Most ex-football players are broke, says Victor Mandy, an investment manager with Sport-7. “I am not referring to amateur players, I mean star players that once earned millions of Dollars during their active days are today broke. You find them living in abject poverty as if they’ve never earned a thousand Dollars before in their life. And they’re living in such depression that is driving some of them mad.”
The thing is most players live in the wildest illusion when their football career is up and going. The Dollars are flowing in en-mass – sign on fees, weekly salaries, match bonuses, endorsements of different categories – woo! As a player, you think the world is in your pocket. You look to the future with great optimism, wondering how much more you’re going to worth in the next four to five years. You think of how you’ll so amass wealth that no bank will be able to contain it. So, you keep on partying, buying custom made designer clothes, gadgets, cars… thinking your best is yet to come. And before your own very eyes, things begin to crumble. You no longer play as well as you use to and no club is willing to pay a dime for your services anymore – the money flow has stop!
The challenge then becomes how to stop your expensive habits. You don’t want your friends and those that bow down to you to know that your finance is going down, so you continue to put up front, until you become so broke you may even run into debts. Martin Jerkins, a clinical psychologist called it a state of delusion grandeur. The state is so pathetic that some of the ex-players try to transfer the blame on government, their families or some spiritual attack of some sort.
Don’t get it wrong, this article is not trying to chide ex-players and their mistakes. It’s aimed at preventing the active ones today from ending up with the same mistake. Players at the top of their career have all it takes to attain financial freedom for the rest of their lives.
Financial freedom means that you can still go for summer holidays in any five star hotel around the world, still ride in your chauffeur driven Limo and live in your expensive mansion… It means that while you’re having fun in Takwa bay beach, your investments are working for you twenty four hours everyday. As your real estate guys are putting hours of work to upgrade the value of your properties; as your stock brokers are cracking their heads on the best stock movement, you’re getting returns in rents and dividends lodged into your bank accounts everyday. An ex-football star like you, may not need to work anymore.
This can only happen when you have made quality investments during your active days as a football player. Investment that are capable to bring back enough returns to maintain your expensive life style. It all start with understanding the difference between investment and liability in your daily expenditures. And your commitment to building a portfolio for financial freedom. Choose to be a player with a difference. Get financial experts to help you attain financial freedom while you’re still earning Dollars in your football career.
Four Steps To Financial Freedom
1. Stop Spending your Earnings On Liabilities: Spending on liabilities are inevitable in anyone’s life. You cannot totally avoid spending on such items that cost you more money to maintain, because of the class of life you live as a football star. But, you should be wise to balance your spending habits. For instance, if you put up to 25% of your earnings on investments, then you’re ready to attain financial freedom soon.
2. Build A Good Investment Portfolio: There are bad investments that doesn’t yield the expected returns. You could even loose your entire money in some instance. The wise thing to do is to get a well experience investment adviser or manager to help you build the right investment portfolio and also help you manage it as well.
3. Invest More On Real Estate: Real estate is one investment area that is sure to appreciate with time. Apart from fire accident and the occurrence of natural deserters, investment on land and buildings seem to appreciate with time than most other kind of investments. Buy land, build houses that you can lease out while you’re still playing active football.
4. Invest in God And In Humanity: Investing your money in the expansion of the kingdom of God and in helping humanity; especially the less privileged, have a way of giving you back high returns. It comes in spiritual favor, receiving extra-ordinary business ideas and protection from loose of money invested. The return on investment is usually a hundred fold increase.
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Empowerment
