Archive for December, 2007

Professional Athletes Bounce Out of Retirement — The Top 15 Anti Retirement Stories in Sports

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What is it with professional athletes? Why can’t they retire? They announce to the world that they are going to retire, and often do so for a little while. But then they go back to work. For top athletes, if it is not the money that keeps them working, what is it?

Some athletes return to their sports, others try new sports, some become coaches and many more transition into other highly successful careers.

Top 15 Anti Retirement Stories

Here are the Top 15 stories of athletes bouncing out of retirement:

  • Michael Jordan: The king of retirement remorse is of course Michael Jordan. He went from arguably the best basketball player ever to baseball player and then back to basketball player… Then he became a basketball manager – as owner of the Washington Wizards. And then he made the stunning announcement that he would return to play in 2001 – And play he did, racking up records. Jordan’s final pro-basketball season was the 2002-2003 season. But Jordan is only 44 years old; we don’t think this retirement story is over. What’s next for Jordan?
  • Lance Armstrong: Armstrong’s first retirement due to cancer clearly was not what or when he wanted it to be. He returned to professional cycling in 1998 and won SEVEN consecutive Tour de France titles. While we think Armstrong is officially retired from cycling, we are impressed with his new career as cancer fundraiser and we’ve heard the rumors that he may re invent himself as a civic leader – Governor Armstrong? Senator Armstrong? President Armstrong?
  • Roger Clemens: Clemens is the pitcher who gained most of his fame while playing for the Boston Red Sox and the NY Yankees. He has changed his mind about retirement three times, just like Michael Jordan! The difference between them though is that Clemens is still playing! Clemens is one of the oldest pitchers in major league baseball at 46. Will he ever actually retire?
  • Floyd Mayweather Jr: Just this weekend, after his fight for the WBC welterweight title, boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. announced for a second time that he would retire. “Just to be the face of boxing is a blessing, but I have to walk away. I was once told never to let boxing retire you”. But then he added: “If they give me a price I can’t resist…,” implying that he may fight again if paid enough money. Mayweather’s first retirement came after his “super-fight” against Oscar de la Hoya, which he won and for which he earned $35 million.
  • Brett Favre: Favre is currently in his 17th season in the NFL; during 16 of those 17 seasons he has been the starting quarterback for the Green Bay Packers. After a series of personal tragedies throughout the 2003-2005 time period, Favre commented that the 2006 season would be his last. However, Favre continued to play in the 2007 season, which is still ongoing.
  • Martina Navratilova: Navratilova started playing professional tennis in 1975 and finally retired completely in 2006, just shy of her 50th birthday. In 1994 she announced her retirement from the singles tour but she continued playing doubles and mixed events. Years later, in 2002, she started playing a few single events and in 2004 she became the oldest player ever (47) to win a singles match at a Grand slam event.
  • Muhammad Ali: Nicknamed, the “Greatest of All Time”, Ali started his professional boxing career in 1960, after winning a gold medal at the Rome Olympics. His career reflects, besides endless athletic achievements, numerous controversial moments, including his 1964 announcement that he was a member of the Nation of Islam and his refusal to serve in the US army during the Vietnam War. Ali ended his career in 1981, after his first and only loss by anything other than a decision. Most younger folks know Ali not from his days as a boxing professional, but as a spokesman for Parkinson’s Disease.
  • Jim Thorpe: Thorpe was one of the most versatile athletes who ever existed. He won Olympic Gold medals in the pentathlon and decathlon in 1912 and reinvented himself as a professional baseball, football and basketball player for many years. Professional athletes with Thorpe’s record usually have nothing to worry about when it comes to finances. However, Thorpe found it tough to support his family after he retired from sports – it was the era of the Great Depression – and the fact that he was an alcoholic did not help. He held various jobs, including a small role in the Warner Brother’s movie “Jim Thorpe – All-American”, but he eventually died broke.
  • Charles Oakley: Oakley, the basketball player famous for his quotes, played forward in the NBA as a member of five teams throughout his decade-long career. He retired in 2004 after a season with the Houston Rockets. This past year rumors were floating around about a potential comeback. Asked about it, Charles said: “I’m not going to come back for no veteran’s minimum. I’m coming back for a good salary. You can’t buy me. Money can’t buy me. But I’m not coming back for no bull—- money.” NBA team execs, anyone out there willing to pay him $10 million?
  • George Foreman: After an unexpected and hard fought loss to Muhammad Ali in the 1974 Rumble In The Jungle, Foreman retired. He came back in 1976, but retired again in 1977 after a physically exhausting fight against Jimmy Young. But, here is the real comeback story: in 1988, almost ten years after hanging up his gloves, he made his return into the ring. In 1994, at age 45, he became the oldest player in boxing history to win a heavyweight title. He retired for the third time in 1998. Although most of Foreman’s extensive fortune has been made for his other career – TV spokesman for the George Forman grill and other products.
  • Pele was a former Brazilian soccer star, who received the title “Athlete of the Century” by the International Olympic Committee. After countless of individual and team awards throughout his 20-year career, Pele retired in 1977 and has since been an ambassador for soccer and has also been involved in various acting and commercial ventures. So, what will Pele’s next role be?
  • Bjorn Borg: The former #1 tennis player had what can be considered one of the worst comebacks in the history of sports. Before retiring for the first time in 1983, Borg had an amazing 9-year stint, setting records that still stand today. Almost ten years after his first retirement he attempted a comeback on the men’s pro tour. He was completely unsuccessful and retired for the second time in 1993. However, Borg is still active on the seniors tour, and enjoys playing with friends such as John McEnroe. He also owns a clothing line with his name attached to it.
  • Wilt Chamberlain: After he retired from basketball, The Big Dipper transformed himself into a world-class volleyball player. For fun, he ran marathons. He also turned down multiple offers to return to basketball as well as to play pro football and box professionally. Though retired from sports, Chamberlain had successful subsequent careers as a coach, businessman, writer and even actor
  • Bob Cousy: Cousy joins Bjorn Borg in the worst comeback category. Cousy retired from the NBA for the first in 1963, after helping the Boston Celtics win 6 NBA titles. He returned after 6 years, at the age of 41, because he received an offer he could not refuse. His performance was terrible, but he boost ticket sales by 77 percent!
  • Ricky Williams: After playing for the New Orleans Saints, Williams retired iin 2004 after he tested positive for marijuana. But Williams returned to the NFL in July 20005 but in early 2006 it became clear that Williams had again violated the NFL’s drug policy, and he was suspended for the entire 2006 season. In October 2007 Williams made his return to the NFL, although he injured himself almost immediately. Can Williams recover and keep clean from now on and go for a fourth retirement?

Why Can’t Athletes Retire?

Research has shown that many professional athletes find the transition from a life of professional sports to a life without it very tough. A few reasons that athletes can’t stay retired include:

  • Age: Athletes retire when they are relatively young. They still have thirty, forty, fifty or more productive years ahead of them.
  • Addiction to the Limelight: Professional players – especially ones at the tops of their games – are adored by fans. Once retired, it can be lonely.
  • Addiction to the Thrill of the Game: Playing sports is undeniably thrilling. Retiring from that excitement can be tough.
  • Depression After Retirement: Transitioning out of professional sports is a huge adjustment. Changing one’s whole way of life is extremely stressful.

Anti Retirement Athletes Set Trends for Baby Boomers

It used to be that regular people – not professional athletes — worked until they were too frail to do so anymore. In fact, until recently only 16 percent of men in the United States worked past their 65th birthday.

However, many recent surveys show that 60 – 90 percent of today’s retirees will work after their retirement. And the reasons these people aren’t retiring are similar to the reasons cited by athletes. Somebody retiring today at age 65 probably has another 20 years of life. That is a long time without the money and satisfaction provided by a career. And many retirees report depression after retirement – citing that they miss the purpose and routine of their work.

Money 2.0: Two Dozen Finance Startups That Want to Help You Solve “Mo Money, Mo Problems”

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How do you manage your money? Not simply going to the bank and depositing your checks, but actually managing your money? How do you keep track of how much you’re paying for essentials and utilities, and measure if that’s too much? How do you keep track of who owes you money, and who you owe money to? How do you figure out how to maximize the money you’ve got, whether by getting a better return on it, or simply putting it to work somewhere where you know it will do some good (for you, for your friends & family, or for the world in general. How do you decide how to invest your money? Do you rely on professional advisers or do you go it alone? If you don’t have answers to any of these, or if you are looking for a way to better handle your money, you might want to consider these startups:

Mint – A financial management company and toolset that provides a simple and automated way to track spending, as well as find both lower prices on monthly services (such as gas, food, and utilities), and higher rates of interest on savings accounts and other monetary set-asides. Winner of the TechCruch40 conference in 2007.

Economic Security Plannner – A tool to help you plan for both the most likely and worst-cases in your financial future, enabling you to construct a retirement plan that makes sense, based on the uncertainties that may exist in the future.

REX agreement – A unique financial arrangement that allows seniors to cash in on their home’s equity without a loan, by turning over a percentage of their future equity changes to the lending company. The site has calculators and detailed explanations of how the process works.

Tripit – A travel/points organization designed to build itineraries more easily. Email the plans you wish to make to Tripit, and they will build you a master itinerary with all travel and booking plans included, which you can then look over and approve/use.

Equity Key – Another debt-free means of generating money from the equity in your property, tailored specifically for seniors. Like REX, Equity Key offers a lump sum of money in exchange for a percentage of your home’s future appreciation, thus leaving you with no debt and no drain on your present equity.

Prosper – A community lending and borrowing system set up to allow peer-to-peer lending between individual consumers. Users post either the sort of loan they are looking for, or the sort they can afford to offer, and the company mixes the available loans together into a single master-loan for the borrower.

Billmonk – A free site aimed at helping you easily track what is owed, not necessarily money, with roommates, friends, landlords, and family. The site enables you to remember (for example) who owes who lunch, who borrowed that book you’ve misplaced, and how much you owe your relatives for various purposes.

Dimewise – A cheap, web-based Financial Management option, simplifying the information you will receive, and enabling you to more easily keep track of your finances.

 

Foonance – An expense-tracking website that helps you make a virtual bank, and set limits on spending. Create what’s called a “Money Store”, a virtual repository of money, and then log transactions in and out of it, to easily track in and outflow.

Fundable – A website that assists you in generating online funding for any project through a collections campaign, or conversely, to donate money towards what you see as worthy causes. Used for everything from student films to recovering from a personal disaster.

Pledgebank – A pledging system that permits the internet to assist people who wish to pledge to improve their lives or those of others. Make a pledge with the condition that you will do it, only if a certain number of other people pledge to help in some way (not necessarily with money), or browse existing pledges and assist as requested in making it happen.

Kiva – “Loans that change lives”, a program by which people can loan money to entrepreneurs around the world using micro-loans through local credit or banking institutions. Relatively small amounts of money can make possible drastic improvements in the lives of would-be entrepreneurs in third world countries.

Virgin Money – A lending service associated with Richard Branson that compiles various non-traditional sources of lending, primarily a form called “Circle Lending”, meaning notarized, legally-binding loans between friends and family, a method which often means far more manageable rates than otherwise would be possible.

Lending Club – An online lending community and lending match software suite with which people can borrow and lend money directly to one another within the network, garnering better rates and bypassing traditional banking fees.

Zopa – A UK-based “Social Financing” site, pairing lenders with borrowers from within the community and offering guarantees to ensure lenders retain their investment. Worth a look.

 

Risk Metrics – Experts of financial risk management for both Wall Street and consumer-level investment, who can help potential investors better understand and manage the risk that is entailed in their investment strategies and portfolios.

Billeo – Password, shopping, and billpay assistance programs that permit people to handle more of their financial errands online. Affiliated with Wells Fargo Bank.

 

Wesabe – A network site for people who want to share experiences and recommendations about personal financial decisions. Essentially an account and money management site paired with an online financial community of other consumers, who assist one another in finding deals and avoiding pitfalls.

Cake Financial – A place where you can track your performance in the stock market or with your investments and follow the actual portfolios and trades of both various “top-performing investors” and your network of selected friends or trusted investors.

Zecco – A free trading community and web brokerage firm, promoting specifically their $0 trades for all users above a certain minimum balance (and for the first ten trades per month). Also offers market data tools, opinions and insight.

Covestor – A real-trade sharing service for proven self-investors, all of whom undergo a screening process before they are allowed to participate in the community, thus offering a source of high-quality analysis by other people who manage their own money. If you meet the criteria, it’s worth a consideration.

ProQuo – A personal information protection company, helping to put consumers in control of their own personal information, allowing them to receive the offers they want from various marketing sources and (more importantly) eliminate the ones they don’t.

1-800-pharmacy – A unique mail-order pharmacy that offers customers easy access both through a toll-free number and website, and gives customers rebates on their pharmaceutical and health & beauty purchases, as well as credit for referring others.

Smart Hippo – A new company that develops innovative applications for connecting consumers with financial service providers. They claim to be the first ever website that allows individuals to use the power of a community (and bulk buying) to save money when shopping for rates on financial products and services.

Consumer Credit Crunch 101: What one looks like, who thinks it’s coming, and how you can prepare yourself

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If you’ve been paying attention to the news recently you’ve probably heard about this sub-prime mess and credit crunch that is well underway. You may also have picked up on the fact that the central banks have injected billions of dollars of liquidity into the credit markets in an effort to keep them functioning. The Fed Chief Bernanke has opined that the problems in the housing and credit markets are “likely to get worse before they get better”. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson has proposed bailing out the people who chose to buy houses they could not afford by suggesting that interest rates be frozen on these subprime mortgages for a 5-year period. This is obviously going to create losers, namely the investors who bought investments backed by these risky mortgages and in return were going to be earning a higher return (or no return in the face of defaults). In fact, the government announced today that the freezing of interest rates for a fraction of the 1.2 million people who are eligible for help will indeed occur; thus, the investors who bought investments backed by these mortgages will certainly not be earning the potentially higher returns that they had hoped for. At the same time, due to the rate freeze, the default risk on these investments has decreased as well. The question that needs to be addressed is whether the government is setting an unwelcome precedent with its proposal. After all, this proposal means that the government has introduced a moral hazard for future borrowers or lenders by bailing out folks who have made poor decisions.

But, the buyers of subprime mortgages who could never afford them are not the only ones to blame (and, did they really understand what they were getting into anyway?). There appears to be a fundamental flaw in the system, created by the separation of borrower and lender a few decades back. In the past, local banks used to sell mortgages and other lines of credit to its customers, and they had a true self-interest in making sure those lenders would be able to repay their loans. Now, mortgage companies sell the mortgages to financial institutions, and they repackage them into investment vehicles and sell them to investors. So the risk of default has been transferred to the investors. The problem is that the “middlemen”, the mortgage companies and financial institutions, have an incentive to sell as many as possible because they earn profits without taking on the risk. If defaults occur, which is most likely in the case of subprime mortgages, the investors lose their money. And selling subprime mortgages or investments is the most lucrative. Hence it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the Wall Street Journal recently reported that the number of subprime loans has increased rapidly since 2000 and that a large percentage of those loans went to people who could in fact afford conventional loans with better terms. And who got punished for that? No-one. Yet. So way to go New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo who just subpoenaed major Wall Street banks to investigate the mortgage business. He is looking at questions related to the disclosure of risks to investors and the level of due diligence done by banks who buy and resell the subprime mortgages.

So what does this all mean for consumers? For one, borrowing on credit has and will become much harder. Lenders, in the face of financial losses, have less money to lend, and have tightened their lending standards and limited credit lines. And it is only getting worse. Data shows that there is $360 billion worth of mortgages due to reset in 2008 to much higher levels, which is more than one-third of the $1 trillion of US subprime loans outstanding. Who knows which banks, after Citigroup, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and UBS, are the next victims. A Goldman Sachs report suggests that banks and other lenders could cut lending by as much as $2 trillion, creating a possibility for a substantial recession. The Wall Street Journal reports today that delinquencies in the auto-loan market have increased to the highest level in several years, which has forced lenders in some cases to tighten terms for loans. With credit being this tight, you may have to wait a long time to purchase that oh-so-desirable Lexus or you will have to pay much higher rates for borrowing.

Consumers have also and will continue to be hurt by falling housing prices. Studies have shown there to be a direct relationship between a decline in house prices and a drop-off in spending. It is no surprise therefore that data shows that consumers have been cutting back on apparel, autos, and other luxury items. This in turn has hurt those industries.

What can you do to protect yourself? First of all, for those of you who are taking out home equity loans as a way to finance spending, stop now. You are risking losing your home by doing this. Falling house prices are detrimental in this regard, and it is time to start saving. It is time to replenish the lost equity, although this is obviously much harder now. But if you are fairly young, you have time. For those of you who have retirement savings, adjusting your portfolios defensively may be a good idea at this time. Some experts are suggesting overweighting foreign equities and increasing the fixed income portion of your portfolio. If you are close to retirement, the conventional wisdom that you want most of your retirement assets in low risk, fixed income instruments, holds even more so now.

31 more sites to help you manage your retirement (even without a Retirement Planner)

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Following our post last week: 57 resources to help you manage your retirement without a financial planner, folks asked us for more sources of information and some folks recommended others we should have included the first go ‘round (in some cases the website owners themselves). Bending to the will of the invisible hand, we’ve prepared a list of additional sites that we think you might find useful to take charge of your own retirement. We hope this prove useful to your situation. Let us know of other gems we haven’t uncovered.

I owe you – A UK-based expense sharing website that is aimed mostly at students, but can be applied to anyone’s circumstances.
Financial Content – A company specializing in the integration and delivery of financial data and tools into websites, corporate intranets and print media
Torrid Technologies – A retirement savings planner with great features and detail.
Money, Matter, and More Musings – A blog with musings on Money, Personal Finance, Frugality, Debt, and Other Matters. Check out the illustrated cash flow diagrams!
The Dough Roller – A money-saving blog with a major emphasis on controlling your own finances.
Net Worth IQ – A site with calculators, information, and tips on how to accurately determine your personal net worth, and how to increase it.
Fey Financial Management – Fee only financial advice with a low cost international perspective.
Dropcash – A still-in-production site aimed at helping people organize fundraising efforts for everything from bake sales to family gifts.
Money Trackin’ – Online accounting system with an emphasis on location-based savings.
Stock Tickr – A resource for stock traders looking to maximize their returns from trades, with information, advice, and statistics.
Save Wealth – A website aimed at giving you the knowledge to build and preserve wealth.
Rate Catcher – An account management site that looks for good interest rates on bank, investment, brokerage, and other personal finance accounts.
Boom J – Lifestyle and social network for Baby Boomers.
A-Train Finance – A blog designed to help people retire with careful and proper planning.
Planet Wealth Blog – A blog aimed at making stock market strategies as simple as possible.
Chris Perruna – A blog concerning itself with the stock market, finances, success, and life itself.
Career Overview – A resource for those looking at becoming financial analysts
Housing Maps – Maps of rooms, houses, condos, and apartments for sale or rent all across the country. Ideal for those considering Downsizing!
Fierce Finance – The Financial Services’ Daily monitor of the news and important trends in the financial world.
Matt H. Evans – Excel Spreadsheets of great detail and value that calculate all manner of statistics helpful in planning your financial course.
Paul’s Tips on Fooling Smart People – How to not be one of those who falls victim to a financial con-man. Must-read.
Credit Review – An excellent blog on how to (among other things) increase your credit rating so as to qualify for cheaper loans
Michael McDerment – A Canadian entrepreneur trying to assist those going into business for themselves with useful advice and experiences.
My Society – A charitable project which builds websites that give people simple, tangible benefits in the civic and community aspects of their lives.
Consumerism Commentary – Information relating to consumers and the financial world.
I will teach you to be rich - Ramit Sethi’s blog on personal finance (banking, saving, budgeting and investing) and personal entrepreneurship.
Savvy Saver – Personal prosperity depends not on how much money you make, but on how much money you keep. This personal finance blog i dedicated to making smart money decisions, living below your means, and increasing net worth.
Rollyo – A means by which you can create your own search engine tailored to your needs.
Side Job Track – An employment resource for people looking to get a new or second job, start a new career, or work in retirement.
Give Meaning – An online fundraising site for charitable works and organizations scattered across the country.
Debt Consolidation Care – An Internet community helping people get out of debt.

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