article_snippet.sent: Nearly one out of six NFL players will declare bankruptcy within 12 years of retiring from the league, a shocking new study has revealed.
article_snippet.sent: The rate of bankruptcy, 15.7percent - remained the same no matter how long the players were in the league or how well the players were paid, according to researchers from the California Institute of Technology, George Washington University and the University of Washington.
article_snippet.sent: Despite earning millions of dollars - sometimes tens of millions - former players go broke at about 1.1percent per year, the same rate as the rest of Americans.
article_snippet.sent: Bleak future: Despite NFL players earning millions - sometimes times of millions - over the course of their careers, nearly 16percent of players are bankrupt within 12 years .
article_snippet.sent: Though bleak, the 15.7percent figure found by the researchers, is dramatically lower than a widely quoted statistic that 78percent of retired players are bankrupt or under 'financial stress' within two years of leaving the league.
article_snippet.sent: the 15.7percent figure found by the researchers comes from a 2009 survey by Sports Illustrated.
article_snippet.sent: Often, when athletes go broke, it's because of unimaginable extravagances, bad investments and massive child support payments.  
article_snippet.sent: Bankruptcy remained at similar rates even among players who had long, profitable careers in the sport - though Bankruptcy was highest for those who stayed in the league for five years - and lower for those who were in Bankruptcy for more than a decade .
article_snippet.sent: We've known that it can be very difficult for the average family to save,' Cal Tech finance professor Colin F. Camerer, one of the researchers, told the Washington Post. '
highlights_snippet.sent: 15.7percent of players go bankrupt within 12 years of leaving the league, researchers from Cal-Tech, Washington and George Washington found .
  
highlights_snippet.sent: Bankruptcy rates are the same of the rest of Americans .