Do Professional Athletes Make for Prudent Clients
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The answer is ‘no!’
Athletes in today’s society get paid a lot of money for winning the World Series or the Super Bowl, and they don’t always spend that money as wisely as they could. According to the Bleacher Report website here are some of the more outrageous things successful athletes have spent their hard-earned salaries and bonuses on:
- A running back for the Houston Texans spent part of his $43.5 million contract on 10 Segways, which cost about $7,000 apiece for a top-line model.
- One New Jersey (now Brooklyn) Nets forward has over 1,000 pairs of shoes. He keeps them in a temperature-controlled room with a fingerprint security device, mirrored ceilings, a bed, a TV, and a basketball hoop.
- Cristiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid collects sports cars. He owns about 20, including a Lamborghini Aventador worth $318,000, a Rolls-Royce Phantom costing $400,000, and a Bugatti Veyron valued at $1,700,000.
- Basketball superstar Kobe Bryant reportedly once spent $21,000 on 15 bottles of Cristal champagne at a Las Vegas nightclub.
- Scottie Pippen of the Chicago Bulls basketball team is said to have paid $4.3 million for a Gulfstream jet that, he discovered after his purchase, wasn’t in any shape to fly. After a protracted lawsuit, he received $2 million from his own lawyer, whom he accused of not inspecting the jet thoroughly.
I think the conclusion we can draw is that professional athletes are not unlike lottery winners.
One moment they have no money and the next moment, they are awash in unimagined riches. They simply cannot respect the money and want to preserve the money like someone who earned it dollar by dollar. Respect money and it lasts. Throw it around and it evaporates. The amount of money in question is essentially irrelevant.
John Arne Riis, international soccer player, declared bankruptcy despite earning $75,000 per week. After earning $300 million, Mike Tyson claimed he was worth less than $700.
Your clients may understand the value of money. Probably their children don’t. People who inherit money may well be like professional athletes. Do not be stingy with your knowledge and perspective. You want your clients’ children’s children as clients down the road. Educate them now.
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