Actor Nicolas Cage is in the news.  Cage, formerly worth $150 million, is in debt to the IRS because he blew his money on 15 mansions around the world.

Best known for his roles in movies such as National Treasure and Leaving Las Vegas, Nicolas Cage was once a top earner in Hollywood, worth $150 million.

But Cage didn't hold on to his fortune for long.  He squandered it ... on a string of expensive and often eccentric purchases, eventually facing foreclosure on several properties and owing the IRS $6.3 million in property taxes.

Now worth around $25 million, Cage is taking roles left and right to help pay off his debts.

He paid $35 million for this home, which looks like an art museum, in Newport Beach, Calif.

Cage also paid nearly $16 million for a home in Newport, Rhode Island.  Who needs a home in Newport, Rhode Island?

Cage also bought two European castles for over $12 million.

He also bought a tiny island in the Bahamas for $3 million.

Cage also owns 30 motorcycles and 50 cars.

Who needs so many homes and vehicles?

The answer is no one.

I can see, if you're wealthy, having a second home with which to escape harsh winters (or, occasionally, harsh summers).  And although it isn't my cup of tea, I can maybe see, if you're ultra-wealthy, having a third home in an "exotic" city like New York, London, or Paris.  But 15 homes?

With 15 homes, you'd barely have time to spend in any of them.

When I think of Nicolas Cage with 15 homes, I think of an unhappy man, trying vainly to buy happiness with money, feeling a rush of joy when he makes a new purchase but quickly ending up unhappy or bored again, requiring him to make more massive purchases.

That's because happiness doesn't come in houses or a fleet of cars or motorcycles.  Happiness comes in job satisfaction, and emotional connections with family and friends.  But Cage seems to have had trouble with that, having been married three times – and divorced three times.

Given that, and given all his wealth and fame, do you, the reader, who have much less wealth and fame than Nicolas Cage, feel pity for what seems to be a deeply restless man who doesn't get the message of what life is all about?

Ed Straker is the senior writer at Newsmachete.com.