Professional athletes are often famous for what they do on the field or on the court, but they are also often notorious for being broke when they are done playing. The latest such athlete is former NFL player Clinton Portis who has filed for bankruptcy five years after he played his last game.
This is despite Portis earning $43 million during his nine year career.
Portis owes over a million dollars to a mortgage company. He owes the IRS. He owes a casino. He owes four different women for child support. He owes car dealerships. He claims to have only $150 in his checking account.
USA Today reported this story in an article entitled "Clinton Portis owes nearly $5 million, counts mother as creditor."
There is an estate planning lesson here.
Professional athletes are given large sums of money at a young age and have almost no training in how to handle that money. They fall victim to unscrupulous financial advisors who invest in risky ventures. They live extravagant lifestyles that cannot be maintained when they are no longer receiving a salary.
These are the same things that tend to happen to inherited wealth when the heirs are younger people who also do not have a background in financial management. In fact, the list of heirs who have blown large sums of wealth and ended up with nothing is a lot longer than the list of professional athletes who have done the same.
If you do not want your heirs to blow their inheritances, then talk to an estate planning attorney about setting up your estate to protect assets until such time as your heirs have the ability to manage the wealth on their own.
Reference: USA Today (Dec. 19, 2015) "Clinton Portis owes nearly $5 million, counts mother as creditor."
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