5 Ways Olympic Athletes Are Better At Money Management Than You

Olympic athletes may seem superhuman given their muscular builds, flawless postures, effective coordination and agile grace. But when it comes to their personal finances, their lives are a lot more ordinary than you might think.

Olympic athletes do not receive paychecks from the International Olympic Committee, though most governments (except the U.S.) provide a stipend for participation.

"Women on the U.S. Rowing team, who receive only about a $400-a-month stipend from the USOC (United States Olympic Committee), live with host families and take one, sometimes two, jobs while training for the games, sometimes heading to a desk after 10-hours of training," according to Fortune.

And those shiny medals? The 4,700 gold, silver and bronze medals that will be awarded at the Olympic games this summer aren't actually worth much at all.

Few Olympic athletes will ever attain the fame or fortune enjoyed by stars like Michael Phelps, and many Olympians face money troubles just like you and me, CNN Money reports.

But while some athletes will leave this year's games with little more than they arrived with, it turns out that all those years of hard work and athletic discipline may have paid off elsewhere.

In a survey by TD Ameritrade of more than 250 past and present Olympic athletes, more than 75 percent felt they were financially secure and stable thanks to healthy spending and saving habits. Only 54 percent of everyday Americans feel they will have enough funds to send their kids to college and retire comfortably, according to a report by Country Financial and Rasmussen.

Here are five ways Olympic athletes may be better at managing their money than you are: