As the smoke from the NFL lockout begins to clear, we can finally rest assured that the coming sports year will be full of labor peace and exciting games. Oh wait, it turns out that just as one pro sports lockout gets resolved, another one (and by all accounts a much lengthier one) is just getting started in the NBA. Yes indeed, all we can look forward to this year in the pro basketball world is exciting shots of lawyers in pressed suits walking into conference rooms, with nary a slam dunk in sight. And with all this bickering from both sides, it’s time to have a nice little reality check just to remind us how lucrative the sports industry really is. While the average American spends their time finding ways to reduce credit card debt with 0% interest credit cards, athletes and owners are complaining over how to divvy up their billion dollar industries. So which athletes should never have to worry about missing any paychecks? Here's a list of the top ten wealthiest athletes in America.

There’s quite the debate going on in Washington DC regarding the nation’s debt and what spending to cut. Democrats are proposing to eliminate tax write-offs and make cuts to military spending, while Republicans are seeking to cut discretionary and entitlement spending. Whatever the final deal includes, the hope is that it will help foster an economic recovery. Most Americans aren’t in the best financial shape right now. We're working with debt, seeing our credit scores drop, having to turn to bad credit credit cards, and we are angry at Washington for not fixing the problem. That, of course, is easier said than done. Still, it’s hard to stomach talk from politicians in either party at times when you think about their finances. Are politicians hurting as much as your family? Probably not, given the average net worth for an elected official in Washington, D.C. is just under $1 Million. In an effort to get a better idea of how much some of these people are actually worth, we did some research and compiled a list of the 15 wealthiest politicians currently serving in Congress (via estimated net worth):

Money.  It's a concept that has simply captivated humanity since the beginning of its existence.  Some people love it.  Some people hate it.  And some people are simply obsessed with it.  But no matter your opinion on it, it's definitely something that's had a tremendous influence on your life. Maybe that's why people sing about it so often.  Indeed, some of the best songs in music history have been all about money. Here are the top 5 songs that either exto the joys of money and credit cards, or push listeners to transcend the ills of materialism.

There are countless numbers of books, TV shows, and movies that feature extremely wealthy characters who live a life of power and luxury. Their personalities range from greedy and egotistic to good-natured and philanthropic. Each one of them, and the stories they help create, leave some sort of imprint on our minds. Over the past decade, Forbes Magazine produced the “Fictional 15” list. This list names the wealthiest fictional character for that year, along with their estimated earnings. We decided to use some of the information from these lists, do some additional estimations (aka complete guess work and creative license), and compile our very own list of our top 10 wealthiest fictional characters. Enjoy!