A few weeks ago after I had spoken to a large crowd about the ten worst money mistakes anyone can make, a man came down to the front and we started discussing his finances. At one point he said, "Now get ready, this is going to shock you."
I replied, "After all these years hearing people's personal finance stories, nothing shocks or surprises me anymore."
I guess I was wrong -- and these next two stories are proof of that. They both shocked me, though in different ways.
The first is about a husband and wife who were running a high-end prostitution service out of their home. That's shocking enough, but the details are what blew my mind -- the husband was the pimp and the woman he was selling for sex was his wife (and she had sex with men in the couple's bed while her husband and 3-year-old daughter were in a nearby room)! Simply unbelievable! Why did they do it? The piece said they "set up an escort service after encountering financial difficulties." They must have been fairly good at marketing her services since they earned $180,000.
Now let's step back here a minute. How desperate does someone have to be to sell his wife for sex? And how messed up does the wife have to be to agree to it? And for what? Simply because they had money trouble? And they needed over $180,000 (I'm assuming they would have stopped had they reached an amount that got them out of trouble)? Just what had they done to mess up financially by over $180k?
Color me shocked AND surprised.
The second piece is about Bristol Palin and the fact that she's hitting the speakers' circuit. In and of itself, that's not big news. But the amount she'll be making is pretty stunning. The article says she "will command between $15,000 and $30,000 for each appearance." Wow. $30k for a speech? I need to get my mom to run for vice president!
I have a couple thoughts on this subject:
- Good for her. If the market will pay that, then go for it. Why not?
- Is anyone really going to pay this amount? That sounded to me like the sort of fees her mom would command. So I went checking and found out that Sarah Palin actually makes $100k per speech (source #1 and source #2).
Color me shocked AND surprised yet again.
It just goes to show you that when you think you've been around the block enough times to see it all there are other shockers in the wings. Two propositions undoubtedly true:
1. People will do anything for money - even sell their soul. I'm sure what you found out is just the tip of the iceberg.
2. The country is celebrity crazy - we first learned that with Paris Hilton. It's only getting worse.
Posted by: DIY Investor | June 02, 2010 at 06:49 AM
I did not see the first story, that is amazing. So much for the institution of marriage. Plus, as you mentioned, what kind of lesson is that for the child.
As far as the Palin daughter, I applaud her for making the most of her situation. We in America get so caught up in other people's lives, its crazy. If she can market herself and people are stupid enough to pay, good for her. Wake up America and smell the coffee!
Posted by: basicmoneytips.com | June 02, 2010 at 07:12 AM
Sadly, I suspect it's possible they didn't need $180k. This is just like embezzlers you always hear about - most start out just taking a little, fully intending (or at least believing they intend) to pay it back once the "crisis" is over.
But once started, that easy money is just too powerful to set aside. They keep taking it, and taking more and more, until they get caught.
Unfortunately I wouldn't be surprised if they needed much less, but once that debt was paid (and the taboo was broken) it was just too easy to keep doing it. Gee, hon, if we do it just a little longer we can go on vacation/get the big TV/send Princess to college/replace your old car.
The love of money is a powerful thing.
Posted by: DCS | June 02, 2010 at 07:13 AM
I have to agree with DCS. The couple probably got greedy after they saw how much money could be made. Poor kid.
As for $15k-$30k for a speech by someone who may or may not know what they are talking about...ummm, go lady! I won't be ponying up any of that dough.
Posted by: Budgeting in the Fun Stuff | June 02, 2010 at 11:03 AM
Note on the article on the couple: it says police siezed over $181,000 in cash at their house at the time of arrest. They may have (and pobably did) earned more than $180,000 over the 18 months this was going on and simply spent it.
Posted by: Arimack | June 02, 2010 at 12:00 PM
To me, Bristol Palin getting paid that kind of money for a speech just seems like a payoff to her mother. At the very least it creates the appearance of impropriety.
Posted by: ben | June 02, 2010 at 12:13 PM
Ben, theres no reason to use Bristol as a some sort of back door proxy to make a "payoff to her mother" since Sarah Palin herself can just charge ungodly amounts of $$ for her own services. No need to funnel it via her kid.
Posted by: jim | June 02, 2010 at 01:51 PM
Re Bristol Palin- Some years ago I was one of the student heads of my university and we had a few million to spend on speakers each year. I would guess that she is getting around $15k and doubt right off the bat she is being paid $30k. This being said, these contracts tend to also include all expenses for the speaker and their entourage. I was shocked then, by the amounts of money thrown at c- speakers.
If you can get the work, speaking gigs are a wonderful way to make a lot of money for little work.
Posted by: Tyler | June 02, 2010 at 01:58 PM
"* Good for her. If the market will pay that, then go for it. Why not? "
Does that apply to the first story as well?
Posted by: * | June 02, 2010 at 03:23 PM
* --
No.
Posted by: FMF | June 02, 2010 at 03:24 PM
On #1, there are people who are very open with their marriages. I don't agree with it, but hey, as long as they're not hurting me in the process, I say live and let live. The only part that troubles me is the 3-year-old kid being tied up in that.
On #2, didn't Monica Lewinsky once command six figures for speaking appearances? Our country's obsession with celebrity is so out of hand it's ridiculous. Once upon a time, you had to be good at something to be famous - sports, music, science, business - SOMETHING. Today, fame has morphed into its own virtue. Kind of pathetic really, but hey, that's us in America.
Posted by: Bad_Brad | June 02, 2010 at 03:29 PM
Number 1 requires no comment.
Number 2. I might not care for Sarah P (and I don't) but I agree agree with BFS. More power to her. Won't be getting my money. And btw, if some group would like to provide me with transportation, hotel and amenities, plus 15 to 30k to speak for an hour, contact me.
@FMF loved the response to '*'.
Posted by: BillV | June 02, 2010 at 04:12 PM
wow, the first story shocked me, the 2nd one not so much considering how famous the Palin name has become. definitely shows you how low some people have fallen when it comes to PF when they sell themselves to pay off personal debt.
Posted by: Stephan | June 02, 2010 at 05:13 PM
That first story is pretty shocking. BTW, do the math - 180,000 divided by 400 is a lot of 'encounters' over 18 months. And that is just the money they had on them. There had to be more cash spent... it's pretty sad. How much was their children exposed to?
Posted by: texashaze | June 03, 2010 at 02:37 AM
As for the couple...this probable goes on much more than people would imagine.
As for Bristal, I cannot imagine any group that would want to pay that much to have her speak. ..But who knows...stranger things have happened.
Posted by: billyjobob | June 03, 2010 at 04:20 PM
Agree with DCS and Arimack - for all we know 180K is what they had left after they paid what they needed.
@texashaze - That was $400 per hour, not $400 per encounter. High end prostitution is usually more than have sex and say good-bye. I saw a program on high end prostitution on cnbc with interviews with the girls, and it's usually about long encounters with rich guys that give illusion of romance i.e. dinner, intelligent conversation and then spend the night. A few nights like this adds up to a lot of money. In a cnbc program, some rich clients were taking high end prostitutes on a several day trips to France. Some permanent clients. From rich client's point of view it's like having an intelligent and beautiful lover who always does what he wants, always agrees, and will never be calling him home or nagging him to divorce his wife.
I doubt they told kids the truth, they probably said like mommy has lots of business trips.
What I am surprised is that the guy was prostituting his wife rather than doing the management and hiring others to do the job.
Posted by: kitty | June 04, 2010 at 03:58 PM
Oops, never mind just read the article. "The wife, Luba Lavrusik, 27, had sex with clients in the couple's bedroom, sometimes while her husband and their 3-year-old daughter were in a nearby room in the house, the charges said"
Wow... I guess it wasn't that high end. Yes, it's lots of encounters (oops....) On CNBC, high end call girls said they never invited guys to their private home, they had another apartment just for business.
Posted by: kitty | June 04, 2010 at 04:02 PM
The second one is what I can't comprehend. I don't understand what type of advice or motivation she can provide. Don't have a baby or you'll starting making $15,000 for every talk you give? The horror!
It's bad enough that people pay 6 figures to hear her mother speak. It's hard enough for me to listen to her for free!
Posted by: Ryan@TheFinancialStudent | June 06, 2010 at 03:24 PM