Why Cash Flow is Better Than Big Salaries: An Example from the NFL

I don't have millions of dollars of cash.  In fact, I've probably never seen more than a few hundred dollars of cash together at one time.

But I imagine this picture to the left is close to what MILLIONS OF DOLLARS OF CASH looks like.

Pretty cool.  I'd love to somehow receive a giant lump sum of cash all at one point one day and turn it into wads of bills like this.  I'm sure we all would.  But consider what I just read the other day:

Did anyone miss that? 

78% of NFL players go broke within three years of retirement?  That seems ridiculously high.  And almost 16% file for bankruptcy at some point in the future?  How can that be? Again I ask, how can that be?  And here is specifically why I ask the question "how can that be":

The LOWEST annual salary allowed by the league in the NFL in 2016 is $435,000.  Divide that by twelve, and you get $36,250 PER MONTH!!!!!  How is it possible to go broke within three years of NFL retirement, if you were making close to $36K per month for over three years(!) as an NFL player?

Bad News – You Will ABSOLUTELY Need To Save More To Retire Comfortably

This article was also guest-posted on Passive-Income-Pursuit and Modest Money.  Big Kudos to them for sharing!

Hello everyone,

I hate to bring bad news, but there is something going on around you, something you may have missed until now, but it is something we absolutely can no longer overlook as responsible individuals and investors.  If you have a family you are accountable for, or you are planning on ‘big’ retirement dreams for yourself, this article should help you wake up, unfortunately.

I am talking about an environment of VERY, very low investment returns, for quite some time.

Consider these headlines I’ve been seeing recently:

How I Just Earned a Free Vacation With A Few Clicks

Is this not an AWESOME picture?

It's pretty obvious, but to remove any doubt, it's a picture of a cruise ship off the coast of Alaska.  

I've never been to Alaska, and I've only been on one cruise in my life, but THIS IS WHERE I WOULD LIKE TO BE RIGHT NOW! :)

Wouldn't that be great? In this post I will detail a small way how I just earned a free cruise, albeit in a roundabout way, with a few simple clicks on Vanguard, the infamous investment company, and where I personally keep my mutual funds.  It's an interesting read: