Firebird
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Post by Firebird on Jul 16, 2012 10:59:49 GMT -5
I just finished reading Off Balance by Dominique Moceanu, one of my idols growing up. It told quite a different story than her chipper little autobiography did, but that wasn't a surprise. I always suspected there was much, much more going on behind the scenes of her life than she was allowed to let on at the time (she's now 30).
Anyway, one of the things that did stun me was the fact that she made around $1mm from endorsements after the Olympics and her father not only kept that money from her (he wouldn't even let her know how much there was), he SPENT it on some bad investments and lost nearly all of it. She was able to wrest control of what was left around age 17 after a seriously ugly court battle, but by then it was almost too late.
If you had a kid who came into a lot of money at a young age - endorsements, modeling/acting contracts, whatever - how would you handle it? What would you do with it? Would you feel entitled to some of it, as the parent who probably made huge sacrifices to further your kids' career? If so, how much?
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Post by Deleted on Jul 16, 2012 11:09:20 GMT -5
who now?
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Jul 16, 2012 11:10:51 GMT -5
Nope, I wouldn't take a dime no matter how much the kid made. It's MY job to support my kid not the other way around.
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Firebird
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Post by Firebird on Jul 16, 2012 11:21:48 GMT -5
Even if you had moved your whole family and spent thousands on their athletic training? That's not uncommon in elite-level gymnastics. I assume it's the same with lots of other sports. Getting to the top takes serious money and a lot of families make heavy sacrifices to come up with it.
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Firebird
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Post by Firebird on Jul 16, 2012 11:23:17 GMT -5
who now? Surely you jest! She was the youngest member of the 1996 US women's gymnastics team that won the team gold for the first time in history. I was only ten but I remember how much attention their accomplishment drew back then.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 16, 2012 11:26:49 GMT -5
who now? Surely you jest! She was the youngest member of the 1996 US women's gymnastics team that won the team gold for the first time in history. I was only ten but I remember how much attention their accomplishment drew back then. The only Dominique that comes to mind is Dominique Dunn. And I'm not sure who that is.... Now if you asked me about the Olsen twins or the Harry Potter kids....
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thyme4change
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Post by thyme4change on Jul 16, 2012 11:30:53 GMT -5
I might reimburse myself for the cost of her training - but not dollar for dollar. Like, I might make her pay for the actual training, but not the cost of my house, or something. I guess it depends on how much of a hit I really took for her sports. If I was in debt by a couple hundred thousand - It would seem okay in my mind.
I also would not give a (say) 15 year old a million dollars, even if she earned it. I would invest it. Hopefully I would do an okay job, and would probably use a non-risky YM approved strategy. However, you can't avoid all risk.
The problem with a lot of these parents that have child stars is that the parents are risk takers anyway. I mean, seriously conservative people don't throw away their lives to move to Texas and let their child drop out of school so they can train 18 hours a day, so they can peak during their teen years in a sport that isnt' all that lucrative, and the "Plan B" is pretty bleek. So, the parents of kids who get famous think (1) they are golden and (2) putting it all out there is a good idea. I, however, don't think like that - so my kids will grow up to be engineers and tax accountants, and I won't have to worry about their vast earnings.
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Firebird
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Post by Firebird on Jul 16, 2012 11:30:58 GMT -5
Hmm... does this jog any memories? It was on the Wheaties box for like a year. (Dominique is third from the right, the tiny one.)
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thyme4change
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Post by thyme4change on Jul 16, 2012 11:33:02 GMT -5
She is outshined by Shrugg.
God - look at those terrible haircuts - why do that to those poor cute young girls?
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Post by Deleted on Jul 16, 2012 11:33:05 GMT -5
Depends. If I quit my job and was managing my kids then I think it would necessary to take a salary. But I can't imagine ever doing that.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 16, 2012 11:36:00 GMT -5
Hmm... does this jog any memories? It was on the Wheaties box for like a year. (Dominique is third from the right, the tiny one.) okay, yeah.
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mollyanna58
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Post by mollyanna58 on Jul 16, 2012 11:38:05 GMT -5
Aren't there laws that state that the bulk of the money has to be kept in trust until the child comes of age? That still wouldn't help if the trust was invested poorly, but it would keep the parents from out and out taking most of the money. Dominique Dunn was a young actress in Poltergeist who was strangled to death by her (ex? )boyfriend.
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shanendoah
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Post by shanendoah on Jul 16, 2012 11:41:26 GMT -5
I remember an interview with Hillary Duff when she was like 17. The interviewer was trying to get her to say something bad about her parents because they managed her money (instead of just letting her have it all to spend, I guess). Her response was one of my favorites, basically she said "I'm a kid. It's my parents job to help figure me figure this stuff out."
This reminds of the Simpsons episode where we find out Bart was in a commercial as a baby and Homer spent all the money.
Especially with something like gymnastics, where there isn't much of an adult career and a huge risk of injury, it's a parents responsibility to try and invest the money in a way that will help support the kid once they're an adult. As long as there isn't an injury, if they are a past Olympian, they're probably getting an atheletic scholarship to pay for college, so that's not an issue. I think the money needs to be used in the best long term interest of the child.
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happyhoix
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Post by happyhoix on Jul 16, 2012 11:43:18 GMT -5
"The problem with a lot of these parents that have child stars is that the parents are risk takers anyway. I mean, seriously conservative people don't throw away their lives to move to Texas and let their child drop out of school so they can train 18 hours a day, so they can peak during their teen years in a sport that isnt' all that lucrative, and the "Plan B" is pretty bleek. "
I agree. I can't think of a single child star in any field that became a happy adult. I know there must be some, but the stories of the ones that became completely screwed up kind of eclipse the few that ended up fine.
So there wouldn't have been any fat paycheck when DS was young because we didn't try to get him into the modeling/acting/sports stuff in anything other than little league fashion, so there wouldn't have been any question about how to handle the money.
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Jul 16, 2012 11:49:13 GMT -5
Ron howard but his parents supported him and his brother and kept their home in a middle class neighborhood. Those parents invested all their earnings for the sake of their boys future.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 16, 2012 11:49:21 GMT -5
The Coogan Law states that 15% has to go into an untouchable trust for the child.
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thyme4change
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Post by thyme4change on Jul 16, 2012 11:49:56 GMT -5
There are some. Actually, The Wonder Years turned out some decent kids. Fred Savage is now a director and (by all accounts) seems to be a decent, responsible, successful human. The girl that played Winnie got a UCLA math degree, and seemed to turn out okay. And the best friend became a lawyer. I saw an interview with him a while ago and he seemed "normal." But yes, most of them are Lindsay Lohen type trainwrecks.
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Jul 16, 2012 11:50:00 GMT -5
It ought to be 85 per cent.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 16, 2012 11:50:55 GMT -5
I agree zib!
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thyme4change
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Post by thyme4change on Jul 16, 2012 11:52:05 GMT -5
Neil Patrick Harris seems happy. That guy is awesome!
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Jul 16, 2012 11:52:06 GMT -5
I agree. I can't think of a single child star in any field that became a happy adult. I know there must be some, but the stories of the ones that became completely screwed up kind of eclipse the few that ended up fine.
Jodie Foster Brooke Shields Neil Patrick Harris Just about all the kids on Dawson's Creek Mayim Balick
That's just off the top of my head....
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alabamagal
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Post by alabamagal on Jul 16, 2012 11:52:14 GMT -5
Depends. If I quit my job and was managing my kids then I think it would necessary to take a salary. But I can't imagine ever doing that. The reality is that most kids making that money have parents who sacrificed quite a bit to get them there. I think if is fine to reimburse the parents for direct expenses (training, lessons) and for the prents to have a small management fee for the money. But the situation where the parents basically live off the kids is totally backwards. In reality, a child under 18 needs a trustee to even open a bank account. Once you are a trustee, you can pretty much move money around as needed. I still have joint accounts with all my kids (even though 2 are over 18). I can transfer money with a few mouse clicks - of course since they are poor students those transfers are almost always from my account to theirs.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 16, 2012 11:52:51 GMT -5
Neil Patrick Harris seems happy. That guy is awesome! He tells us so often that he is awesome that it must be true.
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midjd
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Post by midjd on Jul 16, 2012 11:53:51 GMT -5
My sister was an elite gymnast from ages 8 to 15. It cost, conservatively, $5K per year and took up most of our free time. If she'd been Olympic-track, it would've been more like $15K - more private sessions, more entry fees, and way more travel. So I can see "paying yourself back" to some extent.
However, a lot of parents push their kids to excel in these activities. (What 12yo wants to wake up at 5am every day and train 40 hours a week?) It's not really fair to push your kid into doing something and then declare a right to share in the rewards.
Either way, I'd probably put most of it in a trust they could access at age 25 (I think 18 is too young), with the exception of educational expenses, which would be paid as accrued.
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thyme4change
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Post by thyme4change on Jul 16, 2012 11:54:05 GMT -5
Aside from the marriage to Tom Cruise. That is most definitely a cry for help.
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greenstone
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Post by greenstone on Jul 16, 2012 11:54:43 GMT -5
The Coogan Law states that 15% has to go into an untouchable trust for the child. I was thinking of this law too. Unfortunately, it is only a CA state law. Hopefully, more states have similar statues.
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Firebird
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Post by Firebird on Jul 16, 2012 11:55:43 GMT -5
I also would not give a (say) 15 year old a million dollars, even if she earned it. I would invest it. Hopefully I would do an okay job, and would probably use a non-risky YM approved strategy. However, you can't avoid all risk.
Totally true. I wouldn't give a 15 year old control of a massive fortune, by any means. Most likely, I would hold the money in trust for them and do some conservative investments until they turned 21 or so. Then we'd decide as a family what kind of share we should get out of it.
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thyme4change
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Post by thyme4change on Jul 16, 2012 11:57:20 GMT -5
I'm surprised it is that little. I know people who spend $10k on sports - easily. And they aren't going to see more than a college scholarship.
Have you seen Dr. Horrible's Sing-along-blog? Hilarious!
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Post by Deleted on Jul 16, 2012 11:58:05 GMT -5
I'm surprised it is that little. I know people who spend $10k on sports - easily. And they aren't going to see more than a college scholarship. Have you seen Dr. Horrible's Sing-along-blog? Hilarious! Sorry. just sour grapes because he is so awesome.
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Firebird
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Post by Firebird on Jul 16, 2012 11:58:49 GMT -5
As long as there isn't an injury, if they are a past Olympian, they're probably getting an atheletic scholarship to pay for college, so that's not an issue.
Not if they take any money for endorsements or anything else. You have to retain amateur status to be a collegiate athlete and get a scholarship for it. Take a single penny, you're no longer an amateur. So it's a double edged sword.
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