NBA Players Welcome to the Real World

NBA Players make more than 90% of the U.S. population. They get to travel across the country for free by the NBA. You get paid for doing a job you love. Most Americans work a job that they hate and have no other options.

Many times players are lured into the NBA and believe that their lifestyle will last forever so they aren’t concerned with how much money they spend – but nothing lasts forever. Americans learned the hard lesson that nothing in life is guaranteed and that life can be hard.

NBA Players suffer from the Instant Gratification Syndrome, you want everything right now. You spend money that you earn in the future to buy things in the present. You have no right to complain that you can’t pay your bills. No one made you buy a multi-millionaire dollar home; spend money on partying, women, designer clothes, jewelry, and things that have no value. You made those choices.

You decided that living that lifestyle was what you wanted and more important than planning for your future. Don’t be like Chris McAlister of the Ravens.

Immigrants that were brought to this country or migrated to this country knew the value of hard work; they did whatever they had to do to make a living even if it meant making sacrifices or working multiple jobs. Americans are spoiled and have forgotten how to survive. If one option stops working, find another option.

Yes you should be treated fairly by your employer but you should always look for other options. You can use your celebrity status to create a radio show, a television show, a clothing line, a sneaker line, sunglasses, hats, become a speaker, become a board member or advisory committee member for a national company or start a business. So many options are available to you and are easier for you to attain because of your celebrity status and the people you have at your disposal.

NBA owners are denying players adequate pension plans and requesting stricter salary caps. You can’t have it both ways. You have to provide one option or other. This will continue to lead to future lockouts until owners realize they are nothing without the players. Here are 7 tips to plan for your future.

1. Save. Save. Save. Save at least 30-50% of your income each month.
2. Retirement. Sign up for the NBA Retirement Association. You only get a small amount of income but if you combine it with additional steams of income through endorsements or businesses you should be able to retire comfortably.
3. Downsize. Downsize your lifestyle. Who are you trying to impress with your ferrari, maybach, diamond watches, and millionaire dollar home. People may be fascinated by the things you have but no one really cares. When you retire what do you want people to remember about you, that you lived in a million dollar home that you couldn’t afford or that you helped your community.
4. Think About Tomorrow. You can get traded, released or hurt at any time. Plan for your future so that you don’t have to file for bankruptcy or foreclosure.
5. Role Model. Be the best person you can be and serve as a role model for youth and younger players to prevent them from making the mistakes you made.
6. Give. Donate to charities or start your own foundation. This helps to reduce your tax liability and provides greatly needed assistance to social organizations that have been affected by the recession.
7. Say No. Learn how to say no to friends, strangers, relatives who ask to borrow money or ask you to buy something. If you always lend money you only enable that person to be dependent on you forever. Show them how to earn their own money so they don’t have to ask you for money.

You determined your self-worth by the things you own instead of realizing that your self-worth comes from within. No matter how much money you have it cannot make you happy and cannot fill a void in your life.

Think how different your life would be during the lockout if you saved at least one year’s salary, if you only bought one car or if you lived in smaller house. When you experience a financial crisis, your true character is tested. You either become a winner or loser.

Determine that you will always be a winner. Don’t let anyone determine your destiny, determine your own destiny. Money can generate wealth or generate debt you make the choice.

Short Term Savings Options

In today’s market there are many options to save money. Due to the recession Americans have learned the hard way that you have to save no matter what your financial situation. There are tons or products available to save money at banks, financial institutions and online. Here are some benefits of using basic products to achieve your short financial goals if you are just starting out as a saver or have a low savings account balance.

Checking Accounts
• Can be used to create achieve financial goals if the account earns interest such as online checking accounts with ING, Emigrant Direct or HSBC
• Can transfer money between accounts with no fees and provide you quick access to your money when needed
• Can be used to achieve short-term goals such as paying down debt, saving for a vacation or doing home repairs
• Can be used to create an emergency fund with 9-12 months of monthly expenses
• Online checking accounts helps you plan in advance since most take 2-5 business days to transfer money from accounts

Savings Accounts
• Have lower interest rates which can vary
• Can be used for short-term goals or to cover unexpected expenses such as car repairs, home maintenance, etc.
• Earn higher interest than regular checking accounts but earn less interest than bonds and CD’s
• Online savings accounts such as ING Direct of HBSC have higher interest rates
• Online savings accounts helps you plan in advance since most take 2-5 business days to transfer money from accounts

Money Market Account
• Can be used as to setup an emergency fund or for short or long term goals such as saving for a down-payment for a home, purchasing a car or starting a business
• Have restrictions on how often you can access the money
• May earn higher interest rates than traditional savings accounts
• Require much higher minimum balances to avoid maintenance fees usually $2,500 and up
• Can write checks
• Interest earned by investing in the stock market so you can lose money

CDs
• Should be kept for one year or less
• Can be used to start a savings account if you don’t need to access the money for a while
• Can transfer the money later to another savings product to earn more money
• Should only be used for short-term financial goals
• Don’t lose money
• Interest rates are fixed and are higher than traditional savings accounts
• Have to keep the money until the CD matures otherwise you will pay a penalty
• Terms can range from 3 months to 5 years

Traditional Bonds
• Provide tax advantages
• Can be used for long term goals to pay for a college education
• Not the best product for saving money
• Should be used in addition to other savings products
• Interest earned may be free from federal taxes if income limits are not exceeded when the bond is cashed
• Provides a lower interest rate than other savings products
• Interest earned is exempt from state and local taxes
• Money cannot be accessed until bond matures
• Interest rates vary based on the market rate

Saving is the New 20

Being sexy can be summarized in 3 main areas: attitude, confidence and image. Attitude relates to your views on life, usually an optimistic person who can take criticism well and always remains positive. Confidence is how you feel about yourself no matter what someone else says about you or does to you. Image is the physical appearance of a person, their smile, their teeth, their hair, their walk, their laugh, their face, their body, how they dress, how they smell.

According to a study by ING 61% of the men that participated in the survey feel that women who are frugal are smart and sexy. Cash is king and having a savings account makes you more attractive and appealing. When you are in debt and have bad credit is it hard to focus on anything else and if you do, you can’t give it your all because of your financial problems especially when it comes to relationships.

When you go on dates or out with your boyfriend or girlfriend your conversations will somehow always lead to discussing your financial problems. The lack of a savings account or retirement account may cause you to stay in a relationship longer than you have to or stay at a job longer that you would like because you are living paycheck to paycheck. If you are out on a date and have financial problems you might slip up and make statements like “I wish I had someone to help me pay my bills” or “I wish I had a man to take care of me” which may be a turnoff especially on a first date.

When you start saving you see your money grow which is a great feeling. When you start paying down your debt you feel like a burden has been lifted off of your shoulders and you can begin creating long-term financial goals such as planning for retirement, starting a business or planning for your children’s college education. Saving money also helps to pay for unexpected expenses and prevents you from going into debt. Saving money and have good spending habits is an appealing quality in a mate.

If you don’t feel sexy try to make yourself more appealing by working hard to save money, fix bad credit and set financial goals. Saving is smart. Investing is smarter. Good credit is smart and sexy. Saving the environment is sexy. Saving is sexy.