Posts Tagged ‘Fictional Finances’

Although most people work to live, some folks are lucky enough to have jobs that they truly love. Will Schuester, the central character in the Fox’s series “Glee,” enjoys his teaching duties so much that he actually pays for the privilege of taking over a high school glee club.

The Opposite of a Salary

Schuester, nicknamed “Mr. Shoe” by the students, owns a car with a muffler that hangs so low it scrapes the road. Although his true passion is performing music, Schuester makes his living teaching Spanish classes to the students at McKinley High School. After the faculty adviser to McKinley’s Glee Club is fired for inappropriate behavior, Mr. Shoe asks to take over his duties. Unfortunately, the penny-pinching principal makes him agree to pay $60 each month to cover the costs of this extracurricular activity. Schuester also must monitor after-school detention for several months without pay to guarantee practice space for the Glee Club.

Teaching in Lima

“Glee” is set in Lima, Ohio, a town where the average salary for a teacher at Schuester’s level is $39,470, according to Salary.com. Thanks to his devotion to the Glee Club, he has to forfeit $720 of his annual gross salary, plus any additional money that he could have made during the hours he spends in detention.

Spending Habits
If Terri’s spending behaviour is a reflection of her spending habits, at best the Schuester’s likely carry a balance and at worst are in debt. Balance transfer or low interest interest credit cards would be a smart move, but not without a change in how the money is managed.

Schuester’s wife, Terri, works four hours a day, three days a week at “Sheets and Things,” which sells bedding and other household goods. Based on Ohio’s hourly minimum wage of $7.30, she contributes $87.60 to the household income before taxes. Unfortunately, Terri also takes her Pottery Barn credit card for regular outings, which forces the Schuesters to live paycheck-to-paycheck.

Her husband, on the other hand, is a pretty conservative spender as witnessed by his dangling muffler. The only time he shows any plastic in the pilot episode is when he uses a credit card to scrape gum off the shoe of a pretty, germ-phobic co-worker named Emma.

A Planned Pregnancy and a Career Change

Just when Mr. Shoe has rounded up some truly talented kids for Glee Club, Terri discovers that she is pregnant, which, along with finding a reliable glue gun, has been one of her life’s ambitions. A new baby costs quite a bit of money each month, which means that his teaching salary just won’t cut it anymore. At Terri’s insistence, he applies for a lucrative accounting job.

Waiting for the Other Financial Shoe to Drop

To stay at McKinley and do the work that he loves, Schuester is going to have to make some hard choices. With a wife that spends way above their means and a baby on the way, he must find ways to make additional money. Schuester is devoted to his Glee Club kids, but he’s also an honorable husband and father.

However, there is a very noticeable attraction between him and the cute, wide-eyed Emma, which is bound to cause some marital friction down the road. If he happens to end up in divorce court, he can expect Terri to take him to the cleaners financially.

Watch “Glee” online at Fox.com/glee today, and on Wednesdays this fall.

Steven Bryan

At one time or another, everyone wishes they had a second chance in life, but aspiring model Deb Dobson (Brooke D’Orsay) actually gets a “do over” on the new Lifetime original series “Drop Dead Diva“. Unfortunately, Deb has to take her second chance in the plus-sized body of a workaholic female attorney.

Deb Becomes a Model Attorney

After Deb crashes her car into a grapefruit truck, she arrives in the afterlife, a place where Fred (Ben Feldman) tells her that she’s neither a good nor a bad person. While he’s deciding her ultimate fate, Deb sends herself back to Earth, but she lands in the recently deceased body of Jane Bingum (Brooke Elliott).

Unlike Deb, Jane has, in the words of Fred, an IQ that’s off the charts. An associate at a successful Los Angeles law firm, she works in a corner office and has a very efficient assistant named Teri Lee (Margaret Cho). As the new resident soul, Deb now has Jane’s brains, her job and her body plus the memories of her former life as a skinny model.

A Lane Bryant Wardrobe, a House and a Porsche

In one episode, Jane celebrates her 32^nd birthday, which means that she’s been out of law school for about seven years. With her brains, Jane probably was hired right out of school and has been an associate lawyer for at least five years. According to the website Infirmation.com, an associate with her experience in the Los Angeles area stands to make a base salary between $160,000 and $230,000 each year, not counting incentives and bonuses.

A Wider Fast-lane
As an associate, Jane also gets to take clients out on her expense account. Her six-figure income and monthly spending makes her an excellent candidate for the American Express Platinum–and may even qualify Jane for the exclusive and elusive AMEX Centurion Card.

With her disposable income and earning potential, Jane invested in a nice starter house, which, by the looks of it, set her back at least $500,000. After reading one of her many self-help books, Jane also bought herself a treat—a hot little Porsche convertible. Deb may have issues occupying Jane’s body, but she loves driving that fast sports car.

Because she spends almost all her waking hours at the law firm, Jane keeps a complete wardrobe in her office closets. When Deb balks at the Lane Bryant labels on the clothes, Teri reminds her that “she loves Ms. Bryant.” It’s a safe bet that Jane has a Lane Bryant credit card in her purse, but Deb will never use it. The former model may, however, upgrade the “Plain Jane” wardrobe with some snazzy new outfits.

Doughnuts and Other Comfort Food

As an aspiring Price is Right model, Deb was extremely calorie conscious, eating only a grapefruit half that was sweetened with two packets of Splenda each morning. Jane’s body, on the other hand, craves doughnuts with sprinkles and chocolate. During her first few hours as an attorney, Deb tries a doughnut and likens it to a religious experience. The law firm also keeps a well-stocked refrigerator for associates and partners, which trims Jane’s food budget quite a bit.

The Future Earnings of Deb/Jane

Surprisingly enough, the merger of Deb’s compassion and Jane’s brains has produced a highly successful lawyer on the fast track for a partnership. As the weeks go by, though, Deb feels herself slipping into Jane’s personality more and more. It’s hard to tell if Deb’s personality traits will disappear completely, but for now, this Drop Dead Diva is a Los Angeles lawyer who’s hard to beat.

Steven Bryan

Though not a human lie detector like Cal Lightman of “Lie to Me,” Patrick Jane of “The Mentalist” has his own seemingly supernatural abilities that make him an asset to the fictional California Bureau of Investigation. A former psychic, Jane now consults with the CBI on murder cases, lending the agency his mental acuity and powers of observation.

A Lucrative Past

Before working with the CBI, Jane was a popular psychic and medium who had developed a sufficient following to warrant his own television show. He conducted both public and private readings for his clients, pretending to communicate with dead friends and relatives.

This, of course, was a lucrative career choice, especially considering his success in the public arena. However, it all came to a shattering end when the serial killer “Red John” slaughtered Jane’s wife and daughter several months before “The Mentalist” begins.

It is not known how much money Jane brought in as a medium, but he drives a vintage car and lives in a well-appointed home with all the comforts and luxuries one can imagine. It is doubtful he could afford his lifestyle on the salary of a police consultant. However, if he saved his money from his work as a psychic and invested it well, he could very easily afford his expensive tailored suits and shiny designer shoes.

A Dangerous Present

Although Jane appears to abhor violence and detest guns, he doesn’t live a boring or safe life. He investigates cases with the CBI, talking to witnesses and interrogating suspects, and he has more than once found himself at the wrong end of a weapon. He states numerous times over the first season of the show that his main priority is finding — and perhaps eliminating — “Red John.” Therefore, he is consumed by the hunt, and the medical bills that might eventually result from his risky behavior could easily deplete his financial resources.

At the Tables

Patrick Jane occasionally finds ways to make money during the course of investigations. For example, in one episode he finds himself at the heart of a gambling mystery, and uses his mental prowess to count cards and win at blackjack and poker. However, regardless of how he rakes in dough, he always uses it for good, buying his friends at the CBI gifts or donating money to various charities.

It would seem that anyone with such intelligence would likewise be good with money. He probably knows how to balance risks in investments and how to keep tabs on his checkbook. We’ve never seen him pull out a credit card on “The Mentalist,” but he most likely would be approved for any number of platinum offerings.

Steve Thompson

HBO’s “Big Love” follows polygamist family Bill Henrickson and his wives Barb, Nicolette and Margene, who all live in a suburb of Salt Lake City, Utah, with their eight children. They try to keep their lifestyle a secret, even as they discover running three households can be extremely expensive.

Three Roofs

Bill bought three neighboring houses for his three wives and children. The median price of a house in Salt Lake City is $284,756, according to www.saltlakecityutah.org. That means that Bill owes a total of $854,268 for all three homes. In addition to mortgages, he would have to pay utilities and car payments for his wives’ cars. His first wife, Barb, is the most financially responsible. His second, Nicolette, grew up on a Mormon compound and has difficulties fitting into the modern world.

Nicolette also has an addiction to shopping, and tried to hide her credit card debt from the family. She bought plenty of clothes from catalogs, and finally admitted to Barb that she accumulated $60,000 in charges on her credit card. She would most likely need a debt management plan if she ever wanted to pay it off in her lifetime.

Big Spending
With three wives and seven kids (so far), everyday expenses add up. Cash back credit cards can be beneficial—as long as they’re paid-off every month. Cash back rebates range from 1% of all purchases up to 10% at selected merchants. If the cards are used carefully, the cash back earned by the family spending would pay for the kids’ allowances…maybe.

One Income

Bill runs a home improvement store chain, while his wives are unemployed for most of the series. The purchase price of a franchise can cost up to $1 million, according to www.businessbroker.net. The show depicts Bill and his business partner, Don, purchasing property for their additional stores and seeking out a new business venture in electronic gaming. Bill’s credit score must not be that great; he had to ask his Uncle Eddie for a loan so he could bid on a casino business.

Margene, wife number three, decided to launch a jewelry business later on in the series, and Nicolette briefly worked at the district attorney’s office as a temp. In reality, the family would need more income to function each month.

The cost of living for this family keeps increasing as Bill tries to add a fourth wife to the family, and his wives have more children. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that families spend $269,520 to raise a child from birth to the time they turn 18. Living a polygamist lifestyle is risky, and could cost them their family and their jobs. The show should probably be called “Big Debt” rather than “Big Love.”

Stephanie Armstrong

Fox’s new hit “Lie to Me” is based on the work of research scientist Paul Ekman, who has studied and written books about the concept of “microexpressions” and the ways in which people behave when they don’t tell the truth.

In the show, Dr. Cal Lightman is the “human lie detector” who leads his staff on journeys of discovery in corporate, governmental, military and private sector cases, sniffing out the liars in each and delving psychologically into the minds of those they distrust.

From Researcher to Entrepreneur

After forming the Lightman Group to market his ability to catch people in the act of lying, Lightman has done well for himself. He works in an almost ostentatiously modern office with stark, institutional lighting and the latest in technology.

However, before he formed the Lightman Group, Lightman was a research scientist who traveled the world to study the psychology and sociology of different cultures. This was likely not an inexpensive undertaking; he had to finance his research somehow.

It is possible that Lightman secured government or private loans for his research, but more likely he relied on credit cards for things like living expenses and travel. He would need a low-interest credit card so he wouldn’t have to worry about doubling or tripling his balance from month to month, and he probably needed excellent credit so he could increase his credit limits.

Lightman likely uses credit cards quite often in his business for employee expenses and his own travel to visit clients. He might prefer rewards credit cards that allow him to earn things like free airfare and other travel perks, though he might also use business credit cards for his employees.

Financing the Biz

After concluding his research, Lightman returned to Washington, where he started the Lightman Group. Even if the meager beginnings of the operation were housed in a less generous office building, Lightman would need capital to get his business off the ground.

The Lightman Group uses many different forms of technology to isolate microexpressions, record interviews with witnesses and facilitate communication between staff members. The plasma televisions, video projectors and post-processing equipment alone would cost a bundle, and that doesn’t take into account the rent or purchase of office space in Washington.

Personal Obligations

In addition to a career, Lightman also has an ex-wife and a teenage daughter. Most likely, he pays spousal support to the former and child support for the latter, increasing his monthly expenditures.

The financial issues in Lightman’s life are not necessarily related to his present, but more to his past. How did he finance his research and extensive travel? And how much support did he receive from his father after his mother died?

However, Lightman is most likely raking in the dough as a human lie detector. His precise income is difficult to pinpoint because his is not a common career path, but his business generates sufficient cash to support a full staff, a gorgeous and spacious office, and all the technology required to assist his clients.

Steve Thompson

It is hard to make ends meet as a mural artist. It’s especially difficult if you also have dissociative identity disorder like Tara Gregson in Showtime’s “United States of Tara“. Tara has three alternate personalities named T, Alice and Buck. T is a rebellious teenage girl who loves to wear short skirts and go on shopping sprees at the mall. Alice is an old fashioned homemaker who loves to bake. Buck is a male personality who smokes and drinks. The question quickly becomes How do you support all of these personalities on an artist’s salary?

According to Payscale, Tara’s annual income as a mural artist can average around $43,000. Her husband runs a small landscaping business and probably earns $30,000 a year. They have two teenagers and live in the suburbs of Overland, Kansas. House prices in their neighborhood start at $215,900, and the average monthly mortgage payment is $1,658, according to the 2007 U.S. Census Bureau. The census also states that the median household income for a family in Overland is $91,806. The Gregson family is estimated to make almost $20,000 less than the average, and most likely has plenty of medical bills and credit card debt.

Adding it up
If the Gregsons rely on credit cards to pay for the basic living essentials for a family of four (seven including T, Alice and Buck), there is no “best credit card” to use. Should Tara’s condition stabilize, depending on the size of the family’s debt, transferring high interest rate balances onto balance transfer credit cards would be the best step to take. But as soon as the debt is consolidated, the newly-empty accounts should be closed to prevent further spending.

Tara’s alternate personalities are not cheap either. T frequently steal’s Tara’s credit card and goes on shopping sprees with her daughter, Kate. Buck goes out to buy beer and a pack of cigarettes whenever he can, and his costly habit is coming out of Tara’s pocket. The family would have to rely on credit cards to keep up with Tara’s lifestyle and live as comfortably as they do.

Throughout the series Tara visits a therapist once a week, which can cost up to $200 an hour. The series does not address where the family is getting the money to pay for Tara’s medical treatment, but Tara did comment that she hoped to get better before their car insurance quotes ran out. When she admitted herself into an inpatient treatment center to figure out what triggers her alternate personalities, her husband mentioned that it was costing them $6,000 a week. She and her husband are self-employed and would have to pay out of pocket, use credit cards or purchase an insurance plan to cover her medical expenses.

Paying for medical bills with a high interest credit card can result in serious debt for the Gregson family. Tara only has one freelance job as far as we know: to paint a mural for an acquaintance. Tara was then fired because one of her alternate personalities ruined the mural. Her family cannot afford to lose any income when they have a mortgage and car payment to pay.

Stephanie Armstrong

The formula might be old, but the story is still capturing teenage audiences across the nation. Today’s “90210,” a remake of the ’90s series “Beverly Hills, 90210,” follows the Wilson family, which has recently relocated to Beverly Hills, Calif., from Kansas. The family moves in with Grandma, a retired actress, while dad’s the principal at West Beverly High School; mom’s putting her photography career on hold to get the family settled.

With classmates driving fancy cars and wearing designer labels, will Annie and Dixon Wilson fit in with the teen crowd at West Beverly? Can Harry Wilson really support his family of four on a principal’s income in one of the most expensive regions in America? Or should viewers suspend disbelief as they watch the Wilson family shop, spend, and charge it all on their credit cards?

What’s the deal with Beverly Hills?

The Beverly Hills lifestyle doesn’t come cheap. According to Yahoo Real Estate, Beverly Hills has a median home value of $3,236,076, a median income of $85,398, and a cost of living index of almost triple the national average.

How much does Henry Wilson earn as a principal?

A principal in a California high school does well compared to the national average. According to the California Department of Education, Harry Wilson could earn anywhere from $82,898 to $109,001, depending on the size of the fictional West Beverly Hills High School.

Can the Wilson family make ends meet in Beverly Hills?

Assuming that they arrived in Beverly Hills with little or no debt, they might be able to do well in Beverly Hills. If Harry Wilson’s mother has handled the mortgage on the home that the family lives in, and they were able to pay off their house in Kansas, it’s likely that they are able to enjoy a decent lifestyle in an extremely expensive region.

Keeping up with the neighbors
To save for their children’s college tuitions, keep the family well clothed and well fed, and continue to go out and do things as we see them doing, the Wilson family would be better to keep their credit cards in their wallets when they can. For convenience, debit cards or charge cards (such as American Express cards) would keep the family from overspending.

Though the Wilson family might be able to stay afloat in Beverly Hills on Harry Wilson’s salary, they would certainly be on the lower end of some of the other inhabitants of the famous ZIP code. If Annie and Dixon, or their parents, start to feel the need to keep up with their classmates or friends, they could quickly get themselves into some serious credit card debt, or even financial ruin.

Thanks to Grandma, the Wilson family can stay afloat in “90210.” But don’t expect every high school principal to be able to raise a family of four in Beverly Hills and still be able to put food on their (very expensive) table in their (very elaborate) Beverly Hills mansion.

Kelly Herdrich

Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo is part of the team of investigators that make up Jethro Gibbs‘ crack squad on “NCIS.” DiNozzo is promiscuous, smart, a huge movie fan, and utterly obsessed with the finer things in life including nice clothes and nice cars. In fact, he has been known to say that his car is part of who he is. Disinherited by his wealthy father, partially orphaned by the death of his mother, and resistant to the very concept of long-term relationships, DiNozzo has created a family that consists only of his fellow NCIS agents. The question that haunts “NCIS” fans is whether being a resident of this “copland” means being economically sound enough to afford all of those Italian suits and shoes and expensive high-performance cars that define him.

Dressed to Kill

A cursory view of any of the Rat Pack’s movies reveals a definite similarity to the style with which agent DiNozzo presents himself to the world of murderers, not to mention every single attractive female he meets. DiNozzo prefers form-fitting suits from Prada and Hugo Boss, shirts from Zara and Bloomingdale’s, shoes from Rockport and jeans from Marc Ecko. Those Hugo Boss suits can easily run over $1,000 and Bloomingdale’s shirts can run in excess of $300. It is easy to assume that his claims of disinheritance may be overstated since the salary at NCIS probably does not allow him to pay for these things with cash.

The Color of Money

The money that arrives in DiNozzo’s weekly pay packet is clearly not enough to allow him to afford the stylish European tailored suits that he wears while he drives his ‘90 ZR1 Corvette. According to the Department of Defense National Security Personnel System Worldwide Pay Table, the salary for an NCIS agent maxes out at just over $130,000. Considering that DiNozzo has been on the payroll for less than 10 years, it seems unlikely that he is near the top end of the pay scale.

A Place in the Sun

Since DiNozzo is famous for clinging to sophomoric behavior, it is entirely within reason to suspect that his claims of being disinherited by his wealthy family may not be entirely authentic. However, he often expresses a very real grief over not having access to his ancestral wealth. So, if his disinheritance is authentic, it is reasonable to assume that he has piled up a rather substantial amount of credit card debt.

In a very real way, DiNozzo personifies the central paradox of the modern American dream. He is probably using credit to live beyond his means while simultaneously living far below the economic status to which he was born. The story goes that DiNozzo’s father abandoned him in a hotel room and forgot all about it until the incoming credit card bills reminded him of his son’s predicament. How fitting.

Timothy Sexton

Before Rebecca Bloomwood hit the big screen and startled audiences with frivolous spending in Confessions of a Shopaholic, she was the main character in the Shopaholic book series by author Sophie Kinsella. With out-of-control spending and an inability to stay on top of her credit card debt and finances, Rebecca is a financier’s worst nightmare.

Who is Rebecca Bloomwood?

Rebecca Bloomwood is the main character in Sophie Kinsella’s Confessions of a Shopaholic series and recent film. The Successful Saving magazine writer lets a flat in London, and can’t seem to stay on top of her shopping habit. The deeper in debt Bloomwood falls and the more trouble she finds herself in financially, the more she appears to spend, unable to curb her frivolous spending habits. Both the books and the movie focus on how Rebecca can handle her creditors — while still shopping and falling in love, of course.

How did Rebecca’s spending get so out of control?

In both the books and the movie, you quickly see that Rebecca has an obsession with shopping—name brands, especially when they’re on sale, popular and trendy stores, and staying fresh and in style. Even with a reasonable salary writing at Successful Saving (a typical London magazine writer’s salary would be approximately $20,000 to $26,000 British pounds; a writer in New York City would earn between $40,000 and $60,000, depending on the publication), Rebecca would have been in a tight spot simply paying for rent, food and utilities, even without the excess spending.

Dealing with Addiction
With out-of-control spending and only a moderate salary, Rebecca’s precarious financial situation is all too common in today’s economy. Once she get’s control of her spending, Rebecca would benefit from consolidating credit card debt to balance transfer credit cards. And if there’s no happy ending, a debt snowball is her best bet.

Is Rebecca’s financial chaos in Confessions of a Shopaholic realistic?

Kinsella does a good job of interjecting bits of seriousness into her account of Rebecca’s antics, with letters from creditors and banks regularly filling Rebecca’s mailbox. While Rebecca’s fall into debt is very realistic, one has to wonder how long she’d be able to keep up her spending before a collection agency became involved. The movie notes that Rebecca has maxed out 14 credit cards at one point—add to that her regular bills and rent, and a credit consolidation agency or collection agency’s involvement is almost a certainty in the real world.

If you call yourself a shopaholic, it’s an almost certainty that you could take lessons from Confessions of a Shopaholic’s Rebecca Bloomwood.

Kelly Herdrich

Having the life of a skilled plastic surgeon is amazing. It ensures fast cars, fame, money and women. This is true if you’re the dashing Dr. Christian Troy from the dark satire “Nip/Tuck.” He is one half of McNamara/Troy, the plastic surgery practice he owns with best friend Sean McNamara. They are two successful plastic surgeons from Miami who live a glamorous lifestyle and have recently relocated to Los Angeles to enhance their careers.

About Dr. Troy

Christian Troy is vain, wealthy, and loves to splash his money around. He drives a $200,000 Ferrari 360 Spider, owns a speedboat, wears $1,000 Gucci suits, and has a pretty nice Beverly Hills bachelor pad. He spends money frivolously on women, dining and drinking out on the town with McNamara. The cost of partying in Los Angeles can easily cost $200 a night at some of the top restaurants and bars, if not more.

The Practice

The median annual salary for a plastic surgeon is about $250,000, according to PayScale.com. That is almost his whole salary just to pay for his Ferrari. While Troy and McNamara do run their own company, the cost of rent for their business in Beverly Hills can start around $1,500 a month, and they would still have to pay their employees. The median medical secretary salary is $30,000 a year, and Liz, their head anesthesiologist, would cost them at least $183,000 per year.

The real Dr. Troy
If Troy’s salary was the median for his work, he would definitely have to use his credit cards to make ends meet. Working in LA however, with the higher cost of living and the endless clientel, he probably does fairly well. Since image is important, his wallet would be full of excellent credit credit cards—probably even a Platinum Amex waiting to be upgraded to a Black Centurian Card.

This doesn’t take the cost of their medical supplies and legal fees into consideration. McNamara and Troy have made plenty of mistakes over the years, and probably would have been sued for malpractice in reality.

While the number of cosmetic surgery procedures have increased over the years, both surgeons would have to clock in long hours to pay for their fast paced lifestyles. Troy must have a great credit score to finance his car and be able to lease his office building and apartment.

While McNamara feels a bit of financial pressure on the show, Troy is carefree and often charges dinner, his bar tab and his designer addiction to his credit card. In short, Troy’s finances are about as real as the surgery he performs.

Stephanie Armstrong