What it simply means is that just because someone is making lot of money does not necessarily mean they are in a stable financial position. They might have a bigger house, a nicer car, travel more - lots of things that we may want - but they are still in the position of having to work day in and day out for it all. If work suddenly dries up for them - as it can in any profession - they are stuck, because they need to make their forty thousand a month just as certainly as we need to make our four thousand to survive.
We see this constantly in the film industry. Actors will have one successful show, but then may not work again for a long time, or only pick up bits and pieces of work here and there. If their lifestyles have been built on spending all of the money they earned while the show was running, they are stuck. The same happens with writers, directors, producers... all it takes for most people to become financially unglued is a month or two out of work, wether you earn thousands or tens of thousands.
How different could it have been if they had really learnt about money before they had a lot? If they kept their lifestyles the same for a couple of years, and socked away enough money to live on for the rest of their lives? If they knew how to control spending, invest, structure themselves properly... In the same way that 80% of lottery winners are bankrupt within three years because they never learnt how to handle money, so actors, artists, writers etc who suddenly start making a killing hit the same problem.
That is why learning about money is so important. How to handle it, how to make it grow, what to do with it so we can live on it forever... these are things everyone needs to know, but we as artists, with our fluctuating income, need it more than most.
2 comments:
This is so, so important for actors to understand! Somehow, actors think that if they get that gig for $3000 a week that they will be in financial heaven- but then they get a rude awakening when the show isn't picked up for a second season, or closes quietly on Broadway after it's first month. They also don't understand the expense of keeping up a career of that level- they have to pay 10% to their agent and 15-20% to their manager, they have to pay their stylist and their publicist, and let's not forget their tax liability. Pretty soon, $3000 per week is whittled away to $1500 (or less)- and that is even before they have thought about saving for themselves or paying for everyday things such as rent or food!
Do you have a blog topic or article on this already? I would love to pass it on to my students...
Keep up the great work!
Good rread
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