Former NFL star Chad “Ochocino” Johnson gave some of the greatest financial advice ever in January during an interview with Shannon Sharpe on his podcast Club Shay Shay.
Johnson, who left the NFL in 2012 after an eleven-year career, told Sharpe that he managed to save upwards of 83% of his salary from his time in the league by living at the stadium for the first two years, flying Spirit Airlines and wearing jewelry from Claire’s. His reason?
“What’s the point?” Johnson told Sharpe. Johnson was getting everything he needed at the stadium. “Everything I need is in the facility at Paul Brown [stadium], right? Showers, cafeteria, TV, couch, gaming system, what’s the point?” Johnson was “locked in” to his rookie career with the Cincinnati Bengals, and he didn’t need his personal space or somewhere to bring women.
He did admit to overspending on various sports cars, but clearly Johnson is not one for greed. He sees “Ochocinco” — the surname he legally took from 2008 to 2012 — as more valuable than any single thing he could buy, making it easy to pass over the flashy, trashy, throw-away frivolity pursued by so many celebrities of his caliber. (RELATED: NYT Idiots Ignore Dire Financial Warnings For 2023 From Leading Experts)
His incredible financial literacy clearly hasn’t had a negative impact on his life since retirement. Everything he gets for his wife and children is real, but his kids know that one day they’re going to have to go out on their own. Can you imagine how much better the world would be if everyone had Johnson’s money sense? We probably wouldn’t be in this massive financial crisis that our government continues to lie to us about right now.
You can watch the clip from the full interview below. It’ll probably make you regret all of your financial decisions, or hopefully make you adjust them: