Seriously, Mickey Rooney???

April 11, 2014

Since the time I was a kid (and my kids would tell you that’s a LONG time ago…), I’ve seen movies with Mickey Rooney on the screen. He was probably one of the most recognizable men in America for a long period of time. He was a major Hollywood star. And he was always working.

Sadly, his time here on Earth ended recently and when I saw how incredibly small his estate was worth I was completely stunned. He left only $18,000 to his heirs after an 80 year career as a star. That is unfathomable to me.

Reading about the cleanup of his estate brought about a few issues.

No matter how much money you make, if you mismanage it you are certainly going to see it slip away from you. Apparently, he trusted the wrong people to manage his money. He also went through a divorce. And, he might have spent quite a bit of money maintaining the Hollywood lifestyle. Having a systematic, strong savings behavior can prevent some of this. Having a few trusted advisors who are well vetted and can work together (a financial planner and CPA are a good combination) can prevent issues such as elder abuse or family members from draining the estate.
He disinherited all of his children. That is another issue that I can’t imagine ever confronting, but each family is different. Having updated estate planning documents is critical, especially if you are going to do something non-traditional such as leaving someone (or a few someones) out of your will. Rooney left his entire estate, or what was left of it, to his stepson who he believed needed the help a bit more than his children, who were presumably taken care of very well during his lifetime.
Don’t judge a book by its cover! We all make assumptions about other people. We see a movie star who has been around for a long career and automatically assume that they are doing well financially. We see someone driving a 15-year old car that’s seen better days and assume that maybe they should think about replacing it. What I’ve seen during the last 20 years of talking with families about their money is that very often, first impressions are very wrong once you dive into the numbers. Often, big income earners are even bigger spenders and the BMW in the driveway just means more cash flow headed out the front door to service debt. Lower income earners who save diligently tend to not be very flashy, but they can systematically build substantial wealth and a sustainable retirement income. The Millionaire Next Door is a great book to read. Although it’s a bit dated, the basic fundamentals have not changed since its publication.

None of us lives to be 150 years old. So, the question I’ve been asking myself and hope you ask yourself in the wake of seeing the Mickey Rooney estate issues is “What kind of legacy do I want to leave?” Financially, philosophically (and any other “ly” you can think of)…when your last day has come and gone, what would you like a newspaper to say about your estate? When you can answer that, you can use that to help direct your financial behaviors in the future.