Professional athletes make big money, but they have a tendency to lose big money, too: Three-time NBA all-star Antoine Walker is but one example. In a recent CNN Money article, he opened up about how he went from a millionaire many times over to having to file Chapter 7 bankruptcy just two years after retirement. For Walker, it was a combination of living a lavish lifestyle, gifts and loans to family and friends, and (most significantly) the real estate bubble popping, which caused his real estate investment firm to suddenly go under. 

Walker's story is not uncommon: USA Today says that 60 percent of NBA players go broke within five years of retiring, and while this is a rather large number, it's still lower than the 78 percent of NFL players who go broke within two years of retiring. It's not just athletes: musicians and actors, too, have lost spectacular amounts of money despite worldwide fame, and for many of the same reasons. 

Walker himself, now 38, is working with Morgan Stanley to help other athletes avoid the mistakes he made after the end of his career, according to CNN Money. 

NYSSCPA member Jacqueline Tepfer recently gave a talk of her own about celebrity bankruptcies and, further, how regular people can use these examples to stay out of financial trouble.