Hat tip to Diana Gradstein, an educator at Life Learning Academy (San Francisco, CA) for this graphical organizer she developed. This accompanies the ESPN documentary Broke (1 hour, 19-minute video), which talks about professional athletes and their all-to-frequent tales of money mismanagement.

UPDATE: This post no longer includes the link to the documentary as it was taken down from the original site. However, we have kept the graphical organizer in case you are able to find the documentary elsewhere! 

Here’s a synopsis of Broke (from ESPN):

According to a 2009 Sports Illustrated article, 60 percent of former NBA players are broke within five years of retirement. By the time they have been retired for two years, 78% of former NFL players have gone bankrupt or are under financial stress. Sucked into bad investments, stalked by freeloaders, saddled with medical problems, and naturally prone to showing off, many pro athletes get shocked by harsh economic realities after years of living the high life. Drawing surprisingly vulnerable confessions from retired stars like Keith McCants, Bernie Kosar and Andre Rison, as well as Marvin Miller, the former executive director of the MLB Players Association, this fascinating documentary digs into the psychology of men whose competitive nature can carry them to victory on the field and ruin off it.

Here’s the graphic organizer which has two parts:

• During the film, students list the items that the athletes purchase, why the item was a bad decision and additional questions they might want to ask the athlete about their decision.

• After the film, students identify the cost of the items that the athletes purchase (online research), identify a smarter financial choice for each item and its cost and then provide a reason why the secondary item is better than the athlete’s choice. Finally they tally how much the athlete would have saved had they chosen the wiser option.

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Here are a few other athlete stories that your students might enjoy from the NGPF Blog:

• Question of the Day: What percentage of millionaires are professional athletes?
• Brief article: NFL player runs a 4.3 40 and saves money
• Two NBA stars provide advice: Who would you listen to?

About the Author

Tim Ranzetta

Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.

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