For many stars in the adult entertainment industry, the long-term financial outlook is not a pretty picture. Income in the adult film industry is down by 50 percent from about a decade ago due to shrinking profits. Only a few performers are lucky enough to be on the A-list, with females earning upward of $350,000 annually and top male stars pulling in around $100,000. The rest, on average, earn a yearly salary of just around $50,000—a few thousand dollars shy of the national median household income—and, of course, have no pension plan or 401(k) plan.

Joanna Angel on the red carpet the 2014 AVN Awards in Las Vegas. Chris Morris | CNBC

What money adult film stars do make, according to Kennedy Leigh, an adult entertainer since 2012, is gone long before retirement. "People find the dumbest way to spend their money," she said. "For girls, it's clothes and shoes, and it goes really fast." International pornographic actor Stoya has seen the same bad financial habits among her peers, claiming that some of the biggest spenders splurge on designer luxury items, like Louis Vuitton and—on the darker side of the reckless-spending spectrum—drugs.

Susan Bradley, a certified financial planner and founder of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.-based Sudden Money Institute—a resource center specifically dedicated to handling the human dynamics of financial change—said this is not the kind of client typically advised by the Sudden Money network of financial advisors, but there are underlying human elements to the adult entertainment financial picture that mirror other individuals in "windfall" scenarios. (Read more: Save for independence, not retirement) Splurge spending is a big problem among "sudden money" clients. Especially in a city like Los Angeles, "where there is all of that bling in your face and fast, big money, it's easy to get pulled into it, and you end up not just spending more than you can afford but with more debt as a result and even bankruptcy," Bradley said. This, coupled with the fact that most of these performers lack a proactive mind-set when it comes to getting under the covers with some practical budgeting and financial planning, leaves few adult film stars with any hope for a comfortable future.



If you're young and hitting fast money and in a culture like that, a simple system ... puts you way ahead of the game. Susan Bradley founder of the Sudden Money Institute

Pursuing life after porn

One of the biggest problems for female porn stars is that their careers, which typically begin in their early 20s, tend to be short—the typical career arc stretches from six to 18 months. Thus, most adult actors find themselves "retired" before age 25 and many are forced to pursue new avenues.

The Sudden Money Institute does have an advisor who works on a pro bono basis for the New York court system with prostitutes. When brought before the judge, they are given the option of entering a life-planning program provided by the government that includes financial planning. Bradley expects adult film stars face similar issues: "They don't have a reliable way of making that same kind of money again. It's not someone who has learned a craft that can be reliably repeated."

(Read more: Is the porn industry imperiled?)

As a result, some go back to school to earn a degree; some invest in hot artisan industries, including winemaking; still others turn to more adventurous careers, like bounty hunting, which is where you'll find retired porn star and professional wrestler Sandra Scott—though many people don't want her to find them. Some stars have even taken an entrepreneurial role within the industry, such as Joanna Angel, who started her own porn site catering to an emerging genre of adult films known as Alt porn, featuring individuals who are classified as members of subcultures, such as goths and punks.