Black Man Black Woman

Tag: Nicolas Cage

  • Nicolas Cage Money Problems: Balling Without a Budget

    Filed under: , ,

    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.

     

    Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

  • Dr. Boyce Money: Rapper Nas in Serious Tax Trouble

    Filed under: , ,

    Hip Hop Wired is reporting that the rapper Nas is having some serious financial problems. In addition to owing his wife Kelis $44,000 per month in child support, it turns out that the artist also owes the federal government another $2.5 million in taxes. Here are quick thoughts about Nas, love and money:

    1) Nas has a complicated life. His decision to marry the “love of his life” is going to cost him for the rest of his life. The rapper’s tax situation could be due to irresponsibility (as appears to be the case with Method Man and Nicolas Cage), or it could simply be a matter of using write-offs that were not allowed by the IRS. We can’t assume that Nas’ tax trouble automatically makes him into a horrible citizen.

    2) He is not as rich as you think. I remember Will Smith once explaining how “a million dollars really isn’t that much money.” After Uncle Sam takes half, and the agents and attorneys get their cut, you are lucky to have $350,000 left over. Sure, that’s plenty of money, but it may not be very much money relative to the cost of living the celebrity lifestyle, and taking care of all the friends and relatives begging you for financial support. Success is a beautiful thing, but the problem is that success draws attention and financial vacuum cleaners who want to suck you dry. So, I am not sure why every artist loves to show the world how rich he is. I’d be quiet about my wealth.

    3) Please explain $44,000 per month in child support? Many men who make the kind of money that Nas allegedly makes (reported to be $250,000 per month) are considered to have infinite wealth. The truth, however, is that much of his income as an artist is volatile, uncertain, and likely to go down over time. The idea that he is being asked to pay so much in child support seems to neglect the fact that his resources do not go as far as Kelis and others might be inclined to think. The next time someone wonders why wealthy celebs don’t want to get married, they only need to look at the case of Nas and Kelis to find the answer. Love is supposed to be priceless, but child support courts seem to know exactly what that price should be.

    When it comes to Nas, Kelis and the IRS, the bottom line is this: Nas needs a financial intervention to help him to realistically manage his financial life. By analyzing his situation and others, we also can learn how our personal decisions in love and life can affect our financial situation. The truth is that who you choose to marry and how you manage your relationships plays a huge role in your financial stability. Finally, I am a fan of carefully constructed prenuptial agreements, so that wealth can be shared in such a way that marriage doesn’t become financially devastating. They say love and money shouldn’t mix, but relationship mistakes should not cost millions.

    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.

     

    Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

  • Method Man, Wesley Snipes Arrested for Taxes, but Not Nicolas Cage?

    Filed under: , ,

    I’ve met Method Man only one time, and I’ve never met Wesley Snipes or Nicolas Cage. In spite of his mixed public image, Method Man actually comes across as an intelligent, attentive and down-to-earth human being. At the time I met him, I’d only been on national TV a couple of times, but he talked to me as if he’d known me his entire life. He even recited the lyrics to Ice Cube songs that I brought up and told me stories about Tupac. I was quite impressed.

    The closest I’ve ever come to Nicolas Cage is when his movie came out about the 911 attacks and they forgot to include the black guy’s character. It was incredibly tacky, but effectively, there was an African American named Jason Thomas who played a huge role in 911 – large enough for them to include his character in the film. But somehow, in all their exhaustive research for this multi-million dollar blockbuster movie, they simply forgot that his character was black. Instead, he was cast as a white man. How the producers could have overlooked something so obvious was beyond me. In fact, I find it hard to believe that this was an accidental oversight.

    I don’t have much to say about Wesley Snipes, except for the fact that he should watch what he says about black women. Oh yeah. He needs to also pay attention to his tax bill.

    Where Nicolas Cage, Wesley Snipes and Method Man cross paths in my psyche is on the touchy issue of tax evasion. I listened to Method Man (in this interview) take full responsibility for the fact that he was arrested for owing $33,000 in back taxes. He even jokes about it, which is better than I’d be able to do.

    Nicolas Cage owes far too much money to joke about anything. In various media reports, Cage owes over $6 million dollars to the IRS. Now, I have no idea why Method Man is in handcuffs, Wesley got a prison sentence and Nicolas Cage just has to put his castle and mansion on the auction block (yes, the dude really owns a castle – that’s what my friends might call “Intergallactic ballin” – I came up with term that myself). I am also unsure how a man who’s made so much money could be so far behind on his taxes. At the same time, tax problems are human, and there are tons of Americans in all income brackets who have tax trouble every year.

    As you know, I enjoy finding true teachable moments in everyday life. Given that an IRS audit increases your chances of getting you into tax trouble, I thought I’d bring the classroom to the web and share a few facts with you about taxes, audits and finance.

    Here are 4 things that can increase your likelihood of being audited by the IRS:

    1) Having an income that is greater than $50,000 per year – When you make the cheese, you become a big fish and worth the time to audit. The IRS doesn’t have time to go after little wallets.

    2) You are self-employed – Statistics show that self-employed people tend to do the most wiggling and fudging on their taxes, so having your own business flags you as an audit risk.

    3) Making a mistake on prior tax returns – if you’ve made mistakes in the past, you are likely to make another one…at least more likely than everyone else. This will flag your return for a possible audit.

    4) An excessive number of tax write-offs – if the dollar value of your deductions exceeds a certain percentage of your income, then the IRS may come after you. Make sure that any write-offs you have are well documented and legal. You don’t want to cheat on your taxes or get too greedy when filing.

    Remember that tax problems can happen to anyone, so if you are subjected to an audit, don’t panic. Go buy a book on dealing with audits, “fess up,” pay your fine and go on with your life. You’re not in the same boat as Method Man.

    If you want to hear this right out of my mouth, feel free to click on the video below. I’m going to hang out in Chicago:

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

     

    Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments