Funny how the threat of a layoff/walk-out/strike makes even those earning six-figures (or higher) re-evaluate their finances. In today’s USA Today I read a story about the 
National Football League’s latest advice for players facing the prospect of a salary-less autumn. Suggestions included save a bigger chunk of salary, don’t buy rounds of drinks for everyone in the club, socialize with a purpose (try to find work outside of football), don’t pay friends to do work you can do on your own, and increase your sources of income.
Funny, that’s the same information readers have been getting right here on The Wisdom Journal for over three years!
- Save a big chunk of your salary –
- 101 Ways to Take a Bite Out of Your Food Budget
- 17 Sneaky Savings Strategies
- Savings and Savings Accounts 101
- An Overlooked Way to Save Energy in Your Home
- 52 Ways To Save 8 Months Of Expenses In Your Emergency Fund
- To Change Your Financial Life, You May Have To Change Your Friends
- I Have A Friend Who Is About To Make A Really Bad Decision
- 12 Things I Learned By 42 That I Wish I Knew At 22
- Successful People Are Usually FAT
- 20 Networking Mistakes You Should Not Make
- 8 Ways to Make Yourself More Valuable at Work
- Things I DIDN’T Learn in College: Networking
- 5 Keys to Networking Success
- 26 Ways To Make Extra Money And Keep Your Day Job
- 6 Ways to Find Additional Money
- Mining the Miners: A Different Way To Make Money
- Need Extra Cash? There Are Only 4 Ways To Get It
- The X Files and Your Money: Strange Similarities?
- 10 Businesses You Can Start For Peanuts (or less!)
Personal finance isn’t as complicated as it may seem
As a matter of fact, getting hold of your finances can be summed up in four truisms:
- Spend less than you earn. The holy grail of all personal finance.
- Increase your income sources. Easier said than done, but hey, what ISN’T?
- Don’t waste your money. Remember that any habit is dangerous and luxuries, once sampled, become “necessities.”
- Be a good steward of your financial resources. Learn to manage your money, to maximize it, to make it work for you so you don’t have to work for it your entire life – and avoid almost all debt!
Our fiscal “playbook” is relatively simple
But don’t let it’s simplicity fool you … it isn’t easy. But with the self-discipline you already have inside, you can put these simple plays into motion in your own life.
I think it’s a great thing that the NFL is encouraging their employees (that’s really what they are) to be more responsible with their money. After all, most of the players earn the league minimum, $325,000 per year. That sounds like a lot and it is, but after you factor in agents, lawyers, taxes, insurance, union dues, and the other mandatory trappings that come along with being in the big leagues, that money can quickly slip through the fingers of someone who never made more than a few bucks per hour in high school. Not every NFL player has two commas in their annual salary.
In 2010, Sports Illustrated reported last year that 78 percent of former NFL players have gone bankrupt, or are facing financial stress because of joblessness and divorce just two years after leaving the game.
The problem is never a lack of money. The problem is how it’s handled.
About the author
If you enjoyed what you just read and would like to get FREE email updates with the freshest articles from The Wisdom Journal delivered right to your inbox, subscribe today! It's ridiculously easy and you can unsubscribe at any time. Since your email address is never sold or abused, you can subscribe with confidence, PLUS you'll get free reports/guides/eBooks, subscriber only benefits, and other perks.
