Photo credit: Cristiano Gatti
An NFL’s players career is a little under 6 years, if you make the opening day roster, and the average salary is about $1.9M a year. So, assuming you enter the NFL at 22, you have a significant challenge saving for retirement. This is because your earnings are so large and so short. It is widely reported that most NFL players end up broke when they stop playing, but how much should they actually be saving?
How A Surgeon May Earn More Than An NFL Player Over Their Lifetime
Assuming an NFL player doesn’t have vast earnings ahead of them in media, endorsements or coaching, and most don’t, then the short burst of earnings during their NFL career is equivalent to earning roughly $300,000 per year over a working lifetime, on a more normal salary. That certainly puts you well into the top 2% of income in the US, but it’s not quite as stellar as all the media coverage and attention suggests. For example, a well paid surgeon could actually earn more than many NFL players over their working lifetime, especially a player lower in the draft, where prospects for contract renewal are less good. It’s the classic tortoise and hare story.
So How Much Should An NFL Player Save?
A lot. If you’re in the NFL you should save about $1.7M of your $1.9M salary to adjust for the fact that you are only earning for a very short time. This is an extremely high 89% savings rate for those 6 years you are earning. So, all those expenditures such as Vince Young’s supposed $22,000 chartering of a public flight, by buying up all the seats on Southwest to get some peace and quiet, or Michael Vick’s alleged $85,000 landscaped fish pond are a bad idea on several levels, including from a savings perspective.
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