Why do so many NFL players go bankrupt?

[Mc2guy]

Originally Posted by Schneed10

No, no. It's not at all. I have $100 million in the bank, I'll put it in safe investments. It earns 3%, so I make $3 million a year. I can spend $3 million a year and not lose any of my $100 million.

$3 million annually amounts to $250,000 monthly. I can have three big mortgage payments on three big homes throughout the country. I can buy a car each month. I can eat out whenever I want to. It's not hard to budget for that at all.

What's not easy is coming into $100 million. Every single intelligent person on this message board would handle $100 million A LOT better than these moron athletes.

You better be prepared to live off less than that chief. Uncle Sam and the state want their cut, which of $3,000,000 assuming you are using interest or dividends, not selling equity is taxed at standard income rates, so there goes 35%, plus SSI, plus state tax, so there is 50% out the door up front.

Oh yeah, did you have that money with an wealth management firm like a Schwab or Jones or Edelman, whoops, there goes another 1-2% in asset management fees, plus the fees from the mutual fund managers where your money is actually invested, which is another 1% minimum.

Wow, your 3% return just turned into a loss, all for a measly $1.5M in net cash flow.

Is it any wonder "rich" people don't put their money in MMA's or CD's. There is no return, which is why most people of "significant" wealth, have personal investment advisors/staff to carefully invest in both securities and equity projects. Holding on to wealth is not as easy as it sounds.

I would be willing to bet if you took a random sampling of 1000 Americans, pulled them off the street and handed them a check for $100M; 75% would be broke in 10 years or less. Most people simply are not prepared to handle that kind of money.

[Schneed10]

Originally Posted by Mc2guy

You better be prepared to live off less than that chief. Uncle Sam and the state want their cut, which of $3,000,000 assuming you are using interest or dividends, not selling equity is taxed at standard income rates, so there goes 35%, plus SSI, plus state tax, so there is 50% out the door up front.

Oh yeah, did you have that money with an wealth management firm like a Schwab or Jones or Edelman, whoops, there goes another 1-2% in asset management fees, plus the fees from the mutual fund managers where your money is actually invested, which is another 1% minimum.

Wow, your 3% return just turned into a loss, all for a measly $1.5M in net cash flow.

Is it any wonder "rich" people don't put their money in MMA's or CD's. There is no return, which is why most people of "significant" wealth, have personal investment advisors/staff to carefully invest in both securities and equity projects. Holding on to wealth is not as easy as it sounds.

I would be willing to bet if you took a random sampling of 1000 Americans, pulled them off the street and handed them a check for $100M; 75% would be broke in 10 years or less. Most people simply are not prepared to handle that kind of money.

Investment ROIs on funds like money market or bonds are typically net of fees. And I was assuming gross income of $3 million, which even after taxes can support 3 houses and cars galore.

22% of America still approved of George Bush, even at his lowest approval point. There's a significant % who don't graduate from high school. I think it's fair to say a big portion of Americans aren't very intelligent.

I don't know about your 75% number, but I get your point. It's an indictment on the intelligence of the general populace more than anything.

If you piss through $100M in 10 years or less, I'm sorry, you ain't smart.

[Mc2guy]

The broader point I am trying to make is that your characterization of the broad populace as "not smart" is misguided and not a small amount arrogant. Financial management takes training, aptitude, patience, and foresight. To expect an average Joe off the street with no background to know how to manage large sums of money is a fool's errand, and it has nothing to do with intelligence. Just because I am trained in economics, finance and risk management, doesn't make me smart, it makes me educated...big difference.

Intelligence, by any definition, covers a broad swath of topical areas, with finance being but one. Einstein could not balance a checkbook, was he "dumb?" The fact that the vast majority of Americans are not Millionaires should be evidence enough that rich and intelligent are mutually exclusive.