Check out this NPR piece about a pawn shop in Beverly Hills. The highlights:
The Beverly Loan Co. is...an upscale pawn shop in one of the nation's priciest ZIP codes. The fine items for sale today are remnants of tough times for the well-heeled. Either sold outright for quick cash or used as collateral on loans that went unpaid.
"Never before have we seen so many white-collar customers — doctors, lawyers, accountants, businessmen and women — getting $50,000-plus loans," says Tabach-Bank. "Normally these are people with great credit who could go into a bank and get the big loans, but that's not the case anymore."
A few thoughts:
1. Tough times for everyone -- even those with a good amount of wealth.
2. See, I told you that no matter how much you make, you can spend it all.
3. Why does someone with a huge income (presumably) need a $50,000 loan anyway? Shouldn't they have a decent surplus on a month-to-month basis not to mention a decent emergency fund?
Perhaps some still want to keep up their lifestyle. The mega-rich are probably not frugal. If they were, they shouldn't be having this problem to begin with.
Posted by: ekrabs | December 11, 2008 at 01:43 PM
If you spend more than you earn will draining your finances, no matter how much money you make.
Posted by: Green Panda | December 11, 2008 at 02:55 PM
Clear proof that having more money doesn't mean you will save more. This is why I want to laugh when people say that they will save more once they get this next raise. It's sad that people actually believe that their behavior will somehow change once they make a little more money.
Posted by: spivey | December 11, 2008 at 03:42 PM
I used to drive by this place all the time. It was featured on a tv program awhile back, they have some amazing stuff there. Gorgeous artwork, exquisite diamonds, it's very very high end pawn shop.
Posted by: Miss M | December 11, 2008 at 05:03 PM
I would hardly call these folks the mega rich or the rich. I would call them the aspiring rich, who couldn't afford the stuff to begin with. Tabach-Bank is being absurd, because if the people had great credit and have the balance sheets to support a loan, they can still get a loan. the fact is these people couldn't afford them to begin with.
Posted by: Tim | December 11, 2008 at 07:10 PM
There was a similar story today on Fox Business or CNBC.
Posted by: poor boomer | December 11, 2008 at 10:08 PM
Usually, those with the "big money" in our society are those who try to game the system to -get- money rather than to -make- money. Making money requires understanding the nature of wealth, which almost always implies a level of saving, cultivating and managing money skills.
Posted by: Shaun Connell | December 12, 2008 at 01:40 AM
Beverly Hills is an expensive area, and relative to the cost of living, doctors, lawyers, and accountants don't make a ton of money (especially lawyers and accountants!) -- their incomes are far from "huge" in that area.
Posted by: Pauline Law | December 12, 2008 at 09:06 AM