Fame & Fortune: Jordan Knight -- Page 2

Bankrate: How did you handle your finances?

Jordan Knight: Diversified. I had a good business manager who made sure I was in the right things, and I let him handle that and put my trust into him, and it all paid off. I have the same company I've had since I started in the business.

Bankrate: When New Kids disbanded, were you set for life?

Jordan Knight: Oh, absolutely. And again, that also goes back to, how was I going to live my life? Was I going to go out there and be crazy, start living crazy again, living extravagantly, or watching what I'm doing and being responsible?

Bankrate: In the years following, was there still a lot of residual New Kids income? Is there still today?

Jordan Knight: Yeah. We just heard some news about that, about what the New Kids was still selling, and I wish I could think of the number. The New Kids still makes money, especially when Joe goes on tour, or I go on tour, or Donny does a new movie or TV; it just keeps rejuvenating interest in New Kids. And of course they go to the stores, pick up the New Kids greatest hits, or they go back. A lot of the girls tell me they update their cassettes and go out and buy the CD. It just keeps going and going.

Bankrate: Do you know about what New Kids generates per year?

Jordan Knight: I wish I could remember the number. I just heard a recent figure; it came from Sony. It was high. It was still almost in gold sales, as far as what we keep selling and selling. And not only did they put out super hits, but they put out the greatest hits record, too, back when Joe and I first put out solo records. They did two greatest hits CDs. Funny thing is, I checked with the (Recording Industry Association of America) and we have 56 gold and platinum records, isn't that amazing? If you total everything up with singles and albums and all that stuff.

Bankrate: At this point, is New Kids residual stuff still your biggest source of income?

Jordan Knight: Probably not, because, even with that stuff, we spent so much money, too, with the label, making videos, doing this and that, that a lot of that stuff goes back to the label to pay them back.

Bankrate: So what is your biggest source of income?

Jordan Knight: Probably touring and my investments. And publishing, because I wrote a couple of the New Kids songs with Maurice Starr, and I wrote a lot of my last solo record. And I wrote 90 percent of this new record.

Bankrate: Do you have any investments that you're particular to?

Jordan Knight: I don't. It goes into a portfolio that's pretty diversified -- a couple of high-income companies he puts me in. When I look over, I can see a few of the companies he puts me in like Wal-Mart, Coca-Cola's another one, AOL.

Bankrate: So you're in the big names. Anything else, like real estate?

Jordan Knight: Yeah, I have a couple of homes, in Florida and Massachusetts.

Bankrate: Do you mean homes you live in or investments?

Jordan Knight: One is outside of Milton, Mass., and the other ones are investments.

Bankrate: So you're pretty diversified? You don't even care where it goes as long as it's making you money?

Jordan Knight: I just put my faith in the people that do it best, and they've been doing a good job the last 15 years of my life. And just like everybody else, I took a little hit in the market when everyone else did, but I just listened to the advice, took the faith, and it all came back. So I rode it out. My brother's a good example. That's what he does. He's a real estate developer and does investments, and he can speak so intelligently on the topics and makes so much money, and he's so involved in that.

Bankrate: If you could speak to a young kid in a boy or girl band who is in a similar situation to the one you were in with New Kids, what's the most important advice you would give them?

Jordan Knight: Watch where your money's going. Watch what's being spent. Don't let the label just take over and spend money and spend money and by the time you're supposed to see a check, they're supposed to recoup a million dollars. Just be careful what's being spent. Make sure you treat this as a career. I know it's fun, it's a lot of fun, but you have to take this as your career and as your job, and as your career, you're in it to make money, not to lose it.