Evander Holyfield is broke? Wasn’t he the heavyweight champ who made $200 million dollars in his career? Now, I ask you ... how is it that a very poor grandmother named Osceola McCarty who never made more than $15,000 per year ironing clothes ends up donating a 150,000 to a local college, and this guy ends up broke

The answer is simple, yet complex, and oh by the way ... it's COLORLESS. The infamous Donald Trump just came through bankruptcy proceedings on his Atlantic City casinos. Yet he has received awards and has succeeded in getting book deals (How to Get Rich) and TV shows (The Apprentice). So elevate your minds and let's not waste time and energy on the color thing.

In this economy, almost everyone is catching hell in one way or another - even the rich. Our whole society is delicately balanced on optical illusions that we believe are real until the wind blows and the storms come and the fake Hollywood backdrop we call our "economy" tumbles to the pavement. Big spenders do in fact have accountants and CPAs. But many of those "professionals" have only one thing in mind: getting the money from the client's bank account into their own as fast as possible. PERIOD.

People think they can abdicate financial responsibility over to someone else, and THAT is where the trouble starts. While you should save and invest your money in trusted firms, and perhaps even get professional help managing your money, YOU MUST ALSO LEARN HOW TO MANAGE YOUR OWN MONEY. And you should watch it like a hawk.

Most wealthy people who came from nothing, worked diligently and earned millions (the EARNED WEALTHY - those who actually EARNED their wealth the old fashioned way) are frugal: they attend matinee movies, drive 3 year old cars, and routinely scoop up bargains at auctions, flea markets, online, and yes ... even the dollar store. With the funds they save by exercising these prudent habits, they invest in real estate, business, stocks, or other real appreciating assets.

The Holyfields’ of the world bought a bunch of stuff (liabilities) that lost value the second they left the showroom, flat-screen TV store, or jeweler. The poor (in mind and eventually wallet) always brag about how much they paid for an item. The truly rich brag about how little they paid, and how they used it for a year and sold it for a huge profit!

The really scary thing is that we have an entire GENERATION of teens and young adults who have been raised by financially irresponsible parents to believe that the world will just give you anything you want, and that there will always be someone there to save you when you're in trouble. This is why I teach financial and credit responsibility through The Teen Credit Boot Camp, which offers credit & finance training for teens and young adults and warns of the dangers of credit card debt.

Holyfield, maybe you, Michael Vick, and Latrell Spreewell need to show up for the next session, huh? Fifty Cent could probably give you some good counsel too. As he stated in Get Rich or Die Tryin’: “I would take change (and count it); I’d take pennies if that’s all a (crack) fiend had.” He started out as a small-time hustler counting pennies and look where it got him….He recently negotiated a deal in which he sold his stake in Vitamin Water for $400 Million dollars! And just like many of the “Earned Wealthy”….he’s still working hard. Pay attention folks. Fifty is dropping some clues to his incredible success: (Save, Save, Save….Invest, invest, Invest). Fifty, if you ever decide to run for president, I’ll gladly be your Secretary of the Treasury!