These famous celebrities went from rich to completely broke and they remind us of how important financial literacy is in our lives. Did you know that 70% of people that win the lottery go broke within a few years? It seems unbelievable but true. Many of us think that once we come into big money, our money worries will be over. Mike Tyson, one of the greatest boxers, was said to have earned $300m and squandered it all to return to square one quickly. I am sure you are thinking, how did he spend all this money? He was said to have squandered it on pieces of jewellery, mansions, and cars. Well, it happens that once you come into money “suddenly” without having proper financial knowledge, it becomes hard to make a smart decision to multiply it.

Here are some celebrities I am sure you didn’t know went broke though some of them have started recovering their finances through proper and intentional financial planning.

Nicholas Cage

Living beyond your income is one of the very reasons why most celebrities go broke. Nicolas Cage tried to accumulate as much extravagance as possible by purchasing mansions, jets, and any other type of expensive item he could find. By the time he had to file for bankruptcy, he was around $14 million in debt. It shouldn’t come as any surprise that he had to sell off nearly everything he owned just to offset the debt. Lesson learned the hard way.

Taribo West

Taribo West is perhaps one of the most successful Nigerian centre-back in history. At the height of his career, he was regarded as one of the best defenders in Europe and was a key member of the Inter Milan squad between 1997 and 1999. He was also part of the victorious Olympic gold-winning dream team side in 1996. Despite featuring for top sides in Europe such as AC Milan and Derby County, Taribo West is said to be in financial deep waters as the millions he made during his playing days seems to have been ‘washed away. He also made a bad investment in his marriage but now can be seen in Lagos trying his hands in winning souls for God, a vocation he undertook towards the end of his career. The only noticeable property left for Taribo West is his huge mansion in Lagos. Sad right?

Cynthia Morgan

Cynthia Morgan is an award-winning Nigerian female artist. In 2018, she was charged to Ikeja high court for failure to pay her rent and invasion of tax. A source close to her apartment said the amount she owed tally with the court paper served to her. The source further said that Cynthia morgan’s brother has been pleading with the landlord for more grace even when the initial six months grace given to her elapsed, she still couldn’t come up with her rent. It was more like a grace to grass story

Pamela Anderson

Have you watched the movie Baywatch? Well, after Pamela Anderson starred in the movie, the fame she had on Baywatch and all the cameos she’s had in her long career, you would have thought Pamela would have been set for life. From the plastic surgeries to the nice home to the partying and living the good life Pamela Anderson was having the time of her life until the IRS noticed her. Failure to pay her taxes had this former lifeguard drowning in debt for a while before she finally found a way to climb back out. Once bitten twice shy, she had learned a lesson.

Lindsay Lohan

Lindsay Lohan spent all her wealth extravagantly. A lot of partying, a lot of addiction, and her lack of mindset to save and prepare for the rainy days led Lohan to plummet from what was supposed to be a promising career into a dry spell that lasted for many years. After Mean Girls, she virtually disappeared except in the tabloids. Eventually, her partying lifestyle caught up to her when she had to file for bankruptcy in 2012.

Dejumo Lewis.

This veteran actor is popularly known as Kabiyesi in the old famous classy soap opera known as THE VILLAGE HEADMASTER. In 2015, he said he was broke. During an interview with punch newspaper, he was still the poorest actor in Nollywood despite the icon and veteran label.

Celestine Babayaro

Celestine Babyaro is one of the very best  Super Eagles left-back. He was among the Super Eagles squads that won the 1996 Olympics for Nigeria. Celestine Babayaro played for some of the biggest clubs in England and Belgium.
At a time in his career, Celestine Babayaro, was amongst the highest-paid African players in the world as he earned between £25,000 and $30,000 per week at Chelsea FC of England. He, however, declared himself bankrupt at a court in Croydon in 2010 after being charged

Chris Tucker

Chris Tucker, a famous Comedian and actor,  lost all his money due to a lack of proper management and planning. After being named Hollywood ‘highest-paid actor in 2007. After his rush hour movie, Chris was left broke and forced to sell all his houses to pay back $11m in taxes.

50 Cent

James Curtis Jackson III, popularly known as 50 Cent, is a famous hip hop artiste He is also an actor, songwriter, businessman, and television producer. In 2015 he was filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy which made him lose a lot of money. Also, it was said that he had to pay about $23million to his creditors. Nevertheless, after clearing his debt, 50 Cent is seen as a relentless man that keeps thriving, and over the years, he has managed to recover from his losses

Mike Tyson

Mike Tyson is one of the world’s well-known contemporary-day boxers. He started his boxing career at an early age and became a champion in no time. Like any heavyweights in boxing, Tyson turned into a fearsome fighter who knocked out many guys and gained many belts. However, regardless of achieving a huge fortune, Tyson quickly squandered it all, he lavished and didn’t invest, save and budget his wealth wisely. He also ran into other troubles that greatly affected his account. While he had lost his wealth, he started venturing into other jobs to get back on his feet, he dived into the movie industry and other TV shows to make up for his losses.

The common saying that “make hay while the sun shines” simply explains the ordeal of these celebrities most especially those who have not yet gotten back on their feet. We see how these celebrities went from having an abundance of wealth to having nothing. And this is because they failed to plan, save, budget, and spend wisely. They were living in the moment and forgot that there is a future that also needs to be secured. 

These are more reasons why financial literacy is crucial. Knowledge about investing, and delayed gratification is important and these basic money lessons are what we must start teaching our kids from early on to help them become financially savvy and avoid learning in the hard way. 

If you love this article, then click here to read more about  5 prudent ways to teach kids to spend wisely.