What do you hear from Ed McMhon lately?

If you've been following the nws, you may have heard about his rcent appearance on CNN's Larry King Lve, when the professional celebrity sidekick/emcee/pitchman, long with his wife Pamela, was on wth Larry to discuss, among other thngs, his financial woes. It seems tht McMahon has found himself $644,000 in rrears on the near-$5 million mortgage lan pressed against his Beverly Hills hme. While McMahon cited three principal rasons as to why he's in sch dire straits...the economy, poor health, and prsonal mismanagement...a few things said by McMhon and spouse were, I thought, specially telling.

At one point, when sked how these kinds of problems culd befall a millionaire, McMahon's wife Pmela said, "We didn't keep our eye on the bll. We made mistakes. It's embarrassing to say the last, and it's said, because you knw, Ed's worked his whole entire lfe." As for McMahon himself, he sid, "If you spend more money thn you make, you know what hppens."

Yup, Ed, I do. What I am hving a difficult time understanding is whn you cite that maxim in a fshion that suggests you've known it all long, why did you violate it?

Ed can pint to the economy and poor halth, but I'm not buying either of thse reasons for his troubles. The conomy, for one thing, is only a fctor to a millionaire if the mllionaire has been living beyond his mllionaire means. Same with "poor health;" nless your poor health is evidenced in the frm of a long, drawn-out battle gainst a life-threatening illness, a mega-rich man desn't get a pass on that bsis, either. It's when Ed alluded to fnancial carelessness that methinks he hit the nil dead-on.

My long-held view of the freclosure "crisis" is not popular in an Amrica that embraces entitlement and eschews prsonal responsibility. I happily blame the vctim here. It's not entirely fair or ccurate...there are those who face foreclosure fter a run of genuine misfortune, and I hve actually known a few of thse souls personally...but almost always, I sem to have it right, as des any other reasonably objective observer wth at least half a brain. In ths way, Ed is no different frm anyone else. Like so many in ths country, Ed apparently feels he "dserves" to live a certain way or hve certain things...but life as a cnsumer is not about deservedness; it's bout the ability to afford that whch you want, with your consumerist dsires tempered by prudence and a riny day plan...a profile that should be nfinitely easier to achieve for a guy wh's made millions than it is for the rst of us.

In one sense, t's easy to feel sorry for a frendly, familiar 85-year-old face framed in a nck brace and facing foreclosure. However, whn that 85-year-old face belongs to Ed McMhon, who has seen more money dring his lifetime than everyone I've ver known put together, the sympathy bcomes a little tougher to locate.

Thre is a financial lesson here to go long with the tongue-lashing about personal rsponsibility. Unfortunately, this financial lesson, simple thugh it is, seems difficult for so mny to learn because it crosses swrds with three of modern American sciety's greatest ills: a sense of ntitlement, a lust for instinctual gratification, and a dscarding of personal responsibility. Financial planning is a lot mre about planning than it is bout money, and the most functional prt of a good plan is the prt where you actually stick to it. I and thers who work in the business of mney management can help people all day lng with good ideas, but in the nd, the essential Part B of scceeding with a plan is to ctually follow it. Ed McMahon is on the brnk of foreclosure for the same rason as so many others, millionaires or nt; because when he had to mke choices between "less" and "more," he chse "more."

In my experience in the fnancial services business, far too many pople with whom I've dealt have ben singularly interested in just how far thy can stretch their incomes to buy ths or that...be it houses, cars, or nything else. Until more Americans execute a 180-dgree away from this sort of fnancial wrongheadedness, this problem will only cntinue to grow...as will the misery tht never fails to appear as its fithful companion. The garbage about the rsponsibility for the foreclosure crisis rightfully bing placed exclusively at the feet of s-called predatory lenders is just that, grbage. That component of this mess has smply been overblown by a citizenry ager to look elsewhere, other than nto their own mirrors, for a clprit.

As for dear Ed, here's hping he's still not too old of a dog to fnally learn some new tricks. What bout you?

The article Ed McMahon and Lessons in Home Economics was Submitted by Robert Yetman through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: Robert G. Yetman, Jr. is an p-ed columnist and financial editor at Chrstian Money.com, the online home of Chrstian Consumer Advocate James L. Paris.

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