Great article in USA Today about Jay Leno. The Tonight Show host is in the midst of a changing of the guard of the Late Night Hosts. Conan is set to replace Jay as early as next Summer as the Host ad Jimmy Fallon, of SNL fame is replacing Conan.
The fact the NBC would replace its host, who is still far and away the ratings leader (although I still prefer Letterman - Sorry Jay) shows how scared NBC was to lose Conan to another network. My gut is that, as Jay said in the article, he won't have a hard time finding a gig with either Fox or ABC.
So what's this have to do with personal finance?
Mixed in with the story you get some great tips from a guy with a lot of money:
- Don't live beyond your means - Jay has NEVER used a dime form hosting the Tonight Show. It has all been banked. He still does 150+ gigs a year and lives off of that income.
- Modest Tastes - Jay is still a burger and brat guy even though he could afford the best restaurants in the world. Often people spend money, because they this that they are Supposed To!
- Making Your Hobbies Self Sufficient - Jay is one of the foremost authorities on cars...and he has a lot of them. But he also has sponsorship deals with GM and various magazines that help pay for the hobby. Plus the increased value of the cars once finished develops a great asset.
- You can be Green and Frugal - The sidebar is great in talking about how Jay saves money via solar and the environment (and probably his guys health) by using alternative sources to solvents
Anyway I came away from the article a bigger fan of Jay's, not to mention I think that there are some great lessons for all of us here. That being said, if Jay wants me to drive any of those cars, you know just to keep them running, I am in :)
