Most of us wish we were a rich and famous celebrity, idolizing every step they take, constantly watching them in the news.
However, the cost of being rich and famous may be greater than we imagine. I would go as far as to say that the star celebrities are constantly on a kind of public stage, always being photographed or badgered by adoring fans (not to mention stalked).
Now granted being wealthy and a celebrity has its advantages, but my concern is about all of the great things that they’d miss out on that the average middle class family experiences!
Here’s a list of the things a celebrity would miss out on:
- A casual walk in the mall, or really anywhere in the public eye.
- A quiet evening out with their spouse. Even when they are at a private room in a restaurant, there is someone trying to take pictures or get an autograph. And there is always the nasty process of going and leaving the establishment.
- Travelling must be done in disguise, and even then, they are often recognized.
- Since they are busy with an acting gig, or away on a business trip, they miss large segments of their children growing up.
- They often adopt children rather than have their own kids, possible fearing that they might lose their million dollar looks or body.
- They’ll miss out on the sports that a child might play (if they play any at all).
- Their kids are bound to feel like they are entitled to have the same stuff other rich kids like them have. The celebrity may not experience the hugs from a child when they come home from work. Or at least not as many opportunities.
So while I wouldn’t mind being rich or financial independent, I don’t think I would really want to be famous. I think the costs would be too high, and you would give up too much in the process, especially if you have kids.
What do you think? Would you like to be Rich And Famous or just discretely rich (my preference)?
-MR
Related Reading:
Check out Everyday’s tips and thoughts‘s article: Who Needs Yachts and Islands, it was my motivation for writing this article.
I’m surprised you didn’t put up Britney’s head-shaven picture up…! =)
Lindsay doesn’t look too hot there.
I definitely wouldn’t want to be famous either. You lose so much of your privacy. I don’t like the feeling of people scrutinizing me, that when you’re in the public eye, that feeling probably intensifies 100 fold.
I also can’t think of living life the way celebrities do right now… I think that I really want to be rich, but then I also want to live a private life which is not impossible because a lot of people have already done it.
Same here. I’d much rather be rich without being recognizable (at least outside my peer group).
The other thing that I imagine is annoying is the tabloids that fabricate stories about you or your loved ones.
I think I remember reading that Victoria Principal (from Dallas fame) didn’t have children because she didn’t want to lose her figure. How dumb. From what I know, her career didn’t flourish after Dallas anyway.
I have no desire to be famous. I would rather be an anonymous author or something that just had a ton of money and could spend quietly as I wish.
@youngandthrifty
I actually thought about it, but it was so sad, I decided to go with Lindsey instead. Lindsey’s a great actress (really she is…), so I’m sure she’s pretty intelligent… I didn’t want to show Britney, because I don’t think she is too bright 😉
@Tim | Become Rich
Once I’m rich (if ever), I would want to live like “The Millionaire Next Door” kind of person. The blogger at http://www.freemoneyfinance.com is much like that kind of person. His kids actually think they don’t have a lot of money…
@Sandy L
Yeah, I definitely wouldn’t want to live that way. Plus, you’d think that the married star would stop doing reality show after so many married star end up getting divorced afterwards.
I want to be closet rich, where my family knows, but nobody else does!
@Everyday Tips
Me too. And I wouldn’t trade my experiences as a dad for any amount of money.
I think Victoria Principal probably doesn’t realize what she missed. Sad huh…
I think Lindsey showed a truly stupid side when she tried suing Etrade for that Milkaholic commercial – that was just silly.
Nope, I think I could handle being famous, but I wouldn’t want to on purpose. Now if I’m ever a famous author, I’ll deal. 😉
@Budgeting in the Fun Stuff
Yeah, that cracked me up too!!! I haven’t heard much about that, but I haven’t seen the commercial run lately either (then again, it was a dumb commercial).
An author doesn’t get those crazy photographers stalking them, so I can hand small fame… just not superstar fame. I wonder how Warren Buffett handles the fame… Perhaps they don’t bother him too much, but he is a celebrity.
I’d like to be Famous on the Internet. It’s a lot easier to go incognito IRL that way.
Some stars don’t seem to have too much of a problem. They lead relatively quiet lives and just aren’t interesting to tabloids.
Growing up, I used to see a famous supermodel (in her sweats, no make-up) in our grocery store occasionally when she was visiting her parents. Her cousins were in my classes. Except that most of the high school boys had her as the pin-up in their lockers, it didn’t really seem to be a big deal. But she’s a smart one that never really got into much tabloid trouble outside of a marriage/divorce. Paparazzi are too busy chasing down the crazy ones.
And of course I’d like to be quietly rich. We’re working on that… slowly.
@Nicole
I think quiet rich (or closet rich), would be the way to go.
I guess there are other stars out there that don’t cause an uproar. Perhaps, I’m only paying attention to the Britney’s and Lindsey’s out there…
Thanks for the great add! I like to hear stories like that 🙂
I actually hear an interview with Pam Anderson on Howard Stern a couple years go where she described how much it sucked for her to be famous and NOT rich. She said that she had money but not really F U money and it was tough because its not like she can go get a regular job somewhere
and Hell yeah I’d be famous!
@Evan
That would really suck! To be famous and not rich!!! But then again, if Pamela Anderson put her mind to it, I’m sure she would be rich with just a few websites (well maybe not now, she’s not as hot as she use to be)…
I don’t think I have the patience to be famous… Unless I was author famous. I guess really I just don’t want to be superstar famous.. Stephen King famous wouldn’t be too bad!!!
I agree, all that faux glamor doesn’t do anyone any good. It’s much better to live like a regular person, with a secret huge bank account.
@Jesse
I guess if I were hard to recognize rich, that wouldn’t be too bad (like an author). But I could just as easily do without the fame!
I think I would like to be quietly rich because I can do a lot of good for the community anonymously. I could help the community while still being one of the masses in the community.
I think it would be kind of noble to do such an act.
I’m just happy to be closet rich. Nobody knows how much I make or have, and that’s exactly the way I like it!
While it would be great to be secretly wealthy, I don’t really need to be rich at all. I’m simply striving for financial freedom! 🙂
Best,
Len
Len Penzo dot Com
@Financial Samurai
I’m not quite there yet, but when I do get there, that’s what I would prefer to be!
Some day, some day… 🙂
@Len Penzo
Yes, financial freedom would be great too!
I think if my expenses were covered by my passive income, I would keep that fact hidden too, especially from my friends (except maybe my closest)…
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Give me the riches but not the fame… at least, not the kind of “fame” these celebs seem to “enjoy”.
@Kevin@InvestItWisely
Hehe, me too! Except maybe author fame… A decent number of commenters above mentioned that they wouldn’t mind being author famous! I guess I can handle that level of fame (but I’d still rather be quietly rich 🙂 )…
By the way, I failed to thank you for linking to my site in this post.
Have a great weekend!
@Everyday Tips
I linked to it after you posted the comment already 😉
I just wanted to give you an extra bit of link love!
Definitely discreetly rich! This is a really interesting “or” question and I think the fame might be cool for a few weeks or a month, but then it loses its effect and you’d just wish for anonymity!
@Andrew
Yep, it’s definitely a Pandora’s box scenario too! Once the box is open, there is no turning back!
I guess if you bought your own island, that could take care of some of it, but even then you couldn’t do the simple things like go pickup a gallon of milk at a grocery store…