Are just TV heartthrobs like Willie Aames bad with money?

Not surprisingly, the comments section to my story on former "Eight Is Enough" actor Willie Aames' money troubles is filling up with notes of compassion and support:

"How do you start over from scratch? Being famous probably helps quite a bit. It gets you the attention of people who can help you. Since that's not really an option for the rest of us, I fail to see how Willie's financial advice is going to be much use to us. If he knew anything about finance, he wouldn't have been in such a mess in the first place."

"Hiring Willie Ames to be my financial planner would be neck-and-neck with having sex in Haiti without a condom in the Bad Idea Race."

"I suppose if I got a 25,000 check I could afford 760 bucks a month rent."

About that first comment. It is true that Willie Aames is getting help he probably would not have otherwise gotten thanks to his onetime fameball status. However, the commenter's logic then goes off the rails. "If he knew anything about finance, he wouldn't have been in such a mess in the first place."

Leaving aside the fact that, hello, he now does know something about finance, many, many people in our society appear not to know "anything about finance," and are likely not to seek help unless they encouraged ... say, by reading a story about a famous person who was in their spot once.

Sarano Kelley, Aames's financial coach, told me, "There is such a taboo around money. Our parents never told us what they earned. We didn't take classes in schools about doing our taxes. So much of one's financial literacy is just a matter of absolute luck. It's not related to a person's level of income or socioeconomic standing."

Kelley added that "Willie's going beyond survival mode, not just to create a sense of safety or esteem — he is literally emerging as a personal spokesman for financial literacy. That kind of human capacity is really what has made the greatest leaders we've had great, whether it was Abraham Lincoln or any number of fallible leaders who used their shortcomings to really be profound blessing to many. I expect really big things out of Willie."