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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.
Riccardo Stewart: Hey, I wanna
welcome you guys back to another
episode of the A-W-M-N-F-L Podcast.
My name is Ricardo Stewart, and
I'm your host and I'm joined
with my friends Jeff Locke.
Zach Miller, and Sam Acho.
Fellas one.
Good to be back on the podcast.
Okay.
It's been a couple weeks.
And, um, just catching up with
a lot of things in the NFL and
what's happening and you know
what, just keeping with the times.
What's happening now is that pretty soon
here, today is the last day of September.
As we record this October 15th
is coming up and our NFL athletes
are gonna have the opportunity to
contribute to their NFL 401(k).
And so I wanna be able
to talk about that today.
Primarily looking at from
someone who's a rookie.
To someone who's been in the league
for a long time, because oftentimes
what we found is not everybody knows
what this account is, what it's for.
Um, they get a text message about it.
There's not a whole lot
of directions about it.
And so I wanna be able to provide
some education and some context around
what is the NFL 401(k), and then what
should I do with it as an active NFL.
Players.
So lemme lemme start first with you, Sam.
Let's go back into the locker room.
And you are with the Arizona Cardinals,
or you're with the Chicago Bears, or
you're with, um, the Commanders or
whatever they were formerly known as.
All right.
And how often, how often did you hear
people talking about their NFL 401(k Was
that like a sexy conversation that people
were like, yo dog, you won't believe this.
Sam Acho: Well, funny enough, Ricardo,
there was a piece of it that was,
Hey, yo dog, you won't believe this.
Usually at the beginning of the
year, there'd be a couple guys in
the locker room, right when we were
getting ready to sign that paper
that said, Hey, how much do you
wanna, uh, contribute to your 401(k)?
Everyone would say, Hey, max it out.
Max it out, max it out.
I'm like, what do you mean?
Why am I giving away money?
I didn't know what it was or why I
was maxing it out, but they would
say, Hey man, this is the one
of the best investments you get.
They match it two to one.
So I'm thinking, okay, great.
I'm gonna max it out.
This is gonna be perfect and awesome.
And that was the last conversation
I heard about a 401(k).
Period until the next September
beginning of the the, the NFL season
where you go to sign that form again
and guys would say, Hey, max it out.
So yes, there was a conversation
where I thought I was doing the right
thing of maxing out my 401(k) and
the NFL is gonna match it two to one.
And man, that's a huge deal.
But I never heard about it again
or, or really anything about
that it was an investment account
or that you can direct it.
I heard none of that.
It was just the fact least I max, lemme
try to call my advisor and see if I made.
Riccardo Stewart: let me just ask
you one more question on that.
This is probably an easy question.
So later, when you became a vet, did
you go tell the young guys, Hey, I
don't know what it is, but max it out.
Sam Acho: I did like all jokes aside,
I did, I would, I, I, I thought I
was a smart one thinking, Hey guys,
you know, this is a two to one match.
What other investment do you get where
you put in $1 and they give you $2,
you put in 10, they give you 20, you
put in a hundred, they give you 200.
There's no better investment.
So I would tell guys, max it out.
'cause that was all that I had heard.
No one had ever told me what goes
beyond just, Hey, max out your 401(k).
Riccardo Stewart: I love it.
I love it.
So let's, let's educate.
All right, let's go into the classroom.
Let's go into the lecture
hall with the professor.
Mr.
Locke, could you please explain to
us what is the NFL 401(k) and why
is it so special to NFL athletes?
Jeff Locke: Let's start at square one.
Rick.
What's a 401(k)?
Right?
So a 401(k), right?
Essentially what was happening all
around the US is people were not saving
enough for their own retirements.
Point blank.
So the IRS said, we're gonna give you tax
breaks if you save your own retirement.
So the 401(k) plan was created
where employers, aka the NFL.
Set up this special plan, right?
And it gives you tax breaks to invest
for yourself for the future, right?
So now the NFL 401(k),
like I said, tax breaks.
So this year you can put $23,500
of your hard earned money.
When Sam was talking about
max it out, that is the max
it out amount this year, 23.5.
And you don't pay tax on that money.
So instead of telling the IRS, you made
a million dollars, you get to tell them
you made a million dollars minus the 23
500, so you paid less tax in this year.
If you're paying a 40% tax rate, that's
almost $9,000 less you pay this year in
taxes by putting the 23,500 in there.
Sam said another really big point,
the two to one match, right?
So you get the tax break and you
literally get free money from your
team by putting money in there.
So it's a two to one match.
There's some rules around it, but as
long as you put 17K in this year, right,
the NFL will put in $34,000 of their
money, the team's money into your 401(k).
That you get to invest and
have for the rest of your
life, they can't take it back.
There's no clawbacks.
There's no gimme backs.
They cut you, right?
That is your money.
Just for reference,
other employers, right?
You go work for some other
company, you put in 23 5, they
might give you like 10 to 14 K.
If you work at a really good company,
N NFL's putting in 34, right?
Which is.
Really unheard of anywhere, aside from
maybe the MLB is the only one that's
really even close that we've heard of.
MBA's almost there also, so if you're
not taking advantage of it, literally
giving away free money either through
tax savings or the money they're
putting in there for you and matching.
Riccardo Stewart: that's good.
Appreciate the history
and the education on that.
Okay, Zach, take, let's go
back to the locker room.
What do most players not know about
their NFL 401(k) that they should know?
Zach Miller: that should
they're not getting should beviset.
that they are not allowed to
give advice on outside accounts.
It's an account,
assets held at BNY NFL.
So you have to have an advisor
independent, so that advisor can tell you
how to invest retirement account.
if they
they,
they can't.
Riccardo Stewart: Yeah, I, um, you
ever have those moments in life?
We all have 'em where we're like,
Dick, I had no idea it was like that.
You know what I mean?
You kind of grow up, you
experience some things like, I
had no idea it was like that.
My assumption is there's gonna be
several NFL athletes that are listening
to this and they're gonna go, you
just named a bunch of companies
that me and my friends are with.
I've been in the NFL for
eight years, nine years.
And I've just thought this
thing was being taken care of.
So what you just told me is that
this isn't an investment count that
my advisor is not giving advice on.
Is that correct, Zach?
Zach Miller: That's correct.
Because it's not, they
can choose to advise
and
they're not allowed to do it
because that's what they've advise.
Riccardo Stewart: Back in the classroom.
Okay, Jeff, actually, let's
go out of the classroom.
Let's actually get around the table
and get some advice here and maybe
some recommendation, because now I just
found out I did not know that, what
Zach just told me, and I've been saying
macho, and I've been like Max out.
Max out.
So I've been maxing out.
But Jeff, what do I do if I just
realize that I have a broker who
doesn't give advice on this account?
One, what's been happening if
nobody's been giving advice?
And two, what the heck do I do?
Jeff Locke: So the first thing
that might be happening is you
might not be maxing it out, right?
Like Sam said, you might be losing out
of the benefit of free money from the
NFL if probably if your advisor and
your CPA have not been talking, right?
You might be missing that.
That's a huge miss because I don't get
to call the NFL and the team back three
years from now and be like, Hey, I
forgot to put money in three years ago.
It's no going back.
You don't do it by 1231.
You don't ever get that
free money again, right?
Second is if it's not invested right,
you're literally costing your future
self hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Right?
We talked about in our last episode,
the target date fund, right?
That's the default
investment they put you in.
For a young NFL player in your twenties,
the target date fund is most likely
not in your best interest, right?
There's ways that you can grow your money
much faster with the investments in there.
No investments guaranteed,
but history shows changing up.
The investments in there can do a
lot of good for your future self.
A lot more growth in the account.
Riccardo Stewart: Zach, let me, let me,
I'm not gonna close with you 'cause I'm
gonna actually throw you guys a curve
ball here afterwards, but, you know, you
went back and you got your, your certified
financial planner and you probably
start looking at all your accounts.
So you, you would be really helpful
to give advice to the athlete who
now realizes okay, it hasn't been
allocated, it has not been advised upon.
It's not what, it's not being.
aligned with my vision
that I have for my life.
Okay, what do I do?
What do I do next?
Zach Miller: The biggest thing
is it needs to bevis for the
benefit just look at my account
I have that you need.
how that money grows and then once
retired like how you that money out
matters matters for the investment growth,
what you're picking in there and then
also implications and how to pull
the money out the right way how long
to wait for it to grow, all those
things you have to have someone.
If you are the type of player that
should have it's it's you have
you and you you know
you have to have advisor.
Riccardo Stewart: Okay,
this is a question, right?
So the way that I problem
solve in my life, uh, it's
kind of four things I learned.
There's a guy named Mike Metzer.
I think this is coined by him,
and it's a ought, is, can, will.
There's something the way,
it's something ought to be.
However, there is a way that it is.
There's some things I can do, and if I
did those things, it will be like this.
So an example would be, all
right, something's broken.
And we go.
When it comes to this beautiful NFL
401(k), it ought to be one of the
best accounts that an NFL player
has in terms of his benefits.
It is right now not necessarily
being advised upon by many
advisors who were with NFL
athletes, which is kind of ironic.
Some things they can do.
Zach, two things real quick.
Boom boom.
Zach Miller: how you can
help you.
Riccardo Stewart: Okay.
Ought to be like this.
It is like this.
Zach just gave us some things we can do.
Okay.
If I did those things.
What will it look like, Jeff?
Like what is, what could
it be looking like?
And since as it's growing and so forth.
Jeff Locke: So what it will
look like is your paychecks
are gonna get reduced, right?
That's a good thing, right?
Money's leaving.
What would've went your account
going into the 401(k) instead, right?
You're gonna see a fat contribution from
the team, either at the end of the year
or the middle of the year, like, Hey,
you put your money in, here's your match.
Right?
And you need to be having a
conversation with your advisor of, Hey.
Get into NFL player benefits and
let's change your investments, right?
It should not just be this
target date default, right?
It should be specific
to you and your plan.
Riccardo Stewart: All right.
Lastly, the butterfly effect.
Now, Sam Macho, you get to go back into
the locker room knowing what you know now,
and you're talking to that young rookie.
What are you letting him
know about this NFL 401(k).
Sam Acho: I'm letting
them know two things.
Number one, max it out so you can
get that free money from the NFL.
But number two.
Talk to your advisor to find out if
they're managing it or not, because
if they're not, that is a problem.
That is a major, major problem.
There's so much growth and, and I would
say, listen, when you, when you, when you
get their answer, listen to what they say.
You heard from Zach earlier,
uh, about how they're either not
allowed to or they choose not to.
I remember when I asked my
advisor initially, I got a
little bit of a veiled answer.
Well, it's not that important.
No, some just, just listen.
Just listen to what they say as
you're listening to this podcast.
Jeff Locke: Rick.
Rick, last thing I'll, last
thing I'll say real quick.
Rookies.
You, you kind of get screwed
your first year, right?
The reason 10 15 is so important is
that's when you're allowed to start
putting money into your 401(k) as
a rookie and you guys only get a
$1,500 contribution from the team.
You don't get that 30 4K, but second
year, that's when the fun really starts.
So sorry, rooks just the way it is,
but um, you all know why they do that.
The NF l's a business.
Riccardo Stewart: That's
a good clarification.
I mean, I hope this was
helpful for you guys.
As our listeners, this is
just a, a beginning of a part.
We'll begin to talk about these
NFL benefits that you have.
Everyone thinks about the
signing bonus, the sack and
extension, the second contract.
Third contract, which are amazing,
but that's when you capture your.
What we're talking about is converting
it and being able to continue it.
That your money is
continuing to make money.
Hey, we would love to hear from you.
Any questions you guys have, um,
about what we were talking about,
uh, we'd love to be able to help
you and get you some resources,
so feel free to reach out to us.
Our number is 6 0 2 9 8 9 5 0 2 2.