If you’ve ever wanted an insight into what rich people do with their money, here it is. It’s a research report from Personal Capital of over 50 NBA players. In some ways, they’re not so different from you and me. In other ways, you definitely don’t want to emulate what they do!

The average income is around $45,000. THAT is roughly what the average NBA player SPENDS in a month! But then, the rookie entry salary in the league is $4.7 million. But let’s see what they spend that half a million on every year:

11% goes to clothing and shoes – their biggest trackable expense category.

9% is automotive – even though most of them likely get a free vehicle from a dealership in return for some endorsements.

8% is travel – after all, it’s a long off season, and they like to travel in style, and to 5-star hotels and resorts, which isn’t cheap.

Restaurants eat up 7% of their spending. That’s around $35,000 a year, which will get you some great meals, even if you’re picking up the tab for others in your group.

Sadly and surprisingly, 7% is also what they donate to charities. That’s kind of a puny percentage for an income of more than five million bucks if you ask me.

5% goes to a category called service charges and fees. It’s kind of obvious here that over $25,000 of fees means they’re really not very financially literate, and certainly don’t shop around at all.

The one place they do seem to want to save money is shopping at Walmart. Yes, the average NBA player shops there, too – to the tune of over $45,900 a year!

But here’s where you want to be very different than an NBA player: Over 78% of them go bankrupt within two years of retiring from pro basketball. We spend what we make – that is: we spend to the amount of our pay. That’s not a good idea for us middle class earners or millionaire income athletes.

Yes, there are stories of pro athletes who are incredibly great savers and literally don’t spend a dime of their salary. But for every one of them, there are dozens who crash and burn. Vin Baker made over $100 million in his career and last month started a job at Starbucks to support his four kids. For millionaires and ourselves: Spend what you want, but only AFTER at least 10% comes right off your check, or out of your account, to pay yourself first.