According to an article on yahoo, Nicolas Cage is suing his ex-manager for financial ruin.

Cage claimed that his recently-fired business manager had failed to pay taxes when they were due and had placed him in speculative and risky real estate investments “resulting in (the actor) suffering catastrophic losses.”

The lawsuit said that his ex-manager “failed to alert Cage to the fact that his money was running out, and had over-extended his lines of credit with banks.” 

There are two points to take away from this. 

1. If you let someone handle all your finances, you better be careful who you allow to do this.  I would even say that you shouldn’t let anyone handle all your finances, unless you are married.  In this specific situation, it amazes me that Cage didn’t even know that he was running out of money.  At some point, you have to wonder how much money you are spending.  Even if you are making a lot of money, you would think that you would at least notice if you were spending a significant amount of money than you were making? Maybe I’m being too harsh, but this only shows how important it is to keep track of your finances.

2. Always understand what you are investing in.  Even if your money is managed by a certified financial planner, you have to understand what they are doing with it.  In fact, it is your responsibility to learn about your investment options.  It may be a financial planner’s fiduciary duty to act to your benefit, but if you don’t educate yourself, you still put yourself and your money at risk.