If nothing else, Chad Johnson’s 30 days in jail will result in less damage being done to his savings.
According to TMZ, the former NFL player’s expenses outpace his income by more than $45,000. Per month.
The information apparently comes from efforts by Johnson to reduce his monthly child support obligation, which would entail Johnson submitting evidence to the court regarding his full financial picture. Johnson supposedly earns only $3,000 per month, with more than $16,000 per month in support payments.
His other expenses total more than $30,000 per month, including $2,500 for food (doesn’t he eat McDonald’s?), $3,500 on clothing (child, please), $5,000 on entertainment (does he fly to Spain for bullfights every other week or something?), and $1,000 for pet expenses (there’s a very easy solution to that).
Working in Chad’s favor are assets of $4.7 million. But after playing in the NFL for a decade, he should have more than that in the bank.
At the current rate, Chad can make it another 104 months (roughly 8.5 years) before his expenses will eat away his assets. He’d still be in his early 40s if/when that happens.
Ideally, he’ll both adjust his lifestyle to his current income and find ways to leverage his fame, his Twitter followers, and whatever marketable skills he possesses to generate more income.
If nothing else, every other NFL player should learn from Johnson’s predicament. At some point, the NFL salary will stop coming in. Save as much as you can for now, make good decisions based on trusted advisors for investing it, have a plan for your post-NFL career, and assume your post-NFL career will start tomorrow.
