Back from bankruptcy, Willie Aames wants to be your financial planner - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

Brian Damage · 11-08-2009, 12:26 AM

In our last episode of “Willie Aames Confidential,” the onetime star of TV’s “Eight Is Enough” and “Charles in Charge” was holding a yard sale in front of his foreclosed home in Olathe. Eight months have passed since then, and the 49-year-old Aames has since begun an extreme makeover — not of his house, but of his life.

He’s training to be a financial adviser.

That’s right. Aames, who has filed for bankruptcy twice since 1997 and was selling his possessions in March just to make ends meet, has stabilized his finances and is well on his way toward learning this new profession. He hopes his story will inspire others who find themselves in similar straits.

“As of Dec. 12, I had no wife, no family, no car, no computer, no home, no electricity, no gas and no way to obtain any of it,” Aames said this week. “How do you start over from scratch? I didn’t know. But I thought that if I made it, maybe, just maybe, it would be helpful to some people.”

No less than Thomas W. Butch, the president of Waddell & Reed Inc., and the VH1 cable channel — which is airing a one-hour special on Aames tonight — took an interest in the former actor after he hit bottom. Aames has responded by passing the Series 7 and Life & Health examinations, two of the three tests required to qualify as a financial adviser.

Not unlike a contestant on the weight-loss program “The Biggest Loser” who decides to become a fitness trainer, Aames could find himself hanging out a shingle as a financial adviser with Waddell & Reed by 2010.

“He will still have to do what all of our advisers do — become adept at financial planning, at knowing our products and understanding how to ascertain products that are best for clients, marketing himself and acquiring a client base,” Butch said in an interview. “I think he will have the capacity to do that very, very well.”

Tonight America will see how far the longtime Johnson County resident has climbed out of his personal and financial pit when “Broke and Famous” airs at 9 p.m. on VH1. The special, hosted by Sarano Kelley, a financial literacy advocate and corporate trainer based in California, chronicles Aames’ rapid turnaround from a negative bank balance, estrangement from family members and near-homelessness to charting a new course for himself and repairing personal ties, especially with his 18-year-old daughter, Harleigh.

Much of the program, which began taping in March, has a reality-show air to it. It opens with a heated exchange between Aames and Kelley over some questionable decisions Aames had made in recent years, such as getting $3,000 worth of tattoos. “Do you realize that all your investments are on the outside?” Kelley tells Aames. “It’s stupid.”

Up until that point, said Aames, the program was proceeding as he’d expected. And then: “I was sitting there, literally face-to-face with Sarano Kelley, when one of the producers said, ‘You’re on the radio in 10 minutes.’ I said, ‘For what?’ ‘We’re throwing a garage sale.’ ”

Aames immediately balked.

“I’ve done a lot to stay out of the public eye since last November,” he said. That was when news reports surfaced that he had attempted suicide, reports Aames called “overblown.” Within minutes of announcing his garage sale, hundreds of people had gathered outside his home.

http://www.kansascity.com/1032/story/1550215.html

catlover79 · 11-08-2009, 01:58 AM

No offense, Willie - but I think I'll pass.

Marvo301 · 11-08-2009, 02:02 AM

What's next? Gary Coleman teaching anger management?

catlover79 · 11-08-2009, 02:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marvo301

What's next? Gary Coleman teaching anger management?

Now there's a scary thought.

catlover79 · 11-08-2009, 03:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marvo301

What's next? Gary Coleman teaching anger management?

Or Darryl Strawberry as posterboy for Partnership for a Drug-Free America!!

gidgetgrape · 11-08-2009, 03:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by catlover79

No offense, Willie - but I think I'll pass.

I was thinking the same thing as I read the article. I don't want broke people watching my money. I hope it works out for him though. It's a real shame he's broke. He's been acting since he was 9.

OH Nuts! · 11-08-2009, 03:58 PM

I just saw an interview last wk that Willie did with Matt Lauer. Even though he said that someone who has been through the wringer financially would be able to help others avoid the same fate, I don't think that will win people over to use him.

Poor guy -he's really been through A LOT - but what I hope for him is that he goes back to acting. He is a fine actor - and maybe be able to make some $ by public speaking &/or being a motivational speaker. I'm rooting for him!!!

catlover79 · 11-08-2009, 04:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OH Nuts!

I just saw an interview last wk that Willie did with Matt Lauer. Even though he said that someone who has been through the wringer financially would be able to help others avoid the same fate, I don't think that will win people over to use him.

Poor guy -he's really been through A LOT - but what I hope for him is that he goes back to acting. He is a fine actor - and maybe be able to make some $ by public speaking &/or being a motivational speaker. I'm rooting for him!!!

That would be interesting - I think a lot of people would come to hear him speak. I would - I just don't think I'd trust him handling my finances!!

catlover79 · 05-21-2010, 01:37 AM

I just found this clip from the Today Show from back in March:

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/261848...12722#33652759

robyrob · 05-21-2010, 10:56 AM

wow - i really like him as an actor and hope he actually gets some work, but I don't know if I'd trust him with anyone else's money.

...not a lot of return on cocaine futures.

catlover79 · 05-21-2010, 11:52 AM

^ OUCH.

ThomasE · 05-31-2010, 12:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by catlover79

Or Darryl Strawberry as posterboy for Partnership for a Drug-Free America!!

Actually Monika, I worked with Darryl on Celeb Apprentice. He seems to be doing much better. He told me he is back in church in Missouri and is doing great with his wife. He was a member of my church for a while back in 2000 when I lived in Tampa. He seems to have turned himself around. However, he does need to put the cigarettes down though. LOL.

catlover79 · 05-31-2010, 11:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ThomasE

Actually Monika, I worked with Darryl on Celeb Apprentice. He seems to be doing much better. He told me he is back in church in Missouri and is doing great with his wife. He was a member of my church for a while back in 2000 when I lived in Tampa. He seems to have turned himself around. However, he does need to put the cigarettes down though. LOL.

Well, that's good news. Too bad his uncle (Dwight "Doc" Gooden) has had recent brushes with the law - again.

Marvo301 · 05-31-2010, 11:47 PM

I wouldn't mind Willie handling my finances as long as he kept my bank account at eight figures. After all eight is enough!

OH Nuts! · 06-17-2010, 03:42 PM

I think Willy's calling is really for acting and/or motivational speaking & I think that's where he's likely to bounce back. As much as I like him, I wouldn't be too keen on him handling my $.

11-08-2009, 12:26 AM	#1
Brian Damage I'm Rich Bitch Forum Icon Join Date: Feb 03, 2002 Location: What Ain't No Country I Ever Heard Of...They Speak English in What? Posts: 63,107	Back from bankruptcy, Willie Aames wants to be your financial planner In our last episode of “Willie Aames Confidential,” the onetime star of TV’s “Eight Is Enough” and “Charles in Charge” was holding a yard sale in front of his foreclosed home in Olathe. Eight months have passed since then, and the 49-year-old Aames has since begun an extreme makeover — not of his house, but of his life. He’s training to be a financial adviser. That’s right. Aames, who has filed for bankruptcy twice since 1997 and was selling his possessions in March just to make ends meet, has stabilized his finances and is well on his way toward learning this new profession. He hopes his story will inspire others who find themselves in similar straits. “As of Dec. 12, I had no wife, no family, no car, no computer, no home, no electricity, no gas and no way to obtain any of it,” Aames said this week. “How do you start over from scratch? I didn’t know. But I thought that if I made it, maybe, just maybe, it would be helpful to some people.” No less than Thomas W. Butch, the president of Waddell & Reed Inc., and the VH1 cable channel — which is airing a one-hour special on Aames tonight — took an interest in the former actor after he hit bottom. Aames has responded by passing the Series 7 and Life & Health examinations, two of the three tests required to qualify as a financial adviser. Not unlike a contestant on the weight-loss program “The Biggest Loser” who decides to become a fitness trainer, Aames could find himself hanging out a shingle as a financial adviser with Waddell & Reed by 2010. “He will still have to do what all of our advisers do — become adept at financial planning, at knowing our products and understanding how to ascertain products that are best for clients, marketing himself and acquiring a client base,” Butch said in an interview. “I think he will have the capacity to do that very, very well.” Tonight America will see how far the longtime Johnson County resident has climbed out of his personal and financial pit when “Broke and Famous” airs at 9 p.m. on VH1. The special, hosted by Sarano Kelley, a financial literacy advocate and corporate trainer based in California, chronicles Aames’ rapid turnaround from a negative bank balance, estrangement from family members and near-homelessness to charting a new course for himself and repairing personal ties, especially with his 18-year-old daughter, Harleigh. Much of the program, which began taping in March, has a reality-show air to it. It opens with a heated exchange between Aames and Kelley over some questionable decisions Aames had made in recent years, such as getting $3,000 worth of tattoos. “Do you realize that all your investments are on the outside?” Kelley tells Aames. “It’s stupid.” Up until that point, said Aames, the program was proceeding as he’d expected. And then: “I was sitting there, literally face-to-face with Sarano Kelley, when one of the producers said, ‘You’re on the radio in 10 minutes.’ I said, ‘For what?’ ‘We’re throwing a garage sale.’ ” Aames immediately balked. “I’ve done a lot to stay out of the public eye since last November,” he said. That was when news reports surfaced that he had attempted suicide, reports Aames called “overblown.” Within minutes of announcing his garage sale, hundreds of people had gathered outside his home. http://www.kansascity.com/1032/story/1550215.html
	__________________ The Key to the Kingdom of Heaven: John 3:3 *Money Doesn't Buy Happiness...But I'd Rather Cry in My Private Jet*

11-08-2009, 01:58 AM	#2
catlover79 God Bless Val Forum Addict Join Date: May 29, 2006 Location: Bewitched in Ohio Posts: 70,392	No offense, Willie - but I think I'll pass.
	__________________ "Jesus loves you and He approves this message." "I'm alive. I'm feeling good. I'm trying to live every moment as much as I can." - Valerie Harper, March 2013

05-21-2010, 10:56 AM	#10
robyrob certified wackball#3 Moderator Forum Icon Join Date: Aug 03, 2003 Location: hiding under the third booth at Arnold's Posts: 58,214	wow - i really like him as an actor and hope he actually gets some work, but I don't know if I'd trust him with anyone else's money. ...not a lot of return on cocaine futures.
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11-08-2009, 02:02 AM	#3
Marvo301 I'm NOT a Blockhead! Forum Celebrity Join Date: May 17, 2002 Location: The Great White North Posts: 21,460	What's next? Gary Coleman teaching anger management?
	__________________ Only a life lived for others is worth living. Albert Einstein A life isn't worth living unless it has impact on other lives. Jackie Robinson Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man. Benjamin Franklin

11-08-2009, 03:58 PM	#7
OH Nuts! Member Forum King Join Date: Feb 15, 2005 Posts: 133,383	I just saw an interview last wk that Willie did with Matt Lauer. Even though he said that someone who has been through the wringer financially would be able to help others avoid the same fate, I don't think that will win people over to use him. Poor guy -he's really been through A LOT - but what I hope for him is that he goes back to acting. He is a fine actor - and maybe be able to make some $ by public speaking &/or being a motivational speaker. I'm rooting for him!!!

05-21-2010, 01:37 AM	#9
catlover79 God Bless Val Forum Addict Join Date: May 29, 2006 Location: Bewitched in Ohio Posts: 70,392	I just found this clip from the Today Show from back in March: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/261848...12722#33652759

05-21-2010, 11:52 AM	#11
catlover79 God Bless Val Forum Addict Join Date: May 29, 2006 Location: Bewitched in Ohio Posts: 70,392	^ OUCH.

05-31-2010, 11:47 PM	#14
Marvo301 I'm NOT a Blockhead! Forum Celebrity Join Date: May 17, 2002 Location: The Great White North Posts: 21,460	I wouldn't mind Willie handling my finances as long as he kept my bank account at eight figures. After all eight is enough!

06-17-2010, 03:42 PM	#15
OH Nuts! Member Forum King Join Date: Feb 15, 2005 Posts: 133,383	I think Willy's calling is really for acting and/or motivational speaking & I think that's where he's likely to bounce back. As much as I like him, I wouldn't be too keen on him handling my $.