What can $150 million get you?

[dukeballboy88]

Follow one simple rule, make the money dont let it make you.

[JasonEvans]

It is worth noting in all this that the various pro leagues do have pension funds in an effort to ensure that players have something they can get in retirement. It varies greatly from league to league and your benefits are reduced if you try to take them sooner than 55 or 60. The NBA has a fairly generous one (Hockey is terrible, NFL is ok). Iverson, who played something like 15 years in the NBA, is probably looking at a pension benefit of around $100,000 per year once he turns 55. So, he's got that to look forward to.

MLB has a really generous pension plan, from what I understand. I believe a guy who plays 15 years in MLB would be in line to make around $140k per year once he turns 60.

The best though is the PGA Tour. Its pension plan is based on performance with bonuses for cuts made and earnings and stuff like that. I have heard that Tiger Woods will be in line to get more than a million dollars a year from his PGA Tour pension plan when he turns 60... of course, he will likely have earned well over a billion dollars at that point so I doubt the million a year will matter much to him. Even AI would have trouble throwing away the money Tiger has made (though a divorce !!!!HALF!!!! can eat into your bank account awful quick).

-Jason "my bet is that AI has some illiquid investments and is not totally broke, but he has serious cash flow issues right now" Evans

[Jderf]

-Jason "my bet is that AI has some illiquid investments and is not totally broke, but he has serious cash flow issues right now" Evans

Seems like a good assumption -- though a terrible nickname, to be honest. A little on the wordy side

[hurleyfor3]

Another factor, which is not just a problem for athletes, is that portfolio management, or wealth management, is unbelievably dull, with no consumption elements (i.e., fun).

Run your hedge fund allocation at 30-40% like most of the bigger endowments do nowadays and try telling me it's dull.

[DukieInKansas]

It's been my contention for a long time that colleges (and high schools for that matter) should provide classes that teach the basics of personal finance. How many people coming out of school understand the nuances of financing a car or home. How about life insurance, health insurance, 401k's, IRA's or balancing a checkbook (I know this sounds simple but you would be surprised how many people don't know how to do it). Education shouldn't be just about grammar, math, science and history. The idea of getting an education is to prepare you to succeed in life. I would love to see a life skills/personal finance class(es) be required for all high school seniors (not everyone goes to college and even if they do it may be there first foray into personal responsibility). Colleges should then have more advanced classes for their students. These classes wouldn't necessarily be restricted to seniors but be part of the required curriculum so athletes that plan on leaving early could take them in their last year.

I agree that a course in high school is a great idea. My high school offered "Consumer Math" many years ago that taught some of these basics. I can still remember beomg amazed when my roommate, either Junior or Senior year at Duke, didn't know what to do when the balance on her bank statement didn't batch the balance in her check book on that day. She had never used the reconciliation form on the back of the bank statement since she wrote only a few checks and used ATM withdrawals to pay cash for most things so the balance always matched. She was a math major, so I just pointed out the form on the back and let her go from there.

Regarding pro athletes, it isn't always the business deals with friends that get them into trouble. Derrick Thomas of the kc chefs died pretty much broke, with 7 kids. He often went to a local jewelry store with "friends" and would spend thousands at a time to buy them things. My contention is that those folks, even if you have known them since high school, aren't truly friends.

[SupaDave]

Regarding pro athletes, it isn't always the business deals with friends that get them into trouble. Derrick Thomas of the kc chefs died pretty much broke, with 7 kids. He often went to a local jewelry store with "friends" and would spend thousands at a time to buy them things. My contention is that those folks, even if you have known them since high school, aren't truly friends.

Anything can happen...

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/story/1...-says-new-leaf

[snowdenscold]

Dennis Rodman apparently also in financial trouble:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lano...-for-now-.html

One of the sad/SMH parts:

Some of Rodman's financial hardships stem from having cashed out his NBA retirement for pennies on the dollar so he could pay back taxes owed to the state of California for 2002-03,

[moonpie23]

fast money in sometimes fast money out....folks that have never had money and get it quickly sometimes can't keep spending habits in control..i've seen it on the entertainment biz side...