With all their money, houses, cars and jewels, I never imagined that professional athletes needed financial counseling. I just thought that since they could wallpaper their bathroom with $100 bills, they had it all figured out. It was only folks like me who needed help learning how to budget, plan, save and invest properly. Turns out, not so.

I recently heard that the National Football League Players Association has partnered with Financial Finesse, a financial education provider, to give NFL players financial guidance.

"There's been a long-standing need for this kind of financial education for our members, who have unique circumstances that make financial planning particularly difficult," says NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith.

"With no guarantees in NFL contracts, and the potential for a 2011 lock out, we want to make sure our members are prepared for injury or anything that cripples their career. We'd also like them to transition from football to a lifetime of financial security and independence - something that is possible only with smart financial planning."

Now, I certainly empathize with NFL players - to a degree. Wealthy or not, financial planning is tough stuff. However, I mention this news only to point out that if it's difficult for multimillionaires, it's even tougher for your employees - who on average likely earn about one-sixth of the NFL's minimum salary of $310,000.

Yes, we're a buy first, save last society, but all the same: It's hard to manage money when you don't have much to begin with - and maybe have even less now than you did last year, due to the recession.

This, I hope, drives home the case for financial counseling benefits. As financial guru Dave Ramsey told Benefits Forum & Expo attendees in September (more from Ramsey on page 46), "Most people don't have a game plan. I know people who manage P&L for an entire company but have no budget at home."

The investment you'll make is worth it - if not only for your company, but that so all of your employees can one day be as happy, active and engaged as Jack Borden, a 101-year-old attorney who still works 40 hours a week at his office in Weatherford, Texas. After working for more than 70 years, Borden recently was named America's Outstanding Oldest Worker - a title annually presented to a worker over age 100 by Experience Works, a nonprofit that helps older workers gain new job skills.

Although I've written previously about the Oldest Worker honor, I learned about Borden from a CNN online item that my colleague Elizabeth Galentine forwarded, along with a query: Why are we writing about retirement?

Based on the article alone, I certainly see why she might wonder. The article contained stats from the Pew Research Center that show 54% of workers age 65 or older do so mostly because they want to, as opposed to 17% whose main motivation is money.

Borden says if he weren't working, "there's not much else I could do except sit in my house. Why do that when I can not only enjoy life, but help some people?"

With seniors so clearly enjoying working, why indeed do EBN and other media outlets report on a retirement crisis? Because - in addition to the points I made earlier about Americans' lack of budgeting and basic financial know-how - as the CNN article so helpfully pointed out, one of the seniors profiled is able to work just for the joy of it because "his wife of 53 years has a pension."

And ZING! There you have it. When's the last time you heard of someone - under age 50 - who will be able to work for pure pleasure past age 65 because they could rely on their or their spouse's pension?

So keeping that in mind, we'll keep on writing about retirement - and gladly. Because although I'd love to be as active and happy as Borden, I also would rather not be working.