Even after a succesful football career, you can be bankrupt

With such a massive audience, football is a huge industry. Clubs are global brands, and their elite players are superstars with a more than healthy financial reward. Premiership pro players get on average £13,000 to £250,000 a week; it’s no wonder everyone wants their job.

So, it might surprise you that these superstars, with their big pay checks, frequently become bankrupt and totally broke, even having had a high profile and successful football career in professional leagues. A recent example is ex England goalkeeper, David James, who declared bankruptcy and resorted to auctioning off his own merchandise. And he’s not alone. Many more have been forced to declare bankruptcy, and pick up gambling habits, alcoholism and jail in the process, Eric Djemba Djemba (Ex- Man Utd & Aston Villa Player) & Michael Chopra (Ex Newcastle Player)

You may be asking how this could be possible.

Here a few ways you can protect yourself from potential bankruptcy

1- Anything you spend money on, which doesn’t make you money in return, or help you generate money, is a liability.

Your home is a liability; you have a mortgage to pay for, you pay numerous council tax, gas, electric and water bills, and do not get anything in return. Your car is a liability; a brand new car depreciates in value the second it is driven out the show room, plus insurance payments, road tax, MOT, and repairs. The clothes you buy, the nights out, and the expensive holidays all are liabilities in the same way.

2- Anything you spend money on, which makes you money in return, or helps you generate money, is an asset.

If you buy a property/ies and sell it for more than its initial value it is an asset. Alternatively, you can rent the property, or find another enterprising way to make it make you money. Your car/s too, is an asset if you rent it, or sell it for more than its initial value. A business, if it is a success, can only be an asset. An investment portfolio, stocks and shares, either companies in the stock market or investing in small startups, real estate, mutual fund, is an asset. However it must be noted it takes a lot of hard work and dedication to make these successful investments, its not as simple as pouring money into it, you need to research, hustle and hustle hard.

3- Your job cannot be an asset, simply because you don’t own a job. Your occupational position is therefore not secure. You can be fired, and you need to be present at the job in order to work specific designated hours and generate an income, whereas this rule doesn’t apply to assets.

4- To avoid bankruptcy, you have two options. One is better management of your finances, saving and planning for retirement. Secure a job after football. If you’re used to spending lavishly, it will not be easy to stop. Without the funds to keep this up, you will end up broke. Alternatively, you better manage your finances & build your assets to be greater than your liabilities.

Is asset building easy? Hell no, but nothing worth having is easy to have. Success has no short cuts, and, as a footballer, you should know that better than anyone. You will make mistakes, and things won’t go to plan, but you can overcome them.

Text by: PITS Football