The big bucks don’t last forever

A professional athlete’s best friend should be his or her financial adviser.

It’s the perfect relationship. The adviser would be there to put limits on impulse spending, such as excessive shopping for jewelry and luxury cars. But in reality, this bond never will happen. Many athletes who had trouble managing their checking accounts before the millions still fail to manage their finances during their prime earning years.

Athletes dream of their names in lights and the days they hear the commentator announcing their triumphs to packed stadiums and arenas. But those dreams only have rock star lifestyles and tend to leave out the bad spending habits and possible bankruptcy cases.

Once most athletes sign multimillion-dollar deals, they believe they’re invincible to short-lived careers. Despite the average professional career lasting only four years, they still feel it won’t happen to them.

Plenty of athletes get caught up in bad financial situations each year. Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick has become the poster child of what not to do when you become a millionaire. He’s dethroned rapper MC Hammer as the worst spender to date. Hammer filed for bankruptcy in 1996 after he blew $33 million. Vick is on his way.

Vick, who used to be the NFL’s highest paid player, mismanaged his money and bought five houses, nine cars, two fishing boats, a horse farm, a car rental agency and a high-end wine shop. His bad spending habits forced him to file bankruptcy in 2008.

Vick owes millions to creditors. Once he signs his next big contract, he’ll have to pay 10 percent of his earnings for the first $750,000 to creditors, then 30 percent once he reaches $2.5 million. Then another 40 percent once he gets to $10 million.

What a huge price to pay for not being responsible with your spending habits. Money is necessary to live and live well in our society. You don’t need a lot of it to be independent, successful and happy. But it sure can cause many financial woes if you can’t manage money well. Just ask Vick. He can attest to that.

Johnnie Walters is a correspondent for The Daily News.