Thriller Writer Lee Child: I Bought a Renoir With the Insane Compensation I Got for Writing a Screenplay

Thriller writer Lee Child is best known for his Jack Reacher novels, which have sold more than 100 million copies worldwide.

The books have been adapted into a film, starring Tom Cruise in the title role, and a successful Amazon Prime TV series starring Alan Ritchson.

Coventry-born father-of-one Lee, 69, and his American wife Jane divide their time between their ranch in Wyoming and their home in New York.

What did your parents teach you about money?

My parents, Audrey and John, met in 1947. In their young lives they had experienced nothing but economic hardship and war. That determined their financial attitude.

Save for later, never borrow money, focus on your job, think about your retirement, never indulge in unnecessary expenses and turn off the light when you leave the room, even if it’s just for a minute.

I was one of four boys growing up in Birmingham at a time when people got paid in cash on Fridays, which led to the saying, ‘As rare as a pound note on a Thursday.’

My conclusion? If you want to escape the rule of money, you always need a little more than you think.

Have you ever struggled to make ends meet?

I was broke as a student, like everyone else. I earned a decent amount of money at Granada TV, where I was Transmission Controller, but we still struggled when our daughter was born – we had a mortgage on our house in Manchester, the house to do up and all the normal things you have to do as a new parent. It was like being gnawed to death by goldfish. We had overdrafts for ten years.

Have you ever been paid a ridiculously high salary?

The dumbest idea came from a well-known film producer, who asked me to turn a concept he had bought into a script.

I didn’t really feel like it – I had decided to just chill out that summer – so I asked for a ridiculously high amount.

That’s the polite thing to do – then they tell you it’s out of budget, nothing personal, everyone’s saving face. But the guy agreed! It was 11 days work and I bought a Renoir with the money. The film was never made. Good script, though.

What was the best year of your financial life?

My paycheck comes in fits and starts, irregularly and unpredictably, and in 2016 a lot of things came in at once: old movie bonuses, a payment for a new movie, royalties from old books, the advances on a new book deal, and so on.

It was spectacular – easily the best grades I’ve ever had. But emotionally, my best year was my first as a writer in 1996. We paid off the bills and could finally afford curtains for the dining room.

What’s the most expensive thing you’ve ever bought for fun?

I’m addicted to that old man thing, where we can finally afford what we longed for as teenagers.

I love music and wanted to be a rock star. The words “electric guitar” still give me goosebumps. So I bought a vintage Fender Telecaster from the year I was born. It cost $20,000. It’s stupid – it doesn’t sound that different and I can’t really play it anyway.

What’s your biggest financial mistake?

I have no idea of ​​financial sophistication, my decisions are ignorant and arbitrary. I have no stocks or bonds or investments.

If I could, I would keep money buried in a coffee can in the backyard. I don’t really trust financial advisors. I wonder, if you’re such a market genius, why are you calling me? Why aren’t you lying on a beach in Barbados, rich, happy, and retired?

What’s the best financial decision you’ve ever made?

I’ve made money on some houses and lost money on others – but my best investment was the £3.99 I spent at WHSmith on notepads and a pencil to write my first book. It paid off handsomely.

But the decision I’m most happy about is that I can give a lot away, especially to education: I support about 100 students around the world, 40 of whom live in the UK, mainly at Sheffield, my old university.

But I do impulsive things sometimes. I once saw a woman in a wheelchair struggling to get up a curb. I helped her and then drove her to a medical supply store down the street, where I bought her a power wheelchair on the spot. I didn’t even know her name, but I hope she’s still buzzing around.

Do you have a pension?

I have half a career pension from ITV and half a lifetime pension from the British government. I paid for them, so I claimed them.

In America, everyone saves for themselves, in an IRA – an Independent Retirement Account, not the other kind of IRA. There are tax benefits, so I max it out every year; I have to take it out within four years.

Lastly, I get the American Old Age Pension (which Lee has been paying into since he moved to the US in 1988), which you can take at any time between 65 and 74, although I haven’t started yet. So I get four pensions. I guess I listened to my parents.

Do you own real estate?

I have a brownstone townhouse in New York City and a ranch in Wyoming that has a house on it—although you wouldn’t know it from the deed. Out West, you buy land. If there’s a house on it, well, good for you. The legal process doesn’t care either.

If you were Chancellor, what would you do?

My father was a tax inspector and a lover of tax history. It is clear that our idea of ​​’tax’ is essentially a 19th century, or at best a 20th century concept, from a time when money moved slowly and was always visible.

Now it is hidden, hyper-mobile and brazen. Profits made in Britain appear as costs owed to a shell company in Luxembourg. I would abolish corporation tax for big multinationals altogether. I would tell them that if you want to do business here, you have to buy a billion pound license first.

What is your biggest financial priority?

I’m keeping my fingers crossed and hoping that this crazy ride lasts until the end.

Safe Enough, a new short story collection by Lee Child, is published by Bantam, priced £22.