Walking Away from Millions

A saw an interesting story this week about Gil Meche, Royals pitcher, who recently walked away from $12 Million remaining on his contract.

Apparently, the way his player contract was structured, he was still eligible to collect the money as long as he stuck around. He wouldn’t have even needed to pitch. Gil, a good ole Louisiana boy simply said that he didn’t feel like sitting around the organization collecting a check he wasn’t earning.

What do you think about this story? Would you have made a similar decision?

Now on to the links from last week (because, everybody loves quick hits):

57 Avoidable Tax Mistakes – Don’t make these tax mistakes when filing your taxes this year. To help you avoid mistakes, make sure you enlist some professional assistance when filing your taxes. There are plenty of great services, even some that are free, that can help you avoid these costly mistakes. Great list!

How to Become a Millionaire – Becoming a millionaire is a popular dream amongst Americans. This article, from PT Money writer, Miranda, discusses the pitfalls and strategies on how you might become one. Do you have what it takes to become a millionaire?

First Time Homebuyer Guide to Filing Taxes – In my latest blog post over at the TurboTax blog, I share some advice for new home owners. Did you buy a home in 2010? Be sure to consider the tax effects.

Are You Saving Too Much for Retirement? – I find it hard to believe that too many people are doing this, as statistics usually show otherwise. But if you are an over-zealous saver like me, then check out this post.

Side Hustle Fail: Working a Phone-a-thon – Side hustles or part-time gigs don’t always work out like you’d hoped. Here’s a behind the scenes story of one that went bad.

Best Retirement Plans for Small Business Owners [Video] – This is an excellent video to get you saving for retirement, even if you are self-employed. Lots of options to choose from.

Live to Work; Work to Live – I used to only work to live. It was great most of the time, and I found it great for my finances and life. I had balance. However, occasionally my performance would suffer and it affected my life. Now I have to say that I mostly live to work. I love it. My challenge now is fitting more life back into my day.