Personal Account

A Character's Personal Account is where his own personal income is added every week. This is the money he uses when buying his home(s), his private cars, his clothes, jewellery, and other personal expenses. This is the money he spends on luxuries, vacations, mistresses, gives away to his poorer relatives, or blows at the track. Above all, this money is 99% of the reason why he became a criminal in the first place. Even though most Characters will spend much of the income added to their Personal Account, the value of this account will never actually decrease as a result of such expenditure. Making the money in the first place is what's important in game terms, not how or why it is spent. In particular, the value of your own Personal Account is what contributes the most to your all-important 'Boss Status'. Indeed, the value of cash in your Personal Account counts as double the value of money in your Business Account, while the legitimate percentage of your Personal Account actually counts as triple the value. In simple terms, cash taken as personal income by your Boss adds the most to his Boss Status rating, and even more so if this is legitimate income or 'clean' money. The Personal Account of many underworld Characters in the game will be comprised of mainly illegal income, earned from operating rackets and committing other crimes such as robbery or blackmail. However, a percentage of this might also be legitimate, or 'clean', money. For highly-ranked underworld Characters in particular this legal percentage is very important. Quite simply, the higher the legal percentage, the less chance there is of this Character ever being convicted of tax evasion in the manner in which Al Capone was finally brought to justice. Bear in mind that only very rich Characters are likely to be specifically targeted by an IRS investigation for tax evasion during the early game years, so for much of the game most members of your Organization need not worry about this. For your Boss Character and other high-ranking members, however, it's a very different story. These Characters ignore legitimate income at their peril. There are only two occasions on which the Personal Account of any Character (including your Boss Character) might be actually reduced. These are as follows: 1. Cover Salaries: If any Character's weekly expenses should be greater than his total income for any reason, he will use his personal money (if any available) to cover his Guards' salaries to ensure they don't desert him. This is a far-from-ideal situation and would certainly result in a loss of morale. Far better for you, the Boss, to anticipate such a shortfall and to loan this Character additional funds as necessary to tide him over. By the same token, as the Boss Character is responsible for paying all the half-salaries of Guards in the gang 'pool', any shortfall would be drawn from your own Boss Personal Account. Guards are never automatically fired, only as a result of your express orders. 2. Ransom Payment: If any controlled Character should be kidnapped by rivals and offered back for ransom, the personal family of this Character would be willing to contribute towards the ransom fee if he has money available. The maximum amount a Character's own family would be able to raise would be 50% of his current Personal Account (the rest is assumed already spent), and they would be willing to pay up to 80% of the ransom demand. Any shortfall would have to be met by your Boss Character if you wanted the kidnapped Character returned alive. Example A: Ransom demand is $100,000. Character's Personal Account is $20,000 so $10,000 is available. Your Boss would have to contribute $90,000. Example B: Ransom demand is $100,000. Character's Personal Account is $300,000 so $150,000 is available but is limited to 80% of demand. His personal family would pay $80,000 but your Boss would have to pay the remaining $20,000. In essence, the personal family of a wealthy kidnapped Character would be willing to pay the bulk of any ransom demand, but if he's not yet personally wealthy then the Boss might have to pay the majority himself if he wanted the Character back alive. If it is your own Boss Character being ransomed, the maximum you can pay would be 50% of his Personal Account plus whatever cash he has available in his illegal Business Account and his legal Bank Account. Payment in such a case would always empty the Business Account first, then the Bank Account, and then draw the remainder from his Personal Account. Bear in mind that any cash withdrawn from the Personal Account, in particular, would drastically reduce your Boss Status. Note that any withdrawal from a Character's Personal Account will always draw only illegal monies first, leaving legitimate income until last. A large withdrawal (such as a ransom payment) would therefore have the effect of greatly increasing the legitimate percentage of the remaining funds in this account. Example: The ransomed Character has $300,000 in his Personal Account of which 20% ($60,000) is recorded as being 'clean' money. His family pay $80,000 as part of the ransom, reducing his personal wealth to $220,000, but $60,000 of this is still 'clean' money as none of this was handed over. The new percentage of 'clean' money is therefore 27%, up from 20%. Note that a Character's Personal Account can only be used for a withdrawal in one of the situations mentioned above. You cannot voluntarily withdraw cash from a Personal Account for any other reason, even that of your Boss Character.