30 for 30 Broke Reflection

By: Anna Tettenborn

After watching the documentary “30 for 30” I learned how much money can corrupt you, especially when you are a professional athlete with an image to maintain. I realized that you have to be so careful with money because even $400 million can get away from you in a blink of an eye. I also learned that the more money you make the more taxes you pay. When I’m older I am going to only buy the things I need, and make sure to pay off my bills on time. Of course I will have the occasional shopping trip, but I will never go as crazy as the athletes did. In the documentary the athletes went money crazy, letting the money get to their head and take over their lives. The men in the documentary didn’t save a single penny, they paid for most of their things in cash, throwing $100 bills at strippers, and buying the most expensive cars. When they did this it of course caused them to go bankrupt. These athletes would spend money on anything and everything they wanted. Without so much as questioning if it was a purchase they really needed, because they didn’t need to. I think that the root of their bankruptcy was that they lived by the term “keeping up with the Joneses”. This essentially meant that they would one up each other in everything. If someone got a gold chain, you would get one too, but it would be bigger and more expensive. If somebody bought a car you would buy one too, but newer, more expensive, and flashier. I think because it was a never ending cycle of people one – upping each other, this caused them all to go broke. Another reason may have been that they had no guidance telling them how to manage their millions. In the 1990’s athletes went from getting $19,000 per year to getting almost $400,000,000 per year. If I were a pro athlete’s financial planner, I would put 50% of each pay cheque in to a savings account, to ensure they can live comfortably for the rest of their lives when they retire. I would give them 10% of their money to spend, 20% to pay off their expenses and bills, and the other 20% goes to me. A financial advisor should get 20% or higher, because not only are they saving the athletes money, they are also saving their lives. Theses athletes made a huge mistake blowing their money like they did, but in they end I’m positive they learned a lesson that they could pass on to younger generations.