MARY J BLIGE - BUSINESS-MINDED BLIGE PLAN GET-RICH-QUICK SCHEME

MARY J BLIGE is set to trade her songsheets for a stock market portfolio in an effort to become independently wealthy. The BE WITHOUT YOU singer is determined to get serious with her finances because she doesn't want to work and tour when she's in her 60s. She says, "I see myself having businesses. Like, I don't even have to wake up. I'm in my sleep and I'm making money. "All of this (music industry), after a while, is, like, OK, I'll be 60 years old and looking for somebody to bring me on tour or trying to make a record. "I want to take this opportunity to further my future." But the R+B star won't be launching a clothing line or a cosmetics company, like so many of her peers - because she thinks that is "cliched." She adds, "Buying homes and renting them out (and) of course there are investments and stuff like that... Not just a clothing line, like the cliche things that everybody else does. "I'm talking about major, major things that are going to make me money, like the way STEVE JOBS did with Apple (Computers) - he doesn't have to really do anything ever again for the rest of his life."