OT: TO, broke and friendless

[The Scrizz]

Sweet, this would be a totally great comeback if I was in any way arguing that it is impossible to maintain and/or grow wealth. I'm not.

In a nutshell I'm saying there are too many examples of people becoming wealthy only to end up on their ass for the glib little 'GET A JOB' BS floating around this board to be anything close to a meaningful input on the issue.

If you possessed of even a modicum of introspection you might say to yourself 'there but for the grace of God go I'. If you further had the analytical capacity of a potato you might also wonder if a guy who breaks down in press conferences, makes constant negative headlines and wherever he goes and attempts suicide you know, might just have an emotional disorder.

But instead you and those of your ilk opt to revel in the downfall of an athlete which absolutely smacks of schadenfreude based out of envy. I mean he got rich playing a game, you and I clearly can't do that so Haha, let's all clap our hands and celebrate when he falls on hard times.

And people consider me a troll around here. The lack of compassion would be astounding but I've have my expectations of this board suitably lowered over the years.

Aren't we a self-righteous, arrogant prick? I don't remember there being any posts on this board when I was unemployed for six months, got dumped by my wife, and took a beating when I had to sell my house for about 75% of what I paid for it.

You don't think I didn't consider just eating the ******* bullet? I sucked it up, got help, and work my ass off every day just keeping my head on straight because I have a little girl that I love. Maybe if TO did more than just write checks and was involved in his children's lives he'd have a little perspective.

Here's some for you. For every wealthy person who loses all of their money there are thousands of middle-class people in the same boat and thousands more who never had any to begin with.

TO is on the situation he is in now because he's always been about TO and only TO. Again, at some point he has to take responsibility. How many people do you think told TO that he can't act that way and that he needed to get some help? Heck, someone with the self-awareness of a potato would probably know that they had issues.

If anybody on this board came to me and said "Scrizz, I'm broke and friendless and here's why..." I would do everything I could to help them and to get them to help themselves. Even you.

I don't have to say there but for the grace because I was already there thank you very much. And whether you get there starting with 50K or get there starting with 80Mill, guess what? You're still there.

So pat yourself on the back for your message board compassion for somebody you don't even know and would never have to worry about helping.

Reality is that he had it all and pissed it away. It wasn't taken from him. He didn't get laid-off during one of the worst economic times in decades and he didn't have to sell his home after the housing bubble burst.

 

[Satchboogie3]

This "nut case malcontent" had 80 million reasons to turn it around. Wish I had just one of them. How many of you had 80 mil? Do you relieze how HARD it is to spend that !!! So again, Tough Sh*t for him.

THAT is cold. Money doesn't solve many problems. In fact, I've NEVER seen money solve mental health problems, while I've seen it destroy a lot. You're jealous he made money. Don't let that clout your judgment.

*It's also not hard to lose $80 million if you invest it all very poorly or give it to scam artists.

 

[pwes]

Im pretty poor but I can say with absolutely certaintly that there is no way in hell I would blow through 80 million dollars. These dumbasses spend so much money thinking its going to be there forever and cry when they go broke. one person does NOT need to live in a 5 bedroom 7 bathroom 15,000 sqf home and have 8 cars. For what? I'll admit money makes a lot of people spend stupidly but you only hear about the dumb ones not the ones who were smart enough not to spend so recklessly.

I doubt he is really broke. He's broke in that he no longer can (wants to) pay his child support but I gurantee you he still has very valuable assets. When he starts auctioning off his crap then I might believe it.

 

[Lurks_All_Day]

In my mind, "broke" is having nothing, and a paycheck figures into the equation only insomuch as it covers cost of living vs. debt. It doesn't cost that much to live day to day.
Rent can be had for less than $500 in my neighborhood. That's a roof over your head.
I survive on about $200 in groceries per month. I don't go hungry, but I don't dine on filet mignon. Ever.
A roof and 3 squares costs me $700 every month.

Go suck a fat one, you pompous, POOR-ME POS. I do it every month. You can, too, but you're SPECIAL, somehow???

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

TO's case is different from what we can imagine ourselves doing because he is a dysfunctional human being. Someone fnord? brought up the point that folks who suddenly have major bucks often go broke and its true. Part of the recent housing bubble (part, not all) was caused by folks blithely assuming that they'd keep getting big raises or new jobs at much higher salaries so they leveraged themselves to the hilt. Others made risky investments be they financial instruments or real estate, I'll buy this property, rent it out and flip it for a profit. It costs money each month to own and maintain a property. Every time we ratchet up our lifestyle we're expecting future cash in to either continue or increase. There is no law of economics that makes this so, as many have found out. The worst financial thing you can do is get divorced, as maybe 50% of those posting here know. Say Bye! to 50% plus lawyers fees of your worth and assets, that's without child support.

So even if highly functional folks in this society can run into big financial trouble it's no surprise that uneducated, dysfunctional or even stupid folks like TO can crash and burn. Most here would get some kind of job. I doubt TO is good for much more than hauling bricks like I once did, and screwed it up royally one day, but that's another story.

 

[Mike the Brit]

I don't want to speak for fnordcircle, so I won't. But I will say that it's pretty clear that TO has something wrong with him other than "flighty douche bag", and I fell bad for him. I'm not saying I want to hang out with him or that there aren't many other people in worse situations, BUT he has always seem like a tortured person to me. And I pity that.

:yeahthat:

Absolutely.

 

[Blizzzard]

Somebody once told me that "T.O has 25 million reasons to be alive"

 

[West Philly Patriot]

Somebody once told me that "T.O has 25 million reasons to be alive"

 

[Patriot Missile]

Bad investments with shady people. 44,000 times 12 is almost 500,000 a year in child support. Yeah I could easily see broke if you are not careful.

 

[eom]

I didn't actually read the article because this is entirely bs --- could somebody post a pic of this broke guy's house so I can feel sorry for him?

I think scrizz pretty much already summed it up.

first of all, to call this **** 'broke' is spitting in the face of legit broke people all over the world.
I couldn't give a **** if he has to trade his white tigers in for regular tigers.
secondly, if he's actually having cash flow issues his washed up celeb status will always earn him a spot on one of those 'reality' shows where all the other broke celebs go for cash.

meanwhile, maybe you guys could take up a paypal collection for him.

 

[Patriot Missile]

In other news. Leigh Steinberg files for chapter 7 bankruptcy. When it's all said and done I'm sure somehow he will have more money/assets than just about every member on this board combined.

 

[patchick]

*It's also not hard to lose $80 million if you invest it all very poorly or give it to scam artists.

I think this is a really key point that many are missing. LOSING $80 million doesn't necessarily mean SPENDING $80 million. Just ask all the people who invested their life's savings with Bernie Madoff.

Yes, plenty of young guys without a lot of common sense make a million dollars in the NFL and blow it fast living the high life. (Heck, just flying first class will erode your wealth in a hurry.)

But there's a much faster way for these guys to lose bigger sums, and that's by trying to do the smart thing. They recognize that they're no financial wizards and put their business affairs in the hands of somebody with all the right credentials and all the right sales pitch...who proceeds to treat their $$ as a playground for ultra-risky investments. And these sharks circle around young, naive and suddenly wealthy athletes.

Does TO fall in that category? We have only his word for it. In general, should we "feel sorry" for athletes who lose huge fortunes by trusting the wrong people? I don't know. Do you feel sorry for the far more sophisticated people who lost huge fortunes with Madoff?

 

[Joker]

I think this is a really key point that many are missing. LOSING $80 million doesn't necessarily mean SPENDING $80 million. Just ask all the people who invested their life's savings with Bernie Madoff.

Yes, plenty of young guys without a lot of common sense make a million dollars in the NFL and blow it fast living the high life. (Heck, just flying first class will erode your wealth in a hurry.)

But there's a much faster way for these guys to lose bigger sums, and that's by trying to do the smart thing. They recognize that they're no financial wizards and put their business affairs in the hands of somebody with all the right credentials and all the right sales pitch...who proceeds to treat their $$ as a playground for ultra-risky investments. And these sharks circle around young, naive and suddenly wealthy athletes.

Does TO fall in that category? We have only his word for it. In general, should we "feel sorry" for athletes who lose huge fortunes by trusting the wrong people? I don't know. Do you feel sorry for the far more sophisticated people who lost huge fortunes with Madoff?

look...I'm not going to argue about choices to trust YOUR money with strangers...anybody can do whatever the hell they want to...it's a FREE country.The only point I want to make is, if I was the recipient of such a windfall in my twenties, I'd take 66% of it and put it in either 20 year(2.78% as of 1/25/2012) or 30 year(3.13%...1/25/2012) T bills. The rest I'd use for whatever the hell suited my fancy....at least I'd have THIS investment to fall back on when my high earnings years were done.

This ain't rocket science, anybody CAN do it if they WANT to.

If you CHOOSE not to and blow your entire stash, THAT is on YOU. Period.

 

[patchick]

look...I'm not going to argue about choices to trust YOUR money with strangers...anybody can do whatever the hell they want to...it's a FREE country.The only point I want to make is, if I was the recipient of such a windfall in my twenties, I'd take 66% of it and put it in either 20 year(2.78% as of 1/25/2012) or 30 year(3.13%...1/25/2012) T bills. The rest I'd use for whatever the hell suited my fancy....at least I'd have THIS investment to fall back on when my high earnings years were done.

This ain't rocket science, anybody CAN do it if they WANT to.

If you CHOOSE not to and blow your entire stash, THAT is on YOU. Period.

My post was directed to the people who were assuming he SPENT all that cash, which does not seem to be the case.

But as for your suggested investment strategy...that looks to me like applying the same strategy you'd use for $80 thousand to $80 million, and they're very, very different animals.

The wealthy have a completely different set of investment options than the rest of us. They can buy into hedge funds. They're given opportunities to purchase securities that the general public doesn't have access to. They can act as angels and VCs for start-ups. Etc., etc. (Look at Romney's recently released tax forms, which shows much of his income coming from exclusive funds at firms like Goldman Sachs that are only available as a perk for ultra-wealthy investors.)

IOW, investing large sums isn't just a matter of multiplying your current strategy. It's complicated, and EVERYBODY in that position relies on investment advisors (unless managing their own portfolio is their full-time profession).

 

[Joker]

how much advice from an investment advisor to sink 66% of your money into Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway Fund does a person need? If T.O. did that, his "problems" would have never occurred. THAT fund has historical yields in double digits for decades now...and is precisely the vehicle preferred by many wealthy investors.

The point is, Terrell Owens was on a team with OTHER millionaire players all faced with the same issues...you mean to tell me he couldn't brainstorm with other teammates, go into joint ventures.etc etc? It's obvious what kind of respect he had for the wealth he fell into..and that is NONE.

 

[Fencer]

And $130K per babymama household per kid isn't excessive for a guy making $2M even last season,

That's true only if it's reduced after he stops making $2 million/year.

 

[Fencer]

I lean towards more of a borderline personality disorder if anything,

Because he seems to think he needs to and is entitled to control any relationship he's in, and because he backs that up by turning on people he's close to when they disappoint him a little, and by doing so in ways that are somewhat divorced from reality?

 

[Off The Grid]

There is something wrong with Terrell Owens.

Possibly a personality disorder of some sort.

You mean he's an *** Hole??

I'll buy that.

***

Seriously: this guy is an horrible person.

**** him.

I'm sorry, I can't read a whole thread about TO but did the OP say he felt sorry for Terrell Owens because he managed to blow through 80 million dollars?

I don't care what kind of problems face the suddenly nouveau rich. They have a very easy option when the money runs out. It's called getting a job. Why is the immediate assumption made that an athlete can play a sport for a few years and then be set for life? Why is it a shame when he has no money?

I'll be working until I'm at least 65 and probably 70. Why the f@ck would I care if some idiot blew his wad and can't afford a mansion anymore. GET A JOB. My hopes for this country are seriously depressed when even millionaire athletes have become part of our Victim Culture because they are too stupid to balance a checkbook.

There it is.

 

[Fencer]

You mean he's an *** Hole??

I'll buy that.

***

Seriously: this guy is an horrible person.

**** him.



There it is.

Has Owens engaged in or conspired to commit violence toward ANYBODY, outside of legitimate acts in the context of football? Has he cheated anybody out of any money, or anything like that?

If not, he's not a "horrible" person by football-player standards.

 

[Fencer]

Anybody who is never sympathetic to people's self-imposed problems is a jerk.

Up to you, however, as to whether this is one of the cases in which you have sympathy.