Rusty Tweed on Financial Planning and the Perception of Wealth in Hollywood

Perhaps something few have thought about, Hollywood financial professionals are among the few possessing a truly accurate view of the financial health and well being of the area’s most elite residents. With near-constant reports documenting the lavish purchases and extravagant lifestyles made possible by a successful career in any one of Hollywood’s principal industries, it is only natural for those on the outside looking in to conclude these individuals are merely reaping the rewards of their own success.

According to Rusty Tweed, however, this external perception is not always based on reality. In fact, it is all too often the case that the highest earning figures among Hollywood’s elite are plagued by the very same issues faced by Americans across the country: high-interest debts along with little savings set aside for retirement or a sudden emergency. Tweed, a financial services professional with nearly 25 years of industry experience, believes that although this commonality is the product of a number of complex factors, it is an also an easily resolved issue.

In the view of the longtime financial planner and financial services professional, relativity is the key concept one must understand in identifying the reason why so many Americans -- including Hollywood’s eight-figure earners as well as those taking home a much more modest annual salary -- struggle to keep up with their finances in a way that lays the groundwork for financial stability throughout retirement or during times of crisis.

Despite the stark differences in earning power, the core issue is the general inability to live an appropriate lifestyle relative to one's means and in accordance with one's long-term financial goals and objectives. In Hollywood, there is pervasive pressure to not only embrace the extravagant lifestyle made possible because of one’s extraordinary talents or professional successes, but to flaunt it to such a degree that it often approaches carelessness.

This pressure is almost palpable in a place such as Hollywood, but this pressure -- however subtle it may be -- has the very same effect on Americans earning an average annual salary as well. The result, of course, is the same regardless of one’s earning power, raising the question of how one can go about making sound financial decisions free from the influence of the subconscious pressures that cause so many to live outside of their means.

Tweed, perhaps unsurprisingly, suggested seeking the assistance of a financial services professional capable of creating a comprehensive plan for achieving an individual’s short- and long-term financial goals. Tweed also noted that it is entirely possible for those living beyond their means to retake control of their finances without outside assistance as long as they are committed to educating themselves and remaining vigilant about living a modest lifestyle that ensures their future financial flexibility.

This is a process that must begin with an honest assessment of one’s current financial situation and a deep understanding of the goals and objectives one ultimately hopes to achieve in the future. For Hollywood’s financial elite, it also requires a commitment to recognizing the pitfalls of extravagance along with the long-term benefits of living the appropriate lifestyle relative to one’s earnings, even if that lifestyle appears exceedingly modest when compared to one’s peers in the area’s most successful industries.