You may recall him. A tennis player with some talent. He never won a major but possibly should have.
He had a penchant for collections of motor bikes, watches, cars and women. He hooked up with paris Hilton at one time and had some dreadful television program.
It was estimated he earned about 8 million from his tennis career.
He is now 32. And broke.
There was an article in the paper last week about how he couldn’t meet repaymnts on his $1.3 million house and he was suffering depression. The story had the obligatory statements about how he thought the money would come in forever.
This week the finance company is offering him hardship relief.
Well, pardon me, but why on earth should this be extended to someone who has never experienced the real world? How many other people are on the verge of losing their homes because of being retrenched or some other issue outside their control? This guy has had more opportunities and more money than most of us will ever see.
And a house of $1.3 million- would it be too much that he consider selling and moving into maybe a house without a swimming pool? Maybe getting a job- he is after all only 32?
I don’t wish harm on anyone but I really find it difficult to garner much sympathy.
What’s got your panties in a twist? Would you rather his bank foreclose immediately and get stuck with what’s probably an underwater property? What would that accomplish?
I’d rather the bank work out some sort of arrangement that keeps the place solvent, perhaps reducing their profit but not eliminating it. Keeps banking cheaper for the rest of us.
And selling the place won’t make much sense if he can’t pay off the loan with the proceeds.
ETA: I certainly agree that people who handle their money stoopidly and squander fortunes deserve heaps of contempt and scorn. I just don’t get why you’re mad at the bank for doing their job.
Well, there is a certain sour grapes feel to your OP. What does it matter if it’s a bank or a finance company anyway? They’re probably only looking out for themselves, like friedo suggested.
You don’t have to like The Poo, but he’s not nearly unique in being a fading sporting star who has never had to work for a living, as you or I would understand it. I reckon a lot of professional footballers (AFL and League) would face something similar when they retire, only they have their clubs and associations to fall back on, where someone from an individual sport like tennis is more on their own.
I don’t feel put put at all by any of this, The Poo hitting hard times or the finance company looking to cover it’s arse. It’s nothing new, is it?
To get the topic onto some sort of useful track, this is a very common condition among professional athletes whose careers end. Estimates of bankruptcy run as high as fifty to sixty percent for NBA and NFL players, and a lower but still shocking number in other sports. I remember a few years back a very matter-of-fact report that former baseball player Robin Yount had gone broke; this is a guy who played about a thousand years, so it’s not like he was a flash in the pan whose career ended unexpectedly.
In fact, baseball player Jack Clark went bankrupt while in the middle of a multi-million-dollar contract. Tony Gwynn did too, with bad investments, but fortunately did so early in his career, later earning vastly more than he had lost.
The reasons for this are the usual: high-flying lifestyles fuelled by intense peer pressure, no experience struggling with ney prior to retirement, and a lack of understanding of the carrying costs of houses, cars, and entourages. Being suckered into bad investments is also a recurring theme.
I have the same kind of feeling you do every time I see one of those stories about “the perils of winning the lottery” where they talk about some idiot who blew millions on stupid stuff (like that kid in the UK that wasted the equivalent of $15 million).
I guess it’s yet more proof that common sense is not very common after all.
If I got a hold of a few million dollars, I guarantee you that I would find a way to live within my means on it. If anyone doesn’t believe me, just give me the money and I’ll prove it.
