Well, if you were wondering just how great professional athletes are at managing their money, Sports Illustrated has the ticket:
SI: How And Why Athletes Go Broke
As far as the article goes, here’s your two-minute drill:
In a less public way, other athletes from the nation’s three biggest and most profitable leagues—the NBA, NFL and Major League Baseball—are suffering from a financial pandemic. Although salaries have risen steadily during the last three decades, reports from a host of sources (athletes, players’ associations, agents and financial advisers) indicate that:
• By the time they have been retired for two years, 78% of former NFL players have gone bankrupt or are under financial stress because of joblessness or divorce.
• Within five years of retirement, an estimated 60% of former NBA players are broke.
I mean, those figures are just plain brutal. But not surprising.
It’s a very long article, as these things go, but well worth a read if you follow pro sports and athletes (and their foibles).
