Few franchises in history have come close to matching the size and the success of Harry Potter, and the franchise has utilized everything under the sun to make money and haul in new fans. Sure, J.K. Rowling does tend to get herself in hot water from time to time, but the franchise has maintained its rabid following.

Tom Felton was one of the child actors that turned into an international star by appearing in the franchise, and his time as Draco Malfoy proved to be a profitable one. Turns out, that money has to go somewhere, and Felton has had an interesting way of spending his fortune.

So, let’s take a closer look at the way Tom Felton has spent some of his hard earned money!

Some Of It Has Been Invested In Real Estate

People that want to go from new riches to long-term wealth have a few different ways that they can achieve this, and luckily for Tom Felton, his mom was instrumental in the actor investing some of his cash.

As a younger performer, it makes sense that Felton would like nothing more than to just spend all of his cash on fun things, but his mother had enough sense to start investing some of that money. According to Daily Mail, his mother, who is a real estate agent, made sure to utilize some of his earnings to invest in properties for the long run.

This is something that is no doubt going to pay off, and while it may not be as cool as a vacation to Barcelona or a Lamborghini, it’s decisions like this one here that will ensure that Felton will always have a financial cushion to fall back on.

Related: Tom Felton And Jason Isaacs Reunite The Malfoy Family

Cars, Cars, Cars

Well, not all of Felton’s money was used to invest with, and like any normal younger star that makes a ton of money and wants to enjoy it, Tom wound up spending a huge chunk of his fortune on cars. You know, that thing that only depreciates in value over time and winds up costing a small fortune.

Felton has been open about his financial mishaps and his ability to bounce back from it all, and when speaking about his decision to buy cars, he had some interesting things to note.

Felton would tell Daily Mail, "And, as soon as I could, I wasted a lot of money on cars — BMWs mostly — for myself and my family.”

Naturally, his mother was not too fond of his decision to shower his family with BMWs, and Felton would elaborate on this in the same interview.

He would say, “My mum told me: 'You have worked hard for it so get what you want, but beware, you will lose money on cars'. And she was right.”

BMW’s aren’t cheap, as many people know, so that fact that he was comfortable with purchasing multiple ones is a clear indication of the type of money that he has made in his career. Not just that, but it also shows exactly why his mom was ahead of the curve in setting up investments and was wise to give him advice about his poor spending.

Related: Here’s What Tom Felton Has Been Up To Recently

Then The Taxman Came Knocking

Given the amount of money that Felton was spending at a young age, it goes without saying that he knew very little about what was to come with taxes, and he was in for a massive surprise once it came time to pay the piper.

Felton opened up about his experience with the taxman, and it should serve as a warning to others about the pitfalls of spending a huge amount of money and thinking that the repercussions were going to be minimal.

Felton would tell Daily Mail, "There was a scary two years where it was madness because I was really in trouble with the taxman. I had been working for eight years and all I had to show for it was this horrible debt. At one point we had the bailiff at the door."

Imagine working so hard for so long and trying to have some fun, only to see someone at the door trying to take everything away. Well, this was Felton’s reality, and based on the provided quote, it is clear that he started to surround himself with people that could help him out and that were willing to show him how to budget and manage his finances well moving forward.

He would elaborate on this, saying, "I managed to get out of that ­situation but it was a scary time, the result of too long burying my head in the sand. I've spent the past year and a half with an accountant, trying to understand VAT, DVD residuals and things like that. I've had to really grow up."

Related: Are Emma Watson And Tom Felton Best Friends? Here’s What We Know

While he can still enjoy some of life’s finer things, don’t expect Tom to continue living a lavish lifestyle that will sink him right back into the hole.

Next: Emma Watson And Tom Felton’s Harry Potter Co-Star Was Convinced They Were Dating