Ed McMahon = idiot of the month
 

Maybe you shouldn't have bought a $5M mansion beyond your means then, jackass. . .

Boo hoo. It's everyone else's fault but mine. I went through two divorces and then broke my neck and now I'm getting foreclosed on and my wife is embarassed by it. Boo hoo.

What a complete jerkoff. I just lost any/all respect for him I ever might have had. He should've sold that place at the first sign of trouble instead of clinging to a delusion.

What the hell ever happened to personal responsibility in this country, to say nothing of "living within one's means"?

- - - - -

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hnRDS41TT3Iy0z4ISL2-0fOVA8pQD914JB300

Ed McMahon talks about possible home foreclosure

2 days ago

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Ed McMahon blames the possible foreclosure of his multimillion-dollar Beverly Hills house on a set of problems all too familiar to many Americans: a foundering economy, health problems and poor planning.

"If you spend more money than you make, you know what happens" [The only part of his statements that make sense - I don't know how he goes from that one little nugget of common sense to the typical "I'm a victim" drivel that follows. . .], McMahon said Thursday night on CNN's "Larry King Live." "You know, a couple of divorces thrown in, a few things like that. And, you know, things happen."

McMahon, 85, appeared with his wife, Pamela. The couple said they are $644,000 behind on their mortgage payments and are in negotiations with lender Countrywide Home Loans Inc. to set a foreclosure date.

McMahon, in a neck brace, said he had stopped working since he broke his neck in a fall 18 months ago. He didn't elaborate.

McMahon, who was Johnny Carson's sidekick on the "Tonight" show, said the house had been on the market for two years and that although 50 organizations or individuals had looked at it, no one had made an offer. Documents show McMahon has a $4.8 million mortgage on the home.

"It's like a perfect storm," he said. "Economy problems. Selling the house right now is a tremendous operation."

McMahon bought the six-bedroom, five-bathroom, 7,000-square-foot house in January 1990. The mansion, which is listed at $6.25 million, is in a gated hilltop section off Mulholland Drive called The Summit. Britney Spears is among his neighbors.

Asked why a millionaire couldn't make house payments, Pamela McMahon said the couple had less money than people may think and suggested they could have done a better job managing their finances.

"We didn't keep our eye on the ball. We made mistakes," she said. "It's embarrassing to say the least, and it's sad, because you know, Ed's worked his whole entire life."

McMahon, a former pitchman for the American Family Publishers' sweepstakes and former "Star Search" host, received a $7.2 million settlement after a toxic mold spread through his house and led to the death of their dog in 2001.

With legal fees and construction costs of fixing the mold problem, the money did not go far, McMahon said.

"We had nine lawyers, they had nine lawyers," McMahon said. "By the time that's all over, and you rebuild the house from the outside in. ... A lot of things went wrong."

Still, McMahon said he was hopeful. He said there has been renewed interest in the house this week.

"I'm optimistic," he said.

Jeff,

When are you going to pull your head out of your rear?

Ed bought this house almost 20 years ago and once inside the house found that it was infested with black mold. Most of the settlement he won to fix the house was supposedly given to the lawyers, then the remainder to repair the house.

Has he spent more than he has in the bank? Yes and he has admitted that, but do you know what its like to be disabled? Try breaking your neck and get back to us. I am sure you would be working with a broken neck, but 99.9999% of us would be bedridden.

Try looking in the mirror and see how perfect your life is before smearing mud all over someone else sometime. He has made mistakes but then we all have.

Ed also said that with the divorces and alimony he had to pay, that also contributed. I feel worse for others who through no fault of their own are in dire straits. 1Million homes are in forecolsure, so there's a lot of misery to go around!

McMahon what an idiot, I bought my house in 1990 (almost the bottom of the market)
He bought in 1990 too. He should have tons of equity. He used lines of credit as his personal ATM like so many. I retired at the age of 47, because I lived way below my means, paid debt. Still working at 85 years old......WTF, just plain and simple bad planning.

Normally i agree with Jeff's posts, but not this time.

The guy broke his neck. IMO that's a big time extenuating circumstance. A broken neck is one of the few injuries that would keep him from pitching products.

I have mortgage disability insurance. If for some reason I become disabled, my mortgage payment is taken care of. I also have disability insurance, which will help me take care of other bills and medical expenses. I will carry these until I feel that I have built up sufficient savings that they are no longer necessary.

Part of being an adult is planning for the unfortunate.

I don't feel quite as strongly as P-O-P on this, but I'd have to agree with Minkoff. How does a guy like him get into a mess like this? What happened to the money he made during his 60-some years in show-biz? He shouldn't have to work at the age of 85. If he does, there's certainly a lot of bad planning that went on--for decades. And if he purchased the house nearly 20 years ago, a very large portion of the house should be paid off. Enough, at least, that he should be able to sell it for something and still get out without having to go through foreclosure or bankruptcy. Feel a bit bad for him due to the divorces. And he's got a relatively young kid; well, at least highschool age, IIRC. Not throwing stones at the guy. But still, youda thought will all the money and connections he's made over the years he would have hired smarter people to keep an eye on the bank account along the way.

He's probably hoping the publicity will create an out for him. He may be right- time will tell.

He should have planned to get divorced and having to pay alimony instead of mortgage payments, and he should have planned to break his neck so he can't work to make payments. Poor planning indeed.

If the average Joe out there breaks his neck and can't work, he'll be in financial trouble too.

if McMahon hadn't broken his neck he could have earned enough to make those payments easily.

Wow, i'm stunned Sammy. I thought for sure you'd be one of the "toss his ass out on the street" crowd.

I am pleasantly surprised. ;)

Looking at the other side of the coin...Isn't he saving a few $$$ by walking away from the home vs. trying to hold on? Perhaps he planned this since the home won't sell and is using the "I'm broke/disabled" angle so the media doesn't beat him up. When he recovers, we'll see him as the pitch-man for some national "foreclosure rescue" firm.

I think he's smiling like a fox.

HA!

It sounds like he may be getting his "just rewards" for participating in the "mold scams."

(You paid for his $7.2 million settlement through higher insurance premiums on your home, just as you've paid for everyone else playing the "toxic mold" game with the insurance companies.)

if you can borrow for a house that expensive, i think you can also fork over some cash to get some insurance?

can't he just write a publishers clearing house check ?

Nah, I think Dick Clark wiped out that account when he built his shack in Branson.;)

I can understand someone having "hard times" because of an illness or injury (especially a broken neck). However, when one encounters "hard times" either (1) medical insurance covers it or (2) you get rid of luxuries to deal with it. A $5M home is not a necessity. He should have cashed out and gotten a much cheaper place elsewhere, then used the $$$ to cover his medical costs. Tough break, but he wouldn't be making such an arse of himself today.

This guy is becoming the poster child for every irresponsible dipstick out there who is trying to milk their own poor planning and lack of judgment into a freebie from the public trough. Sick.

Trying to use a divorce as an "excuse" is stupid too. Divorce is a choice. Don't want to pay the $$$? Don't get the divorce. Deal with it like a man and try and make it work.

Trying to use a divorce as an "excuse" is stupid too. Divorce is a choice. Don't want to pay the $$$? Don't get the divorce. Deal with it like a man and try and make it work.[/QUOTE]

Amen, I retained my wealth because I have been married for 30 years, even only being 21 years old when I married, we made it work. Of coarse we had our ups and downs, but we gutted it out and are completely happy today. It did help to pick the right one, but it was part of my plan. Some of the guys on this thread that have sympathy because of a divorce probably have been divorced at least once.

{cue the music}

I turn on the tube what do i see,
a whole lot a people cryin' "don't blame me"
they point their crooked little fingers at everybody else
spend all their time feelin' sorry for them selves
victim of this, victim of that
your momma's too thin; and your daddy's too fat

get over it, get over it
all this whinin' and cryin' and pitchin' a fit
get over it, get over it

you say ya haven't been the same since ya had your little crash
but you might feel better if they gave you some cash
the more I think about it, ol' billy was right
let's kill all the lawyers- kill 'em tonight
you don't wanna work you wanna live like a king
but the big bad world doesn't owe you a thing

get over it, get over it
ya don't want to play then you might as well split
get over it, get over it

it's like going to confession every time i hear you speak
your makin' the most of your losin' streak
some call it sick, but i call it weak
yeah yeah yeah

yeah you drag it around like a ball an' chain
you wallow in the guilt; you wallow in the pain
you wave it like a flag, you wear it like a crown
got your mind in the gutter, bringin' everybody down
ya b1tch about the present and blame it on the past
i'd like to find your inner child an' kick it's little azz

get over it, get over it
all this b1tchin' and moanin' and pitchin' a fit
get over it, get over it, get over it
-Eagles

How long did he plan to keep working? At 55 I can quit anytime, have been debt free for years. I may work till 70 but only because I enjoy it.
Sorry Ed, no sympathy here, every day I see too many people much worse off than you.
Jim

Hey-oooooooh!


Just thought I'd throw that out there :D

Yeeeeeeesss! You are correct, sir!



KT

i heard on the radio he was quoted as saying that he had shown the house in an attempt to sell but a the paparazzi at britney's house just up the block 24/7 turned off many of the prospective buyers.

T$

I have a mortgage because i don't make enough to write a check for a house; Ed does.


When you're that old you don't buy green bananas and you don't borrow that sort of $ for a home. Foolish to have so much earning capacity and so little sense.

It's a shame to break your neck and i'm certainly not laughing at them but it was easily preventable.

Was he ever a spokesman for those reverse mortgage co's? If so i have zero pity.

something doesnt add up right here... at 85, he bought that house 18 years ago when he was 68 or so. At that time, Carson was planning on going off the air, which he did a couple of years later... McMahon also had Star Search...but did he have any ownership of either of these properties, or was he just a paid spokesperson? At the very least, he should/would have made $20 mil on Star Search if he had ownership of that property... so for him not to make payments on this house that he bought in 90 makes no sense at all... unless he just blew tons and tons of money and saved nothing...

i hate to rip the guy at 85, with a broken neck and no real prospects of future income, but obviously he made majorly stupid financial decisions his whole life, and in particular in the 80s-90s.

I've driven by the address (well, at least the gate to the neighborhood) 3 times in the last 24 hours. Two paparazzi the first time, no paparazzi the second time, and 3 paparazzi the third time. Yes there are paparazzi that hang out (down the street, not in front of the gate), but it's not as bad as it sounds. Not common (though it does occur) that I see 10+ cars out there, waiting for Britney/J Lo/etc.

I still have little sympathy for the guy.

I'm sure he has plenty of opportunities, whether book deals, or as a spokesperson. His "celebrity" is still a marketable commodity -- look at the way we're talking about him here!

true to some extent, but my point was that at age 85, in progressively failing health, without any real projects that he is apparently not working on, without apparently having a piece of ownership in past vehicles such as Star Search (I check Wiki and the show was owned by other production companies).... how much time does he have left as a viable spokesperson/celebrity? Yeah he may be able to get a gig promoting life insurance etc. such as what Robert Wagner is doing...or maybe a possible cameo in a film or TV show...but my point is that the clock is running fast there...

Anyway, lets turn back the clock 20 years and you are a very famous, well-spoken 65 year old McMahon and Star Search comes to you with this TV show concept that they want you to host...how do you not demand points on that? Maybe he did but even some points on that show which ran for 12 years would be huge and enough to set up someone for life, regardless of age.

So Ed owes more than he can sell it for and he hasn't got the deniro to do anything about it? If that means I have more net worth than him, that's really sad. Maybe he's letting it go but has millions somewhere else and is just walking away from an asset. He may still have bucks in the bank.

+1. A broken neck a year and a half ago didn't cause his financial problems. He's obviously made many, many bad decisions over probably several decades, that's what's lead to his situation.

Still sad to see happen to anyone.

How about Evander Holyfield's foreclosure? Rough numbers, he bought land and built his house outside Atlanta in 1995, spent a reported $40 million building it.

Now it's in foreclosure, he owes $10 million and it's worth around $10 million.

Holyfield earned around $200 million in his fights, including $35 million for his last fight with Tyson. To go through all that money, so fast, wow.

And between him and Tyson, they earned close to half a billion dollars. Last I read, Tyson was broke and living in a 2 bedroom apartment. Amazing.

Just one of all the people that are going through foreclosure; either rich or poor. Let see if he has tons of cash somewhere, but just wants out of this house...

The thing that's so maddening about stories like this (and probably one of the reasons I get so worked up about it) is here you have a guy who lucks into 5X more money than I'll likely ever see in my lifetime and he doesn't have the presence of mind to even REMOTELY try to protect it. It's like he completely didn't value it or something.

If I were lucky enough to make a million or a couple of million dollars, I'd be damn sure to shelter it, consult with good financial planners and lawyers in order to protect it from potential loss (i.e. lawsuits, taxes, hard times due to illness, incapacitation or family emergency, etc.) Heck, a lot of these things I do NOW and I make <0.1% of what McMahon made. The properties I'm considering (once we reach an appropriate point in the RE market) will be the ones I can EASILY make mortgage payments on. I'm not going to rush out and buy the biggest place I can afford just because I think it'll impress someone - I'll likely buy something very modest and WELL within my means to afford not just now, but 10, 15, 20 years down the road if I'm out of work, on hard times, etc. Basically I want to be able to afford the payment in a "nuclear scenario" if I have to go get a job at McDonald's. That's called "being responsible" and "living within one's means".

However, once again we see the example of someone who doesn't value what they've been fortunate enough to obtain simply p*ssing it right down the drain. It's truly insane. And now half the nation's irresponsible doofuses are rallying behind this guy like he's some kind of victim because of his own irresponsible, short-sighted and poor choices. WTF? Just because THEY made stupid and irresponsible choices too (largely by buying overpriced real estate in a bubble on "funky" creative financing that can never realistically pay down the note) they feel like they have something in common with this guy and hey, if he can cry "victim" and get the bleeding hearts behind him, well gee - it ought to work for them too, right?

It's getting to sound like a broken record from me I'm sure, but boy I'm sick and tired of hearing stories about how the responsible, cautious, conservative and hard-working out there are penalized to prop up the irresponsible, indiscriminate, foolhardy and lazy.

If this keeps up, we're absolutely and positively doomed as a society.

hmm...sounds like the makings of (another) "celebrity" reality show. "Iron" Mike Tyson and Evander "the Real Deal" Holyfield, living in a 2 bedroom apartment in Reseda. Imagine the hilarity and hijinks... :eek:

and toss Ed McMahon in as their live-in butler/consigliere/spiritual advisor....and the fun really begins... ;)

What stuns me most of all about these ulber rich people is that they don't buy their houses in cash.

If you're holyfield and made hundreds of millions, what the hell are you doing financing anything for?

Now THAT is stupid IMO.

It actually makes some sense to finance it.

If you can pay off a significant portion of your purchase with future (inflated, less valuable) dollars, why not? This is one reason I put off my student loans (my biggest expense in life) as long as I could and have refi-ed into a payment plan that has a VERY low fixed rate and terms stretched out over 30 (not 10) years. The dollars I use to repay that note are getting less and less valuable every year, meaning I'm paying less (in real dollars) for the same education.

Also, if you can make more in other investments by putting the money elsewhere and earning more on it than you pay in interest to the bank for borrowing the money for the purchase, you're coming out ahead versus dumping it into a cash purchase and earning nothing off of it - remember, normally real estate only tracks inflation - it is not a good "return on investment" vehicle.

Cash for real estate is not necessarily a bad idea. Yes, there's something to be said about being in debt to nobody, but OTOH, sound financial planning should always be about numbers and earning the biggest returns over time, not emotional "feel-goods".

I doubt Ed was using any of this logic in his decision making though. Just a hunch. ;)

Just saw this. Pretty funny. Gotta' love the Onion. . .

http://www.theonion.com/content/amvo/ed_mcmahon_may_lose_house?utm_source=cnn00

Just saw this. Pretty funny. Gotta' love the Onion. . .

http://www.theonion.com/content/amvo/ed_mcmahon_may_lose_house?utm_source=cnn00

Jeff, that is why the welfare system is doomed to failure. IF you are given something, it has less value to you than something you had to work for, simple human nature

Have you seen Hollyfield's house? Who would buy a castle in the middle of nowhere? He kinda overbuilt for the area.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1213019288.jpg

Trivia: the library is built in a half-circle with floor to 20′ ceiling bookcases … one of which swings away from the wall to reveal a hidden room!
He also has a giant master bedroom where there is a fireplace guarded by 2 large ceramic(?) lions. He also has a 19 foot long bathtub (TRUE!) surrounded by Roman columns. The bedroom also has a massive sitting room with kitchen. His wife’s closet is a huge 2-story room. His trophy room also has a secret door for hiding his Olympic medal!
The wing on the right front is the dining wing. The identical one on the left is Evander’s huge office. The basement has a giant game room, pool room, indoor lap pool, basketball court, handball court and 2 bowling alleys.

It's not just the welfare mentality, as these people illustrate. The mentality of easy-come-easy-go exists in the other financial extreme, too.

I wonder if these clowns can sue their financial advisors/accountants for all the money squandered?

I remember seeing a Ted Nugent interview where he said while on tour he was driving all night on buses and staying in cheap hotels. But when his financial advisors/accountants would come to a show and meet with him they would charter a plane and stay in 5-star hotels.

He fired them all.

I am willing to bet Nugent has tons of $$$$