Unfortunately the stats on those players is too high. But not all.
Some are extremely good with their money. Not sure what the ratio is. But I think it’s actually getting better.
One NFL player (Rob Gronkowski) hasn’t spent one dime of his NFL earnings. Living off of his endorsements and investments.
NBA great Dave Bing - made a small fortune as owner of Bing Steel.
What get’s me is the kids who think their only avenue for success is through sports. So they sacrifice their education for sports. And the vast majority DON’T make it. I grew up with a few baseball players who got drafted out of high-school, then spent 3-4 years in the Minors. That was it. When my son played Babe Ruth - I knew several parents who thought their kid was going to be the next Roger Clemens and had no problem with their kid getting C’s and D’s as long as they played well. My son wanted to become a profession al baseball player. No problem with him pursuing his dream as long as he kept up his academics. He was one of the top 1 or 2 players in a small town in NH. Full scholarship to a division II Baseball school out west. After 2 years of NOT starting he realized he probably wasn’t going to make it. Came back east and finished his degree in Computer Engineering at RPI.
We never hear about the ones that invest their money and live happily ever after.
Still, a 21 year old man gets a salary approaching a million per year, and he spends a lot of it. Physically, he’s a man, but most are still not grown up mentally. Men don’t grow up until their mid-twenties on average. That’s why the NFL, and maybe other pro sports leagues, has classes to teach their new members about money management. There are a lot fewer footballers spending everything than there used to be.
The millionares I have known mostly don’t drive flashy cars. Those in the 1-2 million range usually drive off lease 3 year old cars. The family patriarchs that owned the last company I worked for drove Maybachs. Fancy, expensive cars that looked enough like S class Mercedes to make them blend in. Maybe not billionaires, but pretty close. The billionaire I know rides around in a minivan.
The security risks are very very real.
Driving a neon green Lambo makes you look like a target.
Irmember watchin part of an episode of Lottery changed my life and they had a couple where guy won $3.4 million in a CT casino. The guy bought his husband a Mercedes G wagon that cost like $150k and they were looking at houses to buy- one of the houses was asking $3.2M. I don’t even want to guess how much insurance and taxes cost each year, but I guess if you pay cash for the house it wouldn’t be so bad.
It depends. What were they making previously? Here’s a look at Lancaster City in Pennsylvania:
That’s almost $51,000 a year in taxes ($4,250 a month). I don’t know if that figure includes the school taxes or not (which all run high in Lancaster County, School District of Lancaster Millage this year is 21.873). Figure in a budget for food, water, sewer, trash, electricity, natural gas, homeowners insurance…that’s a lot of money. And here’s the thing, the people that play the Lottery heavily tend to be poor people…I doubt they could stay in this hypothetical house for very long
That tax figure of $51,000 annually is on a home valued at $3.2 million. If someone can afford that house, they can afford the taxes, even after retirement. If they can’t afford it, they can sell it, invest the proceeds, and make about $120,000 per year for the rest of their lives. OOPS! I forgot Social Security. Add another $40,000 for husband and wife. Now it’s $160,000 every year. I think I could live on that, plus whatever else they set aside for retirement.
We weren’t talking about a regular person who could afford the property, we were looking at someone who hit the lottery for 3.4 million, then was looking at a house that cost 3.2 million
Oh. Then they are stupid to spend it all on a house and deserve to lose it. Surely they aren’t that dumb. Someone they know would inform them how foolish that is, at least the real estate agent.
Yes they are that dumb. It is a lottery story with a bad ending. But a very common ending.
People are shocked when you tell them they need to pay half or more in taxes on a $3 Million lotto win. 37% for the Feds and anywhere from zero to 18% depending on state, and city of residence. The shocked looks are funny!
The lottery is a tax on people who can’t do math. I used to see them lined up at the gas station to buy 'em. (car related )
Since we are off topic ( Cars ) the web is full of stories of Lottery Winners wasting all of their winnings and not really having anything to show for it .
The same goes for some of the HGTV Dream Home winners.
I wouldn’t buy a vehicle that required premium fuel back in the 1960s when premium was only a couple of pennies more per gallon. I found my Rambler would run on sub-regular Sunoco 190, so that is what I put in the tank.
The only engine that I ever owned that got premium fuel was the two stroke engine on a rototiller. The engine was always a pain to start, so I bought premixed 50:1 non-ethanol fuel mix at Rural King for $5 a liter. The can says it’s 92 octane.It did make the starting easier and a liter would get me through the gardening season. I decided it was worth the price. I have a two stroke snowblower as well. Even though I had no problems starting its engine with 87 octane fuel that I mix with two stroke oil, I use the premixed 50:1 92 octane fuel.that I buy for $5 a liter. I buy this mix to get away from.the ethanol rather than the high octane.
I work in heating and air conditioning. At my previous employer, we had a customer who owned a portfolio of rental houses, as well as a medium-sized apartment complex. He was a physician, in addition to a landlord, and presumably worth millions of dollars.
When I went to his house to service one of his A/C units, I was surprised to see two very old cars in the garage: a 1990’s Ford Aerostar van, and a 1990’s Dodge Spirit. Smart man, if you ask me. I’d much rather put my money into real estate and other investments, than waste it on fancy cars/vacations/stuff to “show off”.
I was trying to be charitable and remind any of our friends here that might score on the lottery to think before they spend.
While we are on the subject of real estate and personal property taxes, some localities have outrageous taxes. I had a Lyft ride to a customer’s plant near Newark, NJ a couple of weeks ago. We drove through the driver’s neighborhood and she said that she and her husband paid about $30,000 in RE taxes annually for a house that wouldn’t be more like $7000 in my area. I’m sure that some of you are shocked by even my area’s RE tax rates. I figured she was driving taxi service to pay for the local taxes.
The problem is that most intelligent people, who would save and invest the money wisely would have never played the lottery in the first place. I never do, because I think it’s a scam. Yes, some people do win, but if you compare the odds, it’s an even worse investment than buying a $1 cup of coffee or a candy bar.
If I won the millions of dollars, I’d use some of it to pay off the mortgage on my $135k house, and put the rest into a trust, which would provide a steady income stream each year. Of course, I never buy a ticket, so it’s a moot point.
Some real estate sales agents have a longer term view, and some even have a moral code. How far have we fallen if we can’t allow for some measure of common decency in business transactions?
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