Stars: They Have Financial Regrets Just Like Us!

What does Jessica Simpson consider her biggest financial mistake? Her first marriage.

Simpson recently appeared on CNBC to discuss the growth of Jessica Simpson, her line of clothing, shoes, and accessories. After asking questions about business growth and investments, CNBC’s Kelly Evans asked Simpson if she could share her biggest “money mistakes,” either personal or business-related.

Simpson responded: “I don’t know, for some reason I thought of my first marriage.”

That’d be Simpson’s marriage to musician/songwriter/actor Nick Lachey. The two of them starred in a reality show called Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica, which you probably only remember because it spawned a short-lived meme based on the idea that Simpson did not know what was inside a can of Chicken of the Sea. (Hint: not chicken.)

Evans replied “That’s actually a common answer, believe it or not!” Unfortunately, we don’t get to learn more about how Lachey might have taken his toll on Simpson’s finances, although the Washington Post provides some insight to why their prenup-free marriage might have been a financial error:

Simpson was worth $35 million; as opposed to Lachey, whose solo career mostly flopped after his band 98 Degrees dissolved, and made closer to around $5 million.

If anyone would like to start a conversation about relationships and financial mistakes, the comment section is open. (I could very definitely add to those comments.) For the rest of us, here are a few more details about Simpson’s finances:

— “I’m definitely a person that is all about taking a risk. Everything to me is kind of a why not?” Simpson appears to share my predilection towards financial leaps of faith. (I’d say she’s “just like me,” except she no longer wears her FitBit.)

— “I keep my business family. Everybody who works on the collection. There’s not really a boss; we’re all in it together, and we’ve created it together, and I think that’s the biggest key to success: loving everybody that you have around you and trusting in them.”

— “I don’t always know where all of my money is, but there are people that I love that know where all of my money is.”

— When asked where she wanted to be in five years, Simpson answered: “I always say I’m ready for another billion.” Me too, Jessica Simpson. Me too.

(Hat tip to Jezebel, where I first saw this story. Also, since I’ve got the parentheses open, I should note that I spent decades believing that Jessica Simpson was the same Jessica Simpson who played Lottie in the BBC version of A Little Princess. I only figured it out because I was watching some Jessica Simpson biography thing and I was like “when are they going to mention that she was a child actor with the BBC?”)

This piece is part of a series examining our financial vices.

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