By Roshawn Watson
The Thomas Crown Affair is a fun movie that grants the viewer permission to imagine a world where money is not a concern. It transports viewers to a world where private planes, yachts, European luxury cars, tropical excursions, mansions, and a stolen Monet painting worth $100 million are the norm.
In watching this caper, we see a rare glimpse into the life of someone who literally had too much money. We see how he acquired it, how he kept it, and how he became bored by it.
Of course, no one ever promised vast wealth would bring happiness.
Indeed, Thomas Crown (played by Pierce Brosnan) is a Wall Street paragon so bored with his success and wealth he’s taken to stealing and other risky activities just to feel alive.
As implausible as that may seem, there are some pragmatic personal finance lessons that we can pull from The Thomas Crown Affair. Here are five nuggets of financial wisdom that I want to highlight:
1. Trust Is Important in the Pursuit of Wealth
Although The Thomas Crown Affair is a love story, it is complicated by money, loyalty, and ethics. Catherine (played by Rene Russo) stood to get a handsome bounty if she could apprehend the culprit responsible for stealing a valuable Monet painting. After determining that Thomas was the thief, she had a brief encounter with him which revealed a strong mutual chemistry between them. Thomas soon began to question Catherine’s loyalties; did she really like him, or was her affection only for his vast fortune, or for the painting? But their relationship didn’t prosper until they started trusting one another.
Over a hundred years ago, Russell H Conwell wrote on the importance of trust in our pursuit of wealth in his brilliant work Acres of Diamonds. Of all the important attributes to becoming wealthy, the ability to be trusted ranks near the top of the list. This contradicts those who lament that the wealthy are dishonest.
Consider how unlikely we are to do business with the untrustworthy. The implication is that if we are rich, there’s a good chance that many people have trusted us as we acquired our wealth (at least to some extent). If that many people trust us, there’s probably good reason they deem us trustworthy. For example, if we didn’t trust that our employers would meet payroll, most wouldn’t continue to work. Of course, there are always exceptions, but the principle is pretty solid.
2. Most Wealthy People Enjoy What They Do For a Living
Thomas treated earning money like a game he thoroughly enjoyed. This is quite a common characteristic among the wealthy. Thomas built, acquired and occasionally sold businesses. He relished in his triumphs. His boredom surfaced only after he mastered business.
Multi-billionaire Donald Trump says he often works on vacation because he enjoys real estate. Notwithstanding the tax benefits of “working vacations,” that’s very telling of how much he enjoys his game. He even likened building wealth to keeping score. For Trump, his companies annual revenues were reported as a staggering $10.7 billion!
Gene Simmons, Oprah, and Ryan Seacrest are additional prominent examples of people who are constantly working, even during “down-time.” Each of these people could have retired to live the “good life” long ago, but I argue that they are living their versions of the “good life” already because they inherently enjoy what they do.
Most millionaires do not work 40 hours weeks; millionaires typically work at least 45-55 hours weekly. This equates to less time with family and less leisure. In fact, it is hard to find someone who is rich (i.e. net worth at least $20 million) whose family didn’t bear part of the burden of creating that fortune. If you at least enjoy the game, it will make these sacrifices more tolerable.
3. Wealth-Building Is A Team Sport
Thomas Crown also hired the best advisers that interfaced with every facet of his personal and professional life. Employees would be with him while he got his suits tailored, and he even prepared dinner with one of his personal attorneys. I’m convinced that getting wealthy is often a team sport. No one possesses expertise in all areas. Thus, it’s important to make sure we are getting the best advice. For example, I spoke with a corporate accountant two years ago, and she explained how her advice resulted in her client banking $10 million from the sale of his business while only paying $1 million in taxes; I believed she saved him about $2.6 million in taxes!
The more we have (or plan to have), the more time we should allocate to making sure that our insurance, investment, tax, and legal needs are taken care of properly. By acknowledging others’ expertise, we can accelerate our wealth-building by making fewer mistakes.
4. Knowing How to Negotiate is Important
Serious negotiations can be very important to our financial health. Poor negotiators needlessly waste time negotiating trivial details. Thomas Crown was a fierce negotiator – but only when it mattered.
One particular acquisition during the movie stands out. Thomas was selling one of his businesses, and the negotiations were intense. After Crown signed the final paperwork, the buyers’ agents began gloating about how he was finally “forced to sell something,” and asked him if he had any regrets in how he played the negotiation.
His response was classic. “Regret is typically a waste of time, as is gloating. Have you figured out what you are going tell your board of directors once they realize that you paid $30 million more than anyone else was offering?”
As the smile immediately dissipated from the agents’ faces, Thomas smugly left with his team.
Negotiate the things that matter very meticulously.
For a great instruction manual on negotiation, check out Donald Trump’s classic The Art of The Deal.
5. You’re More Likely to Become Wealthy if You Are Self-Employed
Lastly, Thomas controlled his financial destiny because he owned several businesses. According to The Millionaire Next Door, self-employed people are four times more likely to be millionaires than those who work for others.
As our own bosses, we can control our income capacity, taxes, and expenses. Of course, there are risks associated with going into business for yourself – nine out of ten businesses fail.
And while there is nothing wrong with working for someone else, there is risk in depending on an employer for your financial security. Job security is usually an illusion; no degree or amount of experience can guarantee that you won’t be out on the street tomorrow.
True security only comes from doing your job well and staying marketable. If you ultimately choose to stay on someone’s payroll, you should constantly build competencies as well as your investment portfolio. That way your financial viability isn’t solely dependent on your employment status.
So the next time you see a movie with a somewhat preposterous story, don’t dismiss it as irrelevant. The fiction doesn’t diminish the value of the lessons, financial and beyond.
This article was written by Roshawn Watson author of Watson Inc. Visit the Watson Inc website for more personal finance tips, or subscribe to his RSS feed for more practical articles.
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this is one of my favorite movies…….it let’s me relax and fantasize living a life like the movie character!
Brilliant article Roshawn.
I used to listen to the Acres of Diamonds tape in my car, back in the ’90s. I wore that tape out, along with The Strangest Secret and The Greatest Salesman in the World. I had no idea Acres of Diamonds was 100 years old. I knew it was vintage, but I was thinking it was produced in the ’50s. Great stuff.
Hello Mr. Credit Card, I was hoping that there were still some fans out there. With this version of the movie being 11 years old, I wasn’t sure how many people would remember it. It truly is a awesome form of escapism!
Hello Bret, I was really surprised to learn how old Acres of Diamonds was as well. It’s in the public domain now. The principles are just timeless…really great stuff!
Kind Regards
This is one of my husband’s favorite movies of all time! I think it’s good, but it’s only in my top 30-40, lol. Great post! Good negotiating skills and enjoying what you do can get anybody pretty far in life.
Trust makes a relationship much happier…
@Budgeting in the Fun Stuff I think it is interesting that so many guys like the Thomas Crown Affair even though it is considered a chick flick by many. I wonder if that has anything to do with Pierce Brosnan being a producer on it. I’ll probably never know, but I do think it is a very good pick in this genre. Thanks for the comment.
Shawn
@Mrs. BIFS: I really like this movie too. As for trust making a relationship stronger, I’ll go so far to say that trust is absolutely essential to any relationship worth its salt.
@Shawn: Thanks for sharing this terrific article! I had no idea some people actually considered the Thomas Crown Affair to be a chick flick. If you ever want to see the mother of all chick flicks, check out The Women. The entire cast (I think there were 57 credited actors) is female and the subject matter is, well, very very chicky (as you would expect with an all-female cast).
With regards to the article, it was my pleasure. Thanks for sharing it on your site!!!
The Women? I’ll wiki it. Kind Regards.
I’m not so sure I’d hold up Trump as an icon.
His method of doing business seems to be going to his creditors and telling them “I’m willing to put in $5 million of my own money, but I’ll need another $100 million from you. Otherwise I’ll simply file on you.”
Remember, this is a guy who managed to lose money running a casino!
Alas, Trump’s finances are certainly convoluted, but one thing is for sure. With an estimated net worth of approximately $2 billion, he certainly is doing something right. He will also point out that he has never filed for personal bankruptcy… ever! He has sued people for alleging otherwise. Overall, I think he has built several successful businesses with multiple streams of income. For example, the Apprentice along gives him about $40 million. He also gets a cool $1 million/talk. Yes he has his flaws, but he is obviously has reached a level of success (& failure at one time) that most people would be lucky to dream of IMHO.
Everything about this movie is lush…the scenery, the music, the actors and especially the happy ending.
Rene Russo at 46 is sexier than any young ingenue and Pierce Brosnan is the epitome of cool.
I would add that this movie makes being wealthy seem like a lot of fun
Great article Roshawn looking forward to reading more from you.
Betty
Thanks so much for the comment. I do think the movie allowed viewers to “escape” into the world of wealth. In fact, the wealth almost became a character in the movie in its own right. One poignant example was when Thomas suggested that they runaway together, and Rene countered saying “but we would be fugitives.” His response is very telling: “we’ll be fugitives with means…all the difference in the world.” Kind Regards, Shawn
Enjoyable post, and great advice. Haven’t seen the movie, but will have to pick it up now.
As you have likely gathered already, the movie is certainly a fun affair and has some insightful “indirect” commentary on being rich and successful. Thanks for the comment. Shawn
Thanks for your post Roshawn. Wealth is a team building sport when you get married. Wealth is also so subjective.
What income level would you say is the level where you WOULDN’T risk leaving your job to be an entrepreneur?
The problem with some jobs is that you can make $200-500,000 a year relatively easily for years.
Hey Sam,
This is a very individualized question. A career coach I consulted said that he advises his clients to take the plunge when their part-time entrepreneurial efforts can generate at least 50% of their income. The thought process is that you have proven the concept and you should be able to ramp up your business once you can devote 40-50 hours/week to it. Of course it depends on the level of compensation at which your family is comfortable. Personally, I am way more risk adverse and would desire higher cash flow from my business and investments. This caution is perhaps an occupational hazard I am told.
With regard to building wealth being a team sport, I certainly couldn’t imagine having all of the expertise and experience to do all of the things I want to accomplish. I wouldn’t even want to waste the time trying to reinvent the wheel so to speak. For example, I think it is interesting that Beyonce has 300 employees (last time I checked). Her estimated income last year was $87 million. I don’t think she could achieve this success without her team.
It is also interesting that you mention the marriage-connection. I find it interesting that 92% of millionaires are married, especially since nearly 50% of the millionaire wives do not work outside the home.
Kind Regards,
Shawn
Sounds good mate. Hmmm… if my part-time endeavors can achieve 50% of my full time endeavor, I’m there for sure.
I guess it depends on how much one makes and how much one lives on.
@Sam and Shawn: I have already established the 50 percent figure as the probable point where I would quit my full-time job too. However, in discussing this with the Honeybee, she is a bit more uncomfortable with that number. She wants the number to be closer to 100%. At the rate I’m going, my part time endeavors will probably never get me to the 50 percent mark – so I guess I won’t have to worry about ever crossing that bridge anyway!
Sounds good Len! BTW, we were talking about you over at Yakezie.com.
@Len I think I understand Honeybee’s desire for comfort and/or concerns. Sometimes hobbies should remain hobbies (even if partially subsidized). That’s okay too and will perhaps nurture the fun atmosphere that you bring to your online endeavors. However, if you are determined to cross “that bridge,” you can always intensify monetization efforts or even buy existing operations to get to that magic cutoff point faster.
Yep, that’s the individual comfort level component.
Regards,
Shawn
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