Replies

Yup. Its far too common.

Many of these athletes were coddled all through school and college (some never cracked a book).

Many of these athletes were coddled all through school and college

Coddled? Perhaps.

I think that for many of these athletes, they did not come from families with money; they were not exposed to even reasonably sound financial management. They surrounded themselves with an entourage and handlers. Anyone with any financial skill, say an accountant, probably didn't have nearly as much influence as their closest circle. And those people may, or may not have had the athlete's best interest in mind.

They did not need a budget, they always had more money pouring in from the next contract or advertisement deal. The same is true for a "saving for the future" mindset--in their early 20's, they had all the money in the world, and fully expected to keep receiving it. There was no need to save, or plan for one day when you grew too old, or too injured for your sport.

Yup. Its far too common.

Many of these athletes were coddled all through school and college (some never cracked a book).

You can see the same thing in many lottery winners, most of whom were never coddled through anything. The real problem is that most people are never taught to manage the money they get from 9-5 jobs, let alone millions of dollars - what percentage of the population is over it's head in credit card debt? There are plenty of people willing to take advantage of the lack of that knowledge - agents, relatives and friends, people waving investment proposals.