by Dick MacI know many people who have struggled financially, many (including myself) who have made some bad financial decisions mixed in with a certain amount of prudence, and some who just don't get it.
You know the ones: there isn't any money in savings but there's a five dollar coffee in their hand, all the time. There isn't any college fund, but there are plans for a trip to Disney. The mortgage has the home owner in over his head and he's behind on payments, so instead of starting an austerity program, he re-writes his mortgage to a 40-year, interest-only loan and buys a new car with the proceeds. People who declare bankruptcy every few years and constantly game the system leaving them with no financial future for their children and a road of failed debt behind them.
I often sympathize with these folks (but sometimes not), because they are often working schmucks who really don't know any better. Sometimes they are psychologically unable to see the root of their problem.
Then there are the other ones. You know, the gazillionaires who haven't a clue, and don't use their fortune to purchase a clue. They just go merrily along making one bad decision over another.
Like this one:
Mike Tyson
The king of them all is boxer Mike Tyson, who squandered a $350 million to $400 million dollar fortune. So what did “Iron” Mike spend his fortune on? Everything. He dropped half a million dollars on a 420-horsepower Bentley Continental SC with lamb’s wool rugs, a phone and a removable glass roof. It is one of only 73 Bentley Continental SCs ever built. The sad part is that’s not even the only Bentley that Tyson owned! He spent over $4.5 million dollars on cars alone. Throw in a $2 million dollar bathtub and $140,000 for two Bengal tigers and you can see why Tyson’s fortune is down for the count. He filed for bankruptcy in 2003.
Read about some of his peers in the world of lost sports fortunes: Seven costly pro athlete screw-ups
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