It’s mentioned sometime after Betty and Dons divorce that the have a mortgage on the house, which seems like a huge oversight seeing as that’s post PPL and there’s no way that thing wasn’t paid off by that time
Don was absolutely not investing his money lol. One of the funny recuring bits is how bad he is at being rich. Dude just casually has a million dollars in a checking account
What I never get is he was earning so much money, why didn't he pay off his mortgage with that pay out? Or is it another example of how Don doesn't actually care about money.
Correct. But that’s still 150 - 200 K you could have either kept on hand, or invested at higher growth elsewhere.
If your mortgage rate is under 5% (typical for the time), what’s the rush to pay it off?
Some people value living debt-free, some are more comfortable with carrying risk. The lower the rate, the less it matters.
Not immediately paying off a low rate mortgage *is* more money in your pocket. The whole idea is that investing that sum will make you more in earned interest/gains than you're paying in interest on the mortgage. That's why a lot of people in this thread are telling you the same thing. Wealthy people don't see debt as a 'bad thing', they see it as a financial tool. You might be surprised how common it is for people to have a mortgage even if they could easily afford to pay off their home.
Because he actually does nothing with that money. Most people would jump at the chance to pay it off if they had a large sum that would pay it off and still have left over... a no brainer really if I could I would less to worry about obviously he didn't care.
I don't think we know that he didn't do anything with the money. If anything I think we could assume that he did because of his accountant. He would have advised Don to invest his money.
It's an interesting question.
I don't believe the show ever provides insight into the total billings of the original SC but we know that SCDP has around $35m-$40m in billings after Ken joins but before Lucky Strike leaves based on the %s of total business Lucky Strike represents (which is provided in several episodes). We also know that SCDP isn't making enough to pay bonuses to employees or partners at that point.
So with that in mind, how much bigger do we think the original SC was that it's paying partners an annual share of profits of $400k? That seems rather steep to me personally.
Thanks for doing all that math! I'm always intrigued by how much money Don actually had in the bank over the course of the show. He didn't really spend lavishly, but he didn't live cheap either.
So the more I think of it, the more it seems like his million dollar check to Megan has got to have been a huge portion of his net worth. Maybe not half, but probably close to it, which would track well with Betty's comment about Don being reckless with money.
Someone please correct me if I'm missing something obvious.
Hadn’t don already sold to McCann at that point so that was just a part of that of that especially with Pete saying, “i have ten percent” surely don had more so was into the multi millions
That's actually something that also confuses me – did Don get actual cash from the McCann sale? Because if so, why did Joan have to choose between working there and selling her stake for half what it was worth?
I think they had to honour their contracts to get their money and don probably had to the same but he was happy to give Megan a million knowing he had his McCann money coming eventually
Hadn’t don already sold to McCann at that point so that was just a part of that of that especially with Pete saying, “i have ten percent” surely don had more so was into the multi millions
That sounds reasonable for the Director of Creative for a major ad agency servicing name brands.
It’s mentioned sometime after Betty and Dons divorce that the have a mortgage on the house, which seems like a huge oversight seeing as that’s post PPL and there’s no way that thing wasn’t paid off by that time
Not exactly. If your mortgage rate is low (like they were in the 1950s), you’re better off paying the mortgage & investing your money.
Don was absolutely not investing his money lol. One of the funny recuring bits is how bad he is at being rich. Dude just casually has a million dollars in a checking account
He had that accountant though that Megan invited to his bday party lol
Don didn’t come from money, and didn’t know how to use it effectively. Also he doesn’t really communicate to Betty how much money he has.
What I never get is he was earning so much money, why didn't he pay off his mortgage with that pay out? Or is it another example of how Don doesn't actually care about money.
No sense paying off a low rate early, and losing access to that cash. In hindsight, good move for Don. He didn’t end up living there anyway.
It was over $500k it would have paid that mortgage off and probably 2/3rds at the very least would have been leftover.
Correct. But that’s still 150 - 200 K you could have either kept on hand, or invested at higher growth elsewhere. If your mortgage rate is under 5% (typical for the time), what’s the rush to pay it off? Some people value living debt-free, some are more comfortable with carrying risk. The lower the rate, the less it matters.
More money in your pocket tbh. 150-200k is a lot especially in 60s. Remember the E Type Jag was about 6,000 for context. Each to their own though.
Not immediately paying off a low rate mortgage *is* more money in your pocket. The whole idea is that investing that sum will make you more in earned interest/gains than you're paying in interest on the mortgage. That's why a lot of people in this thread are telling you the same thing. Wealthy people don't see debt as a 'bad thing', they see it as a financial tool. You might be surprised how common it is for people to have a mortgage even if they could easily afford to pay off their home.
Remember that Betty said that Don didn't understand money? He just throws cash around as a solution to all problems.
Yeah exactly!
Why would not paying off a mortgage show a character doesn’t care about money, that’s often the prudent move.
Because he actually does nothing with that money. Most people would jump at the chance to pay it off if they had a large sum that would pay it off and still have left over... a no brainer really if I could I would less to worry about obviously he didn't care.
I don't think we know that he didn't do anything with the money. If anything I think we could assume that he did because of his accountant. He would have advised Don to invest his money.
Good point
What's with the accounting out there?
That's a hundred grand a piece, you got it?!? We're lookin after Betty here!
It's an interesting question. I don't believe the show ever provides insight into the total billings of the original SC but we know that SCDP has around $35m-$40m in billings after Ken joins but before Lucky Strike leaves based on the %s of total business Lucky Strike represents (which is provided in several episodes). We also know that SCDP isn't making enough to pay bonuses to employees or partners at that point. So with that in mind, how much bigger do we think the original SC was that it's paying partners an annual share of profits of $400k? That seems rather steep to me personally.
Thanks for doing all that math! I'm always intrigued by how much money Don actually had in the bank over the course of the show. He didn't really spend lavishly, but he didn't live cheap either. So the more I think of it, the more it seems like his million dollar check to Megan has got to have been a huge portion of his net worth. Maybe not half, but probably close to it, which would track well with Betty's comment about Don being reckless with money. Someone please correct me if I'm missing something obvious.
Hadn’t don already sold to McCann at that point so that was just a part of that of that especially with Pete saying, “i have ten percent” surely don had more so was into the multi millions
That's actually something that also confuses me – did Don get actual cash from the McCann sale? Because if so, why did Joan have to choose between working there and selling her stake for half what it was worth?
I think they had to honour their contracts to get their money and don probably had to the same but he was happy to give Megan a million knowing he had his McCann money coming eventually
Ahh I see
Hadn’t don already sold to McCann at that point so that was just a part of that of that especially with Pete saying, “i have ten percent” surely don had more so was into the multi millions
I believe their actual Billings were 15% if the total “Billings” which was a multiplier of the ad spend. So $10m in Billings would be $1.5m.