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  • Nicolas Cage Money Problems: Balling Without a Budget

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    I grow weary of the fact that whenever the media presents an entertainer going broke, we almost always see a black man. Well, the tables do turn, even on the best of them. Actor Nicolas Cage is allegedly having major financial problems, having his property foreclosed and admitting in court that his former business manager may have milked him of millions of dollars.

    In a major court battle, the actor lost two of his homes worth a combined total of $6.8 million dollars. Cage owes over $5 million in mortgage payments and more than $150,000 to the city of New Orleans in real estate taxes. Cage is also suing Samuel Levin, his former business manager, claiming that Levin was responsible for his financial demise.

    Here are some quick and dirty thoughts on the plight of Nicolas Cage:
    1) Is there a change in the language? I noticed that a CNN article about Cage mentions the recession as one of the reasons that Cage is struggling financially. However, most commentary about the financial problems of NBA star Antoine Walker attributed his woes to financial irresponsibility. Not to accuse anyone of racism, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it were difficult for the world to imagine the great Nicolas Cage as being financially irresponsible.

    2) Hollywood money is not what it seems to be: By having five major projects slated for 2010, it’s tempting to believe that Nicolas Cage is going to be financially free by the end of next year. Not so fast. After actors finish paying the agents, lawyers, managers, and the IRS, they may only get 30 – 40% of their total pay package. That means that if Cage gets $10 million for his film, he is only going to see three or four million dollars of that money.

    Whatever the case may be, it does appear that Nicolas Cage was certainly living it up. Few A-list actors are as blockbuster-worthy as Cage, so there is no excuse for him to ever go broke. But given that Cage has purchased personal islands, castles, and other extravagant items, he put himself in a situation where he needed a lot of money in order to simply stay afloat. Michael Jackson had the same problem during his life, as he was easily spending five to ten million dollars per month. No matter how much money you have, you can always go broke. We should all live beneath our means.

    Dr. Boyce Watkins is a Finance Professor at Syracuse University and author of the forthcoming book, “Black American Money.” To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here.

     

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  • Facebook: An Essential New Tool For Small Business Marketing

    The New York Times has just published an excellent article called: “How to Market Your Business With Facebook.” Some small business owners have eagerly jumped on the social media trend, while others like to keep it old school with traditional email marketing. But in this economy, entrepreneurs need to be as creative as possible about reaching new audiences while stretching marketing dollars, if you are lucky to have any. Getting to know Facebook is a great way to hop on social media’s runaway train, which shows no signs of slowing.

    Of Facebook’s growing cache as a marketing vehicle, The Times states:

    A growing number of businesses are making Facebook an indispensable part of hanging out their shingles. Small businesses are using it to find new customers, build online communities of fans and dig into gold mines of demographic information.

    “You need to be where your customers are and your prospective customers are,” said Clara Shih, author of ‘The Facebook Era’ (Pearson Education, 2009). “And with 300 million people on Facebook, and still growing, that’s increasingly where your audience is for a lot of products and services.”

    This two-page primer on Facebook marketing is a must for small business owners, even if you are already a regular visitor to Facebook.com. As social media sites make it possible for the average person to reach thousands of customers through a little online elbow grease, the time to utilize Facebook.com to the full is now.

    Do you use Facebook to market your small business? Share your success stories or cautionary tales below.

  • Is Health Care Reform Going to Cost you More or Less Money?

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    All of us are confused about health care reform. Many of us support the idea because we support the president. Some of us support health care reform because we know that the current system is terribly flawed. Well, getting informed on the issues might be a great way to ensure that you know what you are backing.

    One of the great problems with health care reform is that most Americans can’t trust it in the first place, given that there are so many special interest groups who’ve hooked their fangs into a corrupt and dysfunctional system. Pharmaceutical companies charge incredibly high prices for drugs and work with lawmakers to keep consumers from having other alternatives. Every day, there is a senior citizen moving one inch closer to death because he/she can’t afford their medication. Most of us know that this system has to be altered.

    Dr. Elaina George is a prominent Otolaryngologist at the Peach Tree ENT Center in Atlanta Georgia. In the audio below, Dr. George breaks down the health care reform package that is being debated in Congress this week. So, while the news might be muted by the mass shootings that have recently occurred, we should not allow this distraction to keep us from the issues that are going to affect our lives.

    Click here to listen to Dr. George.

    Dr. Boyce Watkins is a Finance Professor at Syracuse University and author of the book, “Black American Money.” To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here.

     

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  • Professional Women and their Love Lives: Money and Matrimony Sometimes Conflict

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    I have become obsessed recently with trying to figure out how successful black women find a way to get it all done. Now, by “successful,” I’m not referring to the woman who works 70 hours a week while seeing all of her relationships die in the process. I am referring to the women who do some of the most important jobs in our society (nurturing children and maintaining their relationships) while finding success in their professional lives. Call me old fashioned, but I think that there is no job in the world more important than being a mother.

    This week on Financial Lovemaking, S. Tia Brown and I speak with Dr. Towanna Freeman, a life coach and women’s empowerment guru, about what it takes to maintain love, life and everything in between. We ask Towanna the hard questions about her business and her family and try to determine the formula for keeping it real and keeping it realistic.

    One thing that Towanna makes clear is that you don’t have to be perfect to be happy. She also reminds us that successful people are not successful all the time. The key is having the right mindset and always striving for success, whether you are feeling successful or not. I can personally say that I fail at roughly 90 percent of everything I do: But it’s striving for that last 10 percent which helps to set me apart.

    The interview with Towanna is below. Enjoy!

    Dr. Boyce Watkins is a Finance Professor at Syracuse University and author of the book, “Financial Lovemaking 101: Merging Assets with Your Partner in Ways that Feel Good.” To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here.

     

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  • Dr Boyce: Dr King’s Kids Fighting Over Money – What We Can Learn

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    Most of us know about Dr. Martin Luther King’s childrens’ fight over money. We are all saddened and disappointed that it has come to this, but this shows that the family is human like the rest of us. But there are things all of us can learn from this dispute when it comes to leaving money for your children.The dispute between the kids is now resolved, but that doesn’t mean that the teachable moment has ended. The video below breaks it all down in our Dr. Boyce Web Chat. Enjoy!

    Dr Boyce Watkins is a Finance Professor at Syracuse University and author of the forthcoming book, “Black American Money.” To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here. To follow Dr Boyce on Twitter, please click here.

     

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  • Black News in Black America

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    Big Black News from Dr. Boyce gives you a list of the biggest black news stories in the areas of money and education. Consider it to be our gift to you.

    President Obama declares National HBCU Week

    Student shot and Killed at Spelman College in Atlanta

    Chris Brown tries to rebuild his brand on Larry King Live

    Will Whitney Houston Ever Be the Same Again?

    No, Roxanne Shauntay DID NOT get a PhD

    Should Personal Finance Be Taught in School?

    University of Michigan Football Gets its Cover Blown on alleged Mistreatment of its athletes

    Nas, Kelis, Money and Craziness: How much money does Kelis Need to Live?

    President Obama Plans to Address Congress to Push his Healthcare Plan

    Dr. Boyce Watkins is a Finance Professor at Syracuse University. To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered directly to your email, please click here.

     

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