After the news broke recently that former Johnny Carson sidekick Ed McMahon was being foreclosed out of his Beverly Hills mansion, he went on "Larry King Live" to say (with a straight face), "I just want to give [the millions of other people facing foreclosure] hope... some kind of guidance."

The first question that came to my mind was not, How did this happen? As I've spent the past quarter century as a southern California financial planner, I've had more than my share of clients in Ed McMahon's bracket and predicament--enough to cast a whole season of "Lifestyles of the Rich and Dumb." You know the profile: Very successful at earning a living (and so convinced it will never stop) that they spend like there's no tomorrow.

Who needs to plan when you're rolling in dough? People who think this way are often easy prey for salesmen, and entrepreneurs tend to believe that all their cash should go back into their companies.

Even when such people do find competent advisers, they often fail, because these advisers aren't comfortable confronting high-profile clients who are making a mess of their financial futures. It's our job to apply a little tough love where necessary. The most important role I play in people's financial lives is to protect them from their worst instincts. This means I have to rein in certain clients who are like McMahon.

One of my techniques is to scare them with examples of famous people who were rich and successful and lost it all: Olympic skater Dorothy Hamill, Mike Tyson, Willie Nelson, Debbie Reynolds--the list is long.

The true financial planning professional, like a good doctor, should be honest with clients. When necessary, it's your responsibility to try your hardest to jolt them out of their McMahon-like delusions.