NFL Players' Podcast

Riccardo Stewart once flew to Rome for a 30-minute Q&A with the Pope and had to work out what to ask. Most players feel the same way across the table from a financial advisor: they know they need one, but not what to ask. In this episode, Riccardo, Sam Acho, Jeff Locke and Zach Miller lay out the questions every player should ask before hiring or switching advisors, and why each one matters. Sam explains what it means to be a fiduciary and why some advisors wear two hats. Jeff breaks down the difference between a license and a certification. Riccardo uses a 53-man roster to explain asset allocation. And Zach shares the question that hurt him personally, "Will you give me my after-tax returns?", plus why your advisor should be able to vet the deals that come through the locker room and advise on your NFL benefits.

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Chapters
00:00 Coming Up: Questions You Should Ask Every Advisor
01:06 What Do You Ask The Pope?
01:58 Are You A Fiduciary? (Sam Acho)
02:43 Fiduciary vs Suitability: The Advisor Who Wears Two Hats
03:25 What Licenses And Certifications Do You Hold? (Jeff Locke)
05:12 How Do You Do Asset Allocation? The 53-Man Roster (Riccardo Stewart)
06:50 What Is Your Investment Philosophy, And How Will Performance Be Measured?
07:13 Will You Give Me My After-Tax Returns? (Zach Miller)
07:51 Closet Indexers, Locker-Room Deals And Your NFL Benefits
09:01 Get Our Advisor Resources: Text 602-989-5022

Creators and Guests

Host
Jeff Locke
Wealth Strategist and CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ (CFP®) at AWM Capital
Host
Riccardo Stewart
Former college character coach and Director of Human Capital & Family Leadership
Host
Sam Acho
Director of Human Capital and Impact and an in-studio and game analyst for ESPN.
Host
Zach Miller
Former NFL player and current CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ (CFP®)

What is NFL Players' Podcast?

The podcast by NFL players for NFL players. Each week, we break down the biggest events in football and how they directly impact a player's career and money.

Join Former NFL Veterans Sam Acho (Bills, Bucs, Bears & Cardinals), Zach Miller (Seahawks & Raiders), Jeff Locke (Vikings, Colts, Lions, 49ers), and college coach, Riccardo Stewart, for a raw and unfiltered conversation about the game, the business, and how players can achieve generational wealth.

Zach Miller "The Truth": Will
you give me my after-tax returns?

We don't wanna know
what gross returns are.

After-tax returns when you're in the
highest tax bracket is all that matters.

Sam Acho "The Mayor": There are
times where certain advisors

could be a fiduciary at some
time, but not all the time.

They could actually
wear two separate hats.

And so they could say, "Yeah, I'm a
fiduciary in this regard," but they

may not tell you that they're not
a fiduciary in a different regard.

Jeff Locke "The Professor": So
you want certifications, not just

licenses when you're thinking
about what team to work with.

Riccardo Stewart "The Coach": So if
someone gives you specific allocations

before asking questions about who you
are and the desires you have and the

priorities you have, I wouldn't trust
that person because they're not building

a strategy that's unique for who you are.

I wanna welcome you guys back to
another episode of the AWM NFL podcast.

My name is Ricardo
Stewart, and I'm your host.

And I'm joined with my friends
and my coworkers, Jeff Lock,

Sam Acho, and Zach Miller.

we wanna be very practical to be
able to answer some questions or

give some information on questions
you should ask your advisor, okay?

Flex alert.

Years ago, I had the opportunity with
a few other people to fly to Rome and

meet with the Pope at the Vatican.

Um, and the whole purpose of the meeting
is that we, me and about 15 other

people, were gonna have the opportunity
to have a 30-minute Q&A with the Pope.

And mind you, I didn't
know much about the Pope.

I'm not Catholic, I've never
been to a Catholic church.

And so I'm reading books to learn,
learn, learn, learn because I'm

like, "What do you ask the Pope?"

feel like many people who are- have
advisors or are choosing to hire

an advisor, they're in the same,
they're in the same kinda boat.

Like, they know they need one, they
know it's a good opportunity 'cause it

means they have a lot of money, but they
don't know what to ask their advisor.

And so what we're gonna be able to do
on today's episode is to be able to

provide questions for you to ask your
advisor, and then reasons why you should

ask your advisor or your advisory team.

And so I'm gonna start with you, Sam.

The first question we believe
you should ask is, ask your

advisor, are you a fiduciary?

Sam, what is that and why is it important?

Sam Acho "The Mayor": So
that's a phenomenal question.

The answer for us would be
yes, we are fiduciaries, but

here's what it actually means.

What it means is, as a fiduciary, it means
that we are required to put your interest

and your best interest ahead of our own.

And so let's say there's a potential
investment that could actually

make our company more money,
but it's not the best for you.

As a fiduciary, I actually wouldn't be
allowed to recommend you that investment.

My requirement, my job would be to
say, "Hey, this other investment

or this opportunity might not
make me or my company as much

money, but it's better for you."

So that's what that
fiduciary standard means.

And there's a different standard, we
talked about it on a last podcast,

called a suitability standard.

That's a standard that says, "Hey,
if it makes me money and my company

money and it's good enough for you,
then I can give you that opportunity

as well or that, that option as well."

That's what it means, and
here's why it matters.

Because it matters because there
are times where certain advisors

could be a fiduciary at some
time, but not all the time.

They could actually
wear two separate hats.

And so they could say, "Yeah, I'm a
fiduciary in this regard," but they

may not tell you that they're not
a fiduciary in a different regard.

And so that's a-- to answer your
question, yes, and just more of a deeper

level is that's a such an important
question to ask so you can know that

your best interests are being met

Riccardo Stewart "The Coach":
And that question primarily is

a question of the relationship
between the client and the advisor.

The next question that would be helpful
to ask is the expertise of the advisor or

the expertise that exists in the advisory
team, not just in the company, but with

the team that would be serving you.

And Jeff, I'm gonna ask you that question.

That is, what licenses and
certificates do you hold?

Why is that important, Jeff?

Jeff Locke "The Professor": Yeah,
so licenses and cer- certifications

are two different things.

That's the first thing you gotta know.

A license is just what you have to get to
be in the industry, what you have to have

to either sell an investment or what you
have to have to be paid to give advice.

My equivalent of a license is you're
in college in freshman econ, you

just gotta get through it, right?

80% of what you got quizzed on
and took the test on, you're never

gonna think about again, right?

Doesn't actually truly all of it help
you to be a good advisor in the long run.

are different.

are, I chose as an advisor to go back to
school and essentially get the equivalent

of a master's in being an advisor, right?

I have a CFP and a CPWA.

Those are two of the certifications
that you gotta go back to school for.

Took me over a year, right, of study and
a test that I never wanna have to take

again, right, to get these certifications.

And really you want people on your
team that have these certifications.

They've gone back to be the best, right?

CFA is another one.

Those are investment experts, right?

CPA, right?

Those are tax experts.

So you want certifications, not
just licenses when you're thinking

about what team to work with.

Riccardo Stewart "The Coach": Good.

So with the first question,
relationship between the client.

The second is, what's the expertise
of the team that you've hired?

This next one, and, and I'll take
it, this question has more to do with

the building of the portfolio that's
unique to you as the individual.

So the question we would, we would
have you ask in this particular one

is, how do you do asset allocation?

For many people, you're going, "I don't
even know what asset allocation is."

Zach Miller "The Truth": Specifically,
how you regard humanity, unless people

have died really having a soul that
balances love and another person.

The thing is, if you are a
gentleman and you are happy to pick

Riccardo Stewart "The Coach": this:
it's how you divide your money

amongst different investments, cash,
bonds, stocks, real estate, private

investments, and so forth, to balance
the growth and, and limit the risk.

think of it this way.

If you were a general manager, and you
were, you were having a 53-man roster, and

you love wide receivers, you wouldn't just
draft or get and trade 53 wide receivers.

You wouldn't have a complete team.

In order for you to compete
for a Super Bowl, you're gonna

go, "Okay, what am I need?

I need quarterbacks this year.

I need an O-line this year.

I need a kicker this year so
I can have a complete team."

When it comes to people building your
portfolio, you need to make sure that they

know who you are as the individual and who
your family is and what are your desires.

What are your priorities?

What is the life that you wanna live?

And not just the life you wanna
live in the future, but even today.

Because that's gonna help them
determine what investments you are in,

depending in if you need something.

And so that's important.

So if someone gives you specific
allocations before asking questions

about who you are and the desires you
have and the priorities you have, or

you may use goals, I wouldn't trust that
person because they're not building a

strategy that's unique for who you are.

So now I come to you.

And I-- you know what?

You're a smart guy, so I'm
gonna give you two questions

that you could be able to ask.

But I, I believe they're,
they're, they're related.

And that is, what is your
investment philosophy?

We think people, you should
ask your advisor, "What is

your investment philosophy?"

And the follow-up to that is,
"How will, how will my investment

performance be measured and evaluated?"

Zach Miller "The Truth": Let's tackle
that second one first is, is this

one hurt me personally was you have
to ask your, uh, the person you're

interviewing or, or auditioning for
the role of managing your money, "Will

you give me my after-tax returns?"

We don't wanna know
what gross returns are.

After-tax returns when you're in the
highest tax bracket is all that matters.

That's what actually hits your pocket.

So you have to say, "If you're not gonna
give me my after-tax returns, then I don't

care what the gross returns or the, or
the returns before taxes, because you're

gonna be paying a ton of money in taxes."

So you have to make sure
you ask that question.

The other one is are they, are they s- lot
of advisors, and this is just an industry

secret, are what's called closet indexers.

So all they're doing is they're
putting together a stock picking

portfolio of what essentially your,
um, your portfolio is just the S&P 500.

So you could save all the money on
the management fee from them and just

go buy an S&P 500 index fund, and you
would get probably, you would have

a better return 'cause you wouldn't
have the fees associated with that

advisor that's pretending to go pick
stocks that are gonna, you know, beat

the index and all those other things.

So that's, that's very common.

The other questions that, that I gotta
hit on, you have to ask, "Can you advise

on everything in the private markets?

Can you advise on a deal I see,
deal flow in the locker room?

Can you look at a deal that my
teammate brought to me and said,

'This is the best deal in the world.'

Can you look at that deal for me,
evaluate it, give me the numbers,

and then say either yes or no?

And then can you advise
on my NFL benefits?

Can you go into my NFL 401and change my
allocation off the target date fund?"

If you can't, if they can't
do those things, you have

to have some serious concern

Riccardo Stewart "The Coach": I love it.

Zach, I appreciate your passion on it too,
because as Zach said, that was personal

to him because he found himself in a
situation where those questions were not

asked, and he experienced it later as he
became someone who has some of those, um,

designations that Jeff talked about as an,
as an expert now in this particular field.

Listen, we have resources for you.

You should not go into any of these
meetings as you're choosing an advisor

or choosing to switch advisors without
being equipped to be able to answer,

ask the right questions and look for
the answers that you would desire.

And so please reach out to us.

We'd love to send you those resources.

Um, you can contact us, you
can call us, or you can shoot

us a text at 602-989-5022.

Again, that's 602-989-5022