"An estimated 60 percent of former NBA players are penniless within five years after hanging up their sneakers."-Yahoo story
I read this fact in a story about a former NBA player who has prospered after his career. What made the story more impressive than the success was the fact that the majority of the other players failed so miserably.
Isn't this true for most Americans? Imagine averaging 50k a year for 30 years of your career. Some years you are below and some you are above but you only average 50k a year. Over a 30 year 35 year career you would have totaled over 50*35=1.75 million dollars. Lets give you a boost and round it up to 1.8 million. Uncle Sam will take a third or 600k.
Roughly you would have kept 1.2M. Let us assume 50% of your net income goes towards bills. This might be low or it might be high. Now we are left with 600k. If you can get 5% returns on the average it means you have a 30k per year pension or $2500 per month before taxes being taken out.
If we just save you would be OK. If the 50% is closer to 90% or more you will not have the safety net. Moral of the story is that with planning one can retire even if one has a median salary. With smart investments one can even retire more "comfortably".
Today's question is:
"How comfortable are you?"
I read this fact in a story about a former NBA player who has prospered after his career. What made the story more impressive than the success was the fact that the majority of the other players failed so miserably.
Isn't this true for most Americans? Imagine averaging 50k a year for 30 years of your career. Some years you are below and some you are above but you only average 50k a year. Over a 30 year 35 year career you would have totaled over 50*35=1.75 million dollars. Lets give you a boost and round it up to 1.8 million. Uncle Sam will take a third or 600k.
Roughly you would have kept 1.2M. Let us assume 50% of your net income goes towards bills. This might be low or it might be high. Now we are left with 600k. If you can get 5% returns on the average it means you have a 30k per year pension or $2500 per month before taxes being taken out.
If we just save you would be OK. If the 50% is closer to 90% or more you will not have the safety net. Moral of the story is that with planning one can retire even if one has a median salary. With smart investments one can even retire more "comfortably".
Today's question is:
"How comfortable are you?"
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