MIDYEAR REVIEW OF INVESTMENTS AND PERSONAL FINANCE : Money Moves of the Rich and Famous

Celebrities have to manage their money too--and some of them are pretty good at it. So eat your heart out, Robin Leach. In their own words, six notables shared their savvy moves with free-lance writer Susan Jaques.

Oscar De La Hoya, Boxing champion

Boxing is in my blood. When I was 6 years old, my father and brother would take me to [a] boxing club in the heart of East Los Angeles. By age 14, I started winning national titles, and I was considered a very good professional prospect. There was a lot of pressure for me to sign a contract. When you are very young and haven’t seen that kind of money before, it is very tempting.

But with the help of my mother and father, I managed to get through financially. I turned everything down--money, cars, houses--to stick to my dream of capturing the Olympic gold medal.

That was the best decision I could ever have made. After Barcelona, my life made a 360-degree turn. I was offered 10 times the amount of money to sign a contract. What I learned from the decision is to have patience. If I had rushed into becoming a professional boxer, I would probably not have achieved the same kind of financial success.