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In this episode of the NFL Players' Podcast, host Riccardo Stewart and his co-hosts Jeff Locke, Sam Acho, and Zach Miller explore the essentials of building a strong financial team for NFL players. They dive into the nuances of transitioning from relying on a single financial advisor to curating a team dedicated to managing multi-generational wealth. Highlighting the complexities and responsibilities that come with increased wealth, the hosts share insights into the critical roles within a financial team and the timing for making this pivotal switch.
Key Highlights:
- Riccardo Stewart introduces the necessity of shifting from a single financial advisor to a comprehensive financial team for NFL athletes.
- Jeff Locke emphasizes the analogy of a sports team to explain the complex needs of high net-worth individuals.
- Sam Acho discusses the importance of having a financial team present regardless of geographical location.
- Zach Miller provides criteria for when an athlete should transition to a team based on their earning potential.
- Jeff Locke covers the philosophical reasons behind having a team to achieve the desired life outcomes.
- Sam Acho stresses the importance of working with an independent team to avoid conflicts of interest.
Quotes:
- "More money means more complexity, and when you have that complexity, it necessitates more clarity." – Riccardo Stewart
- "You can't just have one, two, or three people trying to handle all the things you need." – Jeff Locke
- "Your team needs to be wherever you are at, period." – Sam Acho
- "If you think you're going to make over $20 million, you should have a team." – Zach Miller
Creators and Guests
Host
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.
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 A WM Friends,
Jeff Locke, Sam Acho, and Zach Miller.
me start today with.
I got married in 2007, so it's been some
time, and my wife and I got married.
We had a great place in which we lived in.
It was the first time I ever heard
of a single family home, which was
basically a condo and we, it was great.
We had a nice HOA, but not too bad
swimming pool somewhere to work out.
It was, it was amazing for us.
But then we had a kid.
Then we had another kid and we went
from being 24-year-old couple with
no kids to all of a sudden 32 kids,
different jobs, different lives.
And so that place that we thought
was amazing was no longer a fit,
not because it in itself was bad.
It was just things changed in our
life that we needed the upgrade.
And I use that as a jump into
what I wanna talk about today as
it relates to NFL athletes when
it comes to their financial team.
We talked about in a previous episode
of going from a guy, having a guy
who does your finances as opposed to
having a team and going, you can go
from a level of income where maybe
having a guy might make sense for you,
but then you add people to your life.
You add wealth to your life, as we
said, more money means more complexity.
And when you have that complexity,
it necessitates more clarity.
And with that is you need multiple
human beings to be able to help you
steward, grow and build and sustain
the wealth that you've created.
And so I wanna talk about,
particularly that team today from a,
from a financial, um, understanding
from an NFL athlete standpoint.
Like what does it mean to really.
Have a team.
And so when we think about
a team, just make it simple.
I wanna talk about the what, the
where, the win and why of a team.
And so I, I usually start
with Jeff, and guess what?
I'm starting with you today.
When it comes to the what, like what do
we mean when we say you need a team to
help build multi-generational wealth?
Jeff Locke: The analogy I always
like to use is the simple one of like
a sports team, an NFL team, right?
You don't win a championship in
the NFL by just having a couple
people trying to figure stuff out.
You got a 20 plus person coaching staff.
Right.
You've got equipment staff, you've got
all the trainers, you've got all the
operations people, you've got cafeteria
staff, you've got nutritionists, you've
got, and then there's all the salespeople
and all the people behind the scenes
making the money actually come in, right?
You've got all these people to try and
do something really, really difficult,
which is win a championship in football.
And when you get up to levels of
complexity and wealth, you need a
team like that that is experts in
all the little different areas.
You can't just have one, two,
or three people trying to
handle all the things you need.
'cause your complexity means you need
the expertise everywhere and all those
people working together on a daily
basis, not just a couple times a year.
We talk on the daily.
Your expert team is talking about
you, your plan, and your goals.
Riccardo Stewart: So that's the what?
This next one's kind of tricky, Sam.
And this is the where, because.
The average person, when they think
about having a financial guy or gal
or a team, they're gonna ask their
friends in their neighborhood and
they're gonna refer them to someone
down the street or a couple cities over.
But I wanna ask the question of where,
where, if I'm an FL athlete, man, I'm
in one city, I might be in another city.
Does it matter the location of
my team and where they live?
Sam Acho: It does, uh, but
not the way you may think.
Y'all remember LeBron James when he was
playing with the Cavaliers and all of
a sudden people were huge Cavs fans and
all of a sudden LeBron had the decision
and went to Miami, and all of a sudden
people were like, no, I'm a heat fan.
It's like, you're not a heat fan.
You were whatever, wherever,
heat at fan, HEAT, wherever he
at, that's who you're a fan of.
Well, in the same way with the level
of wealth that you've earned, your
team needs to be wherever you are at.
Period.
And so what that means is it doesn't
mean 24 7 following you around, but
what it does mean is, okay, your
team needs to be in front of you
multiple times throughout the year.
Your team needs to be more
than just a phone call away
because you've earned that.
You deserve that.
No, by the way, there's a level
of complexity that comes to your
life and your family and the level
of range of wealth that you're
gonna go to or maybe that you're
already at right now, or maybe like.
Range that people don't really understand
'cause they're not experts in that field
or maybe the industry that they're working
in when it comes to, whether it's like a
UBS or Morgan Stanley, it's kind of like,
uh, not incentivized for your favor, but
rather it's a publicly traded company.
That actually is trying to
build stockholder value.
It's like, Hey, I need somebody
that's actually where I'm at,
that has my best interest in mind
that actually cares about me.
And that isn't somehow
disincentivized to be able to
maybe have a conflict of interest.
And so when it comes to your team, no.
If you're playing with the Cardos, your
team doesn't need to be in Phoenix.
We're playing for the, uh, chargers
team, gonna need to be in la uh, or you
know, Detroit, wherever you're playing.
But your team needs to be wherever
you are at multiple times throughout
the year, especially as things change.
Riccardo Stewart: That's good.
So the what?
We need a team, multiple different roles.
The where they just gotta be
able to be in present, in person.
You need to see and hear from
your team to multiple members.
Okay, Zach and I actually saved this
question for you because I do want
to hear your answer and, and that
is that if I'm been working with
the guy and things have been good.
But now I'm transitioning to a
team and I, I'm coming across
a certain level of income.
When do I know the question of
when do I know to transition
to a team as opposed to a guy?
Zach Miller: Well, you've said it
before, more money, more complexity.
Um, that wealth, it eventually creates
problems that have to be dealt with.
So you need a team of, with the right
expertise, the right, um, backgrounds,
the right uh, learn knowledge to be
able to navigate that with you if
you want the best chance of success.
So, numbers wise, what
does that look like?
Okay.
If you make, if you make or think you're
gonna make over $20 million in the league.
You should have a team.
You deserve, a team.
You deserve.
Like Sam said, that team is
gonna help you keep the most
amount of wealth in your pocket.
Pay the least amount of taxes,
deal with things like not just
income tax, but the estate tax.
So you make over 20 million or.
Or more, you need to start looking at
what team can help me to achieve my goals.
And it's no different than being a
good high school football player.
Eventually you outgrow that.
You go to college, you have an
entirely different staff with more
expertise, and then guess what?
You outgrow them and go to the NFL
with the elite of the elite coaches.
The elite of the elite trainers.
The elite of the elite of
everyone across the board.
And to, to help you perform at your best.
It's no different in with money.
You need that team, and
it's the biggest thing.
And the mistake I made
obviously was to wait.
I.
Until you already had money to start
worrying about things like that.
If you have the ability to get ahead of
the game and address all of those things
as early as possible, because things like
tax planning, things like investment,
which kick off tax bills, all of these
things need to be taken care of before you
make the money, rather than just waiting
till you get to the second contract.
Waiting until you have earned the 20
million, get it knocked out ahead of time
so you can kind of be that athlete, CEO,
you understand the cash flow game, you
understand all these things so that you're
not just thrown into the, the deep end
of the pool, essentially with wealth and
trying to figure it out as you go along.
Riccardo Stewart: I love that.
I love it.
It seems like when we talk about the
what and the many roles on a team,
like what a team is, the where being
able to be present and even like
talking about the win, like when
is there a certain wealth level.
Those are all really
good pragmatic questions.
The last one is the why.
And Jeff, I'm gonna ask you this
because this is probably moving from
pragmatics to more philosophical of why.
So I'd love to hear why a team.
Jeff Locke: Simply it is to achieve the
life you actually wanna achieve, right?
That's all your money is meant to do.
It's a tool to achieve what you
and your family want to achieve.
The team unlocks the ability to plan and
achieve things over multiple generations.
Your generation, second generation,
third generation, and so on.
A, a one person team, you know,
two or three people in an office
somewhere, they can probably get
you, you know, through your life,
you know, for you and your spouse.
The clients that we work with and
the team, the family office team
specializes, specializes in are the
people that wanna achieve things over
multiple generations while doing all
the things Zach talked about, right?
Reducing the amount of tax you pay,
making sure the money you earned stays
in your pocket to do the things you
wanna do with your family, while also
having time to spend with your family.
Some people.
Wanna just try to do
all this on their own.
We see the mistakes and we see no
time being spent actually doing the
things you want to do with them.
Riccardo Stewart: Perfect.
If you've just been thinking about,
or you've been thinking about moving
for him, a guide to a team, or you
have any questions in what you heard
today, we'd love to hear from you.
You could reach out to
us at 6 0 2 9 8 9 5 0 2 2