cabins and a store front.  Thus, what is likely occurring is that Miss Anderson’s expenses have outstripped her ability to pay for them, thus resulting in the back tax bill.

The outcome of this remains to be seen.  Frankly, a tax bill of %500,000 is quite a lot of money and it may be difficult for Anderson to turn her situation around without incurring further debt.  However, what’s instructive about this situation is that is it shows that even if you are a famous celebrity that does not excuse you from the basic fiscal reality that wealth accumulation only occurs when your income exceeds your expenses.

For those of you who want to oggle at Pamela’s jiggly bits, here is a borderline exploitative clip covering the story:

Best,
James

Communication or Generation Gap?

1950's Ford by Bob Jagendorf.

Last week while I was on vacation with my Dad I realized that his life is not as involved online as mine is.  My father doesn’t use online banking; whereas I check my bank accounts every morning before I take my shower. My father does use email, but he doesn’t read or contribute to online blogs. He is not a member of Face Book or Twitter. My Dad doesn’t even have a cell phone.

Is my Dad’s lack of interest in modern technology a communication gap or a lack of interest in technology by his entire generation?

Technology is not the only thing that my Dad and I don’t agree on. My Dad doesn’t like to use drive thrus at Tim Horton’s (the Canadian equivalent of Dunkin Donuts) because he feels that drive thrus are a big donut conspiracy. He doesn’t feel that they produce the same quality of products as inside the actual donut shop.  I however, am the complete opposite. I am always running between 1 and 15 minutes late. Therefore, I need everything in my life right NOW, actually I needed it yesterday.

During the time that we search for a parking spot at Tim Horton’s, park the car, and wait in line inside the donut restaurant I could have answered a text, made a phone call, and checked my bank account balances online from my smart phone.  Waiting is such a waste of time.  How did people keep track of their bank accounts before online banking?

The difference in time efficiency between myself and my father could be due to the fact that I am in my late twenties, nearing the peak of my career, and also trying to start an online empire with my MADAM brand of websites.  My father on the other hand is recently retired and spends his days playing chess, card games, and golfing with his other recently retired friends. According to my Dad he can afford to wait for his tea and donut at Tim Horton’s because since he retired he “has nothing but time.” My Dad is 57 years old and he comes from a generation where technology was not as valued as it is today.

My mother is a little more technology advanced than my Dad when it comes to her cell phone. She even uses online banking to pay bills, whereas my father still visits his “bank lady” so she can stamp his bill.  However, when it comes to the internet, my mother is in the early stages of the learning process. She recently quit her upper management job in hospitality after 30 years to start her own event planning business.

Yesterday morning she called me at 9:30 am to tell me that she had been up since 4:00 am researching “the internet” online.  She printed out a 15 page document about the importance of social networking for new small businesses.

No friends on Face Book? No Tweets on Twitter? I can’t even remember how I kept in touch with my “friends” before social media. How many of your parents are your friends on Face Book or active users of other Social Media sites?

It is so important for businesses nowadays to actively manage their social media websites.  It is a cost efficient method for advertising and networking.  What would you do if you couldn’t read your favourite blog every morning, or if you couldn’t follow your favourite blogger on Twitter?

Photo By BobJagendorf

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