Greece, the country, and 50 Cent, the rapper, might seem a million miles removed from our ordinary lives.
But their extraordinary money woes offer those of us in the cheap seats an invaluable lesson:
Big or small, you've still got to follow basic money rules.
Greece, after missing its latest loan payment of $1.5 billion, just secured its third bailout from the International Monetary Fund and European creditors. But, unless the country quits its habit of spending more than it makes, the task of paying off a whopping $315 billion in debt remains highly unlikely.
Curtis James Jackson III, also known as 50 Cent, had an estimated net worth of $155 million in May. Now he's filing for bankruptcy protection.
Both stories provide us instructive dinner-table fodder. If you have kids, all the better.
"Money management is a family affair," said Mary Jo Katras, a Family Resiliency educator with the University of Minnesota Extension Center for Family Development. "You should have these conversations together."
Katras, whose husband is Greek, has been watching that crisis with more than a professional eye.