Boris Becker Bankrupt

[exnavynuke]

One thing that many people overlook when talking about people who made a lot of money going bankrupt is the culture they came from, which is often a paycheck-to-paycheck culture. Money is to be spent and that's how it's always been. When they get more money than they would normally spend, they find new things to spend it on. The amount doesn't matter because the thought process hasn't changed.. get a paycheck = spend the paycheck.

Until a person escapes that mentality, it won't matter if they're making millions or minimum wage, eventually they'll stop having the income and then they have to see what they can do at that point. If they'd leveraged their income (mortgages etc) when it was coming in, then they'll have to deal with those debts when the income stops.

 

[Sunset]

The majority of bankrupt athletes spend their monies lavishly and foolishly. Meanwhile there are a lot of athletes who handled their monies prudently.

I've seen Gronk's house and it's not a mansion by any means.....

10 Athletes Who Actually Know How to Handle Their Money

Glad to see some don't blow it all right away, however one can go to the opposite extreme like Daniel Norris living on $800/mo , funny thing is his FA probably charges him 10x that per month.
"A normal, non-baseball day finds him filling up his camper van, driving as far as he can, eating a meal off a gas stove, and camping out in a sleeping bag. Rinse and repeat. Where does all the money go? His financial advisors handle it, and give him an $800 per month allowance. Yeah, you heard me right. $800 per month"

 

[FIREmenow]

Glad to see some don't blow it all right away, however one can go to the opposite extreme like Daniel Norris living on $800/mo , funny thing is his FA probably charges him 10x that per month.
A normal, non-baseball day finds him filling up his camper van, driving as far as he can, eating a meal off a gas stove, and camping out in a sleeping bag. Rinse and repeat. Where does all the money go? His financial advisors handle it, and give him an $800 per month allowance. Yeah, you heard me right. $800 per month
A normal, non-baseball day finds him filling up his camper van, driving as far as he can, eating a meal off a gas stove, and camping out in a sleeping bag. Rinse and repeat. Where does all the money go? His financial advisors handle it, and give him an $800 per month allowance. Yeah, you heard me right. $800 per month.
A normal, non-baseball day finds him filling up his camper van, driving as far as he can, eating a meal off a gas stove, and camping out in a sleeping bag. Rinse and repeat. Where does all the money go? His financial advisors handle it, and give him an $800 per month allowance. Yeah, you heard me right. $800 per month. A normal, non-baseball day finds him filling up his camper van, driving as far as he can, eating a meal off a gas stove, and camping out in a sleeping bag. Rinse and repeat. Where does all the money go? His financial advisors handle it, and give him an $800 per month allowance. Yeah, you heard me right. $800 per month.

A normal, non-baseball day finds him filling up his camper van, driving as far as he can, eating a meal off a gas stove, and camping out in a sleeping bag. Rinse and repeat. Where does all the money go? His financial advisors handle it, and give him an $800 per month allowance. Yeah, you heard me right. $800 per month. A normal, non-baseball day finds him filling up his camper van, driving as far as he can, eating a meal off a gas stove, and camping out in a sleeping bag. Rinse and repeat. Where does all the money go? His financial advisors handle it, and give him an $800 per month allowance. Yeah, you heard me right. $800 per month.

A normal, non-baseball day finds him filling up his camper van, driving as far as he can, eating a meal off a gas stove, and camping out in a sleeping bag. Rinse and repeat. Where does all the money go? His financial advisors handle it, and give him an $800 per month allowance. Yeah, you heard me right. $800 per month.

LOL - taking that "rinse and repeat" stuff a bit literally, eh?

 

[GravitySucks]

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2017/06/19/its-gronk-being-gronk-as-party-runs-up-100000-tab/
I don't think Gronk is depriving himself. Of course much of this might be marketing for his Gronk Party Boat business. I've read he has never spent any of his salary and lives off his endorsement and side gig cash. (Oh why did such a good boy leave Buffalo to go bad in NE?)

 

[jollystomper]

One thing that many people overlook when talking about people who made a lot of money going bankrupt is the culture they came from, which is often a paycheck-to-paycheck culture. Money is to be spent and that's how it's always been. When they get more money than they would normally spend, they find new things to spend it on. The amount doesn't matter because the thought process hasn't changed.. get a paycheck = spend the paycheck.

I agree. There is also another factor - the number of people in their past who suddenly feel the athlete "owes" them, or has an obligation to them. ANd those folks themselves are not exactly frugal or good stewards,

For example, former NFL Player Phil Buchanon, after he was drafted, got a $1 million bill from... his mother! She said that is what he owed her for being raised. He also bought her a house, nut every single issue with the house - from maintenance to paying taxes - was dumped on him. He would send them money to address those things... but the money was never used for the intended purpose. There were a bunch of things that went on, fortunately he saw the light before too much damage was done. He wrote a book about the dangers of rapid wealth.

They also develop entourages that expect ridiculous pay for minor tasks. One of my sons friends who is a former pro athlete (and fortunately was wise with his money) told me of "friends" who would offer to be his "personal assistant" - watch his place when he was out of town, run errands, etc. - but expected a six figure salary. He resisted, but a lot are made to feel guilty since they have "made it" and their friends have not.

 

[Sunset]

LOL - taking that "rinse and repeat" stuff a bit literally, eh?

fixed it.
Weird thing is, it was blank when I copied it in, so I did it again and again, then gave up.
Now it shows, so I fixed it.

 

[Blue Collar Guy]

But my favorite was George Best (deceased), former English soccer star, who went bankrupt twice, explained where his multi millions went:

"I spent a lot of money on booze, birds (women) and fast cars. The rest I just squandered."

hahahaha, and i amended my signature line

 

[cbo111]

It seems poor Boris spent a very expensive few minutes with a woman in a restaurant that produced a baby (while his wife was expecting their second child). Very costly result. There are lots of articles written about the many BoBo money mistakes. Just google Boris Becker Bankruptcy.

 

[Nightcap]

"Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen nineteen and six, result happiness. *Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery.”

-- Mr. Micawber in David Copperfield by Charles Dickens

 

[mickeyd]

How do folks who make that much money fail to keep it? I heard a comment on TV last week (unconfirmed) that Johnny Depp had made $600M in his career yet he now had "financial difficulties."

 

[Walt34]

How do folks who make that much money fail to keep it? I heard a comment on TV last week (unconfirmed) that Johnny Depp had made $600M in his career yet he now had "financial difficulties."

Easy, they overspend, and don't plan ahead. Athletes are famous for this, buying lots of expensive jewelry for wives and/or girlfriends, Rolls Royce cars, megamansions in multiple places, private jets, yachts, and the like.

Living a lifestyle like that it's easy to smoke through $600 million. Compared to that I'm living in abject poverty, but that's okay, on a global scale I'm in an upper fraction of the 1% so I'll take that.

 

[Meadbh]

How do folks who make that much money fail to keep it? I heard a comment on TV last week (unconfirmed) that Johnny Depp had made $600M in his career yet he now had "financial difficulties."

Celebrities, who are not known for their business acumen (Madonna being an exception) usually have a coterie of hangers-on who require feeding and watering. Managers are sometimes incompetent, and some actually steal from the celebrity. It happened to the late Leonard Cohen, who was not a spendthrift. That's why he had to unretire.

 

[Texas Proud]

How do folks who make that much money fail to keep it? I heard a comment on TV last week (unconfirmed) that Johnny Depp had made $600M in his career yet he now had "financial difficulties."

Look at Michael Jackson... it was only after he died that the incoming was much more than the outgoing....

By the turn of the millennium, he was spending about $8 million a year just on travel and antiques. At his Neverland ranch, it was costing the star $4 million per annum to keep staff
​

Michael Jackson: The BILLION dollar shopping spree that killed global icon | Daily Mail Online

 

[brucethebroker]

How do folks who make that much money fail to keep it? I heard a comment on TV last week (unconfirmed) that Johnny Depp had made $600M in his career yet he now had "financial difficulties."

It is all relative. We know of someone who makes $60 plus an hour, with all the overtime he/she wants. Recently went bankrupt for the second time in 15 years. One foreclosure, two known apt. evictions, two repossessed cars. etc.)

Try explaining that to the person making minimum wage..........

 

[kcowan]

Celebrities, who are not known for their business acumen (Madonna being an exception) usually have a coterie of hangers-on who require feeding and watering. Managers are sometimes incompetent, and some actually steal from the celebrity. It happened to the late Leonard Cohen, who was not a spendthrift. That's why he had to unretire.

There are a few others. Serena Williams, Roger Federer, Oprah, Seinfeld...but not many considering all the millions!

 

[jollystomper]

How do folks who make that much money fail to keep it? I heard a comment on TV last week (unconfirmed) that Johnny Depp had made $600M in his career yet he now had "financial difficulties."

Here is a good article on how one can blow through $5 million (as sum 99.9% of us on this forum could live on easily and leave an inheritance): ESPN.com - OTL: How to blow $5 million

Add on a few more hangers on/folks to support, and the fact that once folks find out you have that much you become a target for all kinds of investments and frauds, and many do no know how to say "no"... and one can understand.

Also remember when you hear the statement "such-and-such has earnings of $XX million" that is always before taxes. So you need to mentally reduce the amount by at least 38%.

 

[Sojourner]

If you think about it, pro athletes are generally on the extreme end of the "financial illiteracy" spectrum. IOW, most are probably in the top 0.1% in terms of income and in the bottom 5% when it comes to personal finance acumen. I'm basing that last estimate on the fact that most pro athletes spend the vast, vast majority of their waking hours throughout their teens and early adulthood focusing exclusively on training and practicing and intensively developing their athletic skills, while spending a minuscule amount of time learning about anything else. So then when their bank accounts start filling up with what must seem like almost infinite amounts of money, they have no education and no perspective on how to manage and allocate those (in reality, large but limited) funds.

Considering the widespread lack of personal finance and investing skills among the general population, it's no wonder that successful pro athletes--most of whom probably gave only cursory attention to their academic education--would be even less competent at managing their money.