Celebrity Retirement Scorecard: Ed McMahon
Filed under: Retire, Career, Wealth
Who is making it? Who is not? We've concocted retirement scorecards for some showcase retirees in entertainment, politics and sports. See the full list here.
Loser: Ed McMahon
Former occupation/notable position held: The Tonight Show, longtime Johnny Carson sidekick.
Activities during retirement: TV host; foreclosure victim
Retirement Report Card Grade: C-
Ed McMahon got off to a strong start on his post-Tonight Show career, making his recent difficulties all the more poignant. How did he end up in the headlines recently as the victim of foreclosure?
Transitioning to a new chapter is one of the hardest things to do, but McMahon got a running start, parlaying his fame into a hosting gig on American Idol-prototype Star Search, even while riding shotgun with Johnny nightly on NBC. He also co-hosted with Dick Clark the popular TV's Bloopers and Practical Jokes on NBC, among numerous other gigs in the twilight of, and soon after, his Tonight Show career.
Now it seems like it might all be gone. While McMahon's financial details are not fully known, it is likely that while wealthy by most standards, McMahon needs steady and heavy cash flow to maintain a lifestyle built for a younger celebrity with greater earning power. McMahon (and/or those advising him) obviously lost touch with his marketability and sustained potential. Bit parts in flops like 2005's Bewitched and a weekend radio show simply don't rain down big network money.
Now McMahon finds himself appealing to Larry King's CNN audience as a potential victim of the mortgage foreclosure crisis. A broken neck reported earlier this year, coupled with a bad fall last year, hasn't help matters. McMahon perhaps best serves as a sobering example of retirement's dynamic nature, and for how a fast and fortuitous start doesn't necessarily make for retirement-long success.
The best retirement plans – particularly, non-financial plans – are built to be revisited and adapted over time. In some cases, we need to rewrite these plans the fly/. Boomers may on average live some 25 years in retirement – too long for a static plan.
McMahon appears to have a big fund of goodwill to draw from, and we can hope his story will turn out OK. Somewhere, Johnny may well be air-swinging a putter for him.
Michael Burnham is CEO of My Next Phase, a consulting firm offering non-financial retirement planning products and services (www.mynextphase.com).





Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
6-27-2008 @ 11:40PM
Robert Lewis said...
Before Ed McMahon: Pamela's Federal Tax Lien, judgments and liens
www.webofdeception.com
Reply
6-28-2008 @ 8:51PM
pat lynch said...
Ed needs to be huddled off to a corner and "bitch slapped". He has led a life we mere mortals only dream about. Fame. Money. Hollywood conncections. Partying. As a actor once asserted, " While in hollywood I met fame, sex, unlimited partying, sex, drugs, total out of control happiness. Its everything I ever dreamed of". Ed is a total loser. To ask for assistance or sympathy is ridiculous. He has made money in one or two years we dream about! Like I said, let me at em', "bitch slap em".
Reply
6-29-2008 @ 1:03AM
mark obrien said...
Ed needs no sympathy from anyone. His wife spent $898,000 on her American Express Card and another $700,000 on her Visa. Now their they owe $600,000 plus to Countrywide and got $7million from a mold law suit on their home. I don't feel sorry for Ed or his fourth wife. He made his bed let him lye in it.
Reply
6-28-2008 @ 10:16PM
Sledge said...
I don't really have any sympathy for McMahon, His bar bill is more than I have to live on in a year. I recall him dumping his wife and children to be with a younger Hollywood woman. There are a lot of common people who deserve help before this loser, get alife and stop asking people for help.
Reply
6-28-2008 @ 11:16PM
Dovie said...
Ed McMahon done it to himself. He loved the bars and women and now he's paying for it by marrying a younger wife that was money hungry! HIS! I don't feel sorry for anyone that's plain stupid and blind to see what was going on before it was too late!
Reply