The Importance of Having a Team | NFL Players' Podcast #51

Join host Riccardo Stewart and his insightful co-hosts Sam Acho, Jeff Locke, and Zach Miller in this episode of the AWM NFL Podcast as they dive into the critical importance of having a team to manage the complexities of wealth for NFL athletes. Discover the benefits of moving from a single advisor to a coordinated team, as they share personal experiences and expert insights on wealth management, tax strategy, and creating multi-generational wealth for professional athletes.

Key Highlights

• Exploring the complexity of wealth management for NFL athletes and the need for specialized team support.
• Jeff Locke highlights the crucial tax challenges unique to professional athletes and the importance of targeted expertise.
• Zach Miller reflects on his experience of initially choosing individual advisors and the lack of coordinated support.
• Sam Acho discusses the short and long-term benefits of having a comprehensive team rather than relying on a single advisor.
• Examining common pitfalls players encounter without a team and strategies for effective wealth planning.

Quotes

• "One person can't do it all... you need an athlete specific tax person." – Jeff Locke
• "Not every place you work with is the same... NFL is so specific." – Zach Miller
• "Having a team means getting the expert answers you need without the runaround." – Sam Acho

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.

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.

I have the privilege of being your
host and I'm joined with my friends,

my coworkers, my partners in crime.

We got Sam Macho, Jeff
Locke, and Zach Miller.

Between the three of you guys, we got
all sorts of experience financially

and then as NFL players, it's one
of my favorite things to do is to

be able to ask you guys questions.

And one of the things that overlaps as
NFL players and and former players is.

You're a part of a team and we all have
experiences where we've been part of good

teams, we've been part of bad teams, but
we know the importance of a team, and

that's what I wanna talk about today.

When, when it comes to building
your, let's say, financial structure,

like how important is it to have
a team as opposed to a guy, right?

You think about it, so we all know what
it's like to, to be like on a youth

team, like you start youth football.

Zach, you coach flag football.

How many coaches do you have with you?

Zach Miller: Uh, flag football
officer's, just me out there.

And I've had, I've had a defensive
help before, but it's just me.

Riccardo Stewart: It is just that.

So you start off with kids, they're
eight, nine, you know, 10 whatever.

You got one coach.

Then you get into tackle football and
maybe you get four or five coaches.

Then you get into high
school varsity football.

Now you got a position coach.

You got somebody who's a coordinator
on offense, defense, special teams.

And then we all know you go to
college, you got ga, you got

analysts, you got all sorts of
different people, and then on and on.

Because the higher level you
go, the more complexity it is.

And I think it's the same thing
when it comes to your money.

Like, you've heard me say this before
because we all quote notorious BIG

more, more money, more problems.

And then what we say, it's not necessarily
more money, more problems, it's the

more money you have, more complexity.

And when you have that sort of
complexity, it necessitates clarity.

And so when you're making 40, 50, 60,
a hundred million dollars, it comes so

much complexity that when you say from
a financial standpoint, I got a guy.

Gosh, is that really enough?

And so I wanna be able
to talk about that today.

And so I'm gonna start
first with you, Jeff.

And the question I have for you is,
what are some of the complexities

that come with wealth that, uh, it
takes a team to be able to address as

it as it relates to the NFL athlete?

Jeff Locke: Yeah.

Before I get into detail on
the complexity, it's just like.

One person can't do it all first.

They can't be an expert in everything.

There's so much to handle
that your money touches.

You can't be an expert in it all.

Anyone that tells you that they
are, it's probably full of it.

Right?

And also, one person isn't
able to execute everything.

They literally just don't have the amount
of time in the day to, to do all the

things you need done for them, right?

So things that come to mind
on the tax side, right?

You are not a regular person
when it comes to taxes.

Point blank.

You can't walk into HR block and
bring your tax docs and have them

actually do it correctly for you.

We've seen it.

It's never done correctly, right?

You need an athlete, specific
tax, person investing.

Most people that invest are 50-60 years
old finally coming into the money they've

been trying to earn their entire life.

You are completely different.

Your investment strategy should
be completely different from

a 50 or 60-year-old, right?

And then the one thing no one
wants to talk about is insurance.

We see this messed up all the time, right?

You are riskier than the average person.

Point blank.

You need different types of insurance.

You need experts to help you
put that insurance in place.

One single person can't do it all.

Riccardo Stewart: Well, Zach, let's go
back to 2007 if I believe that was you.

You got drafted, is that right?

Let's go back to 2007 and you're
coming out, you're choosing a agent.

You're doing the things, okay.

Did you choose a guy or did
you choose a team and why?

Zach Miller: So mainly I chose a guy.

I guess I ended up with a team because
eventually it's, oh, I need this guy to do

my taxes and then I gotta get insurance.

So then I have a guy there.

But that was not a team because
they weren't together, they

weren't coordinated, um, they
didn't talk to each other.

It definitely made everything
more complicated and more complex

for myself than it needed to be.

Um, there's a different
point of contact at.

At each different place I worked with.

And so it just wasn't efficient and I
didn't even know there existed places

where I could have everything in one
place and essentially have a team

that's all coordinated and all working
to get the things done that I wanted

done so I could focus on football.

It, it was, uh, you know, investing world.

I didn't realize it, you know.

Financial advisors,
they're not all the same.

They all are kind of an a different,
where they work at matters to

how they serve you, and so.

If there's, you know, one thing
you take away is not every

place you work with is the same.

Whether that's their expertise,
have they done it before?

Do they even understand what
it's like to be in the NFL world?

That's one of the biggest things I
can recommend is, is you gotta go

with people that know your situation.

NFL is so specific that if they,
if you get anyone that just works

with the masses, whether that's
financial advice or tax advice.

You're, you're doing yourself a disservice
because they need to specialize.

It's that team, it's that specialization.

The further you go in football, the
more advanced you get as a tight end.

The more further I went in football,
the, you know, more expertise, the more

technique, all those things matter.

It's the same thing in
the financial world.

As you go further and deeper into wealth,
you need experts that know exactly your

situation and can advise you on that.

Riccardo Stewart: Acho.

Okay.

Everybody's like, I got a guy.

I got a guy.

My guy.

My guy.

Right?

So as somebody who's gone from having a
guy, actually a gal, and then switched

to having a team, what were some of the
short-term and then long-term benefits,

uh, that you see between the two?

Sam Acho: Yeah, the biggest benefit is
just understanding that I have a lot of

needs and you as an athlete, you as one
of the top pa pop, top paid players,

not only at your position or in the
league, but also like in the world.

I.

You need more than just a person.

When I first came out, I had
a guy at UBS and he was a guy.

He was like, yeah, man, I got
these investments and those

investments, but he had no idea
about the things that also mattered.

IIE taxes, IE, my NFL benefits.

He had no idea about some of those things,
so he was a little bit frustrated when I

was like, Hey man, I have these questions.

He didn't have those answers.

Then I switched to another person,
which was an individual, but

wasn't a team, and though that
person, I had a great relationship.

One thing I've learned is that
now having a team, all of a

sudden questions that I had.

They're getting answered
because there's a multitude of

experts on our team, on a team.

So for example, the team at the Athlete
family office at AWM has four different

CPAs from the four big accounting
firms, people who can do taxes, not just

filing them, but also do tax planning.

And oh, by the way, to Zach's point.

They're on the exact same team as a
team that's doing the investments.

You know, Ricardo talks about these
analysts who just get to higher levels.

Well, it's the same thing in the,
in the investment world, there

are analysts, chartered, financial
analysts, that's been their whole time

studying what an opponent is going to
do or what the market is going to do.

So you, in your specific category
when it comes to your wealth, can

gain as much as possible, save as
much as possible, and pass that down.

To as many generations as possible.

One person cannot do that.

Not only because of the time, but also
because of the skill and the expertise.

It's almost like saying, okay,
my head coach is also going to,

uh, be the offensive coordinator.

Defensive coordinator, special teams
coordinator is also gonna be the general

manager also gonna handle the salary cap.

Also, it's like, no, you
have to have experts.

And so for me, one thing that I've
learned in having a team is that now

all of a sudden when I have questions.

It's not the runaround.

It's not this feeling of like, oh
wait, you don't want me to ask it.

I'm getting answers because
there are experts on my team.

Riccardo Stewart: Yeah, we,
we come across athletes like

this NFL players all the time.

Where they get to their second contract,
they're making 50, 60, 80, a hundred plus

million, and, and they come to us because
they're, they're realizing that they've

been with a guy and they're going, there's
some things that are possibly missing.

Jeff, in your experience, as you've
seen guys, our athletes leave a guy to

come to a team, what are some of the
more common things that they're missing?

Jeff Locke: And the, the biggest thing
I'm gonna hit on is, is the tax side.

Right?

You just don't get.

The tax expertise.

We're just with a guy that kind of
says, Hey, I got a CPA that I use.

You know, we'll deal with the
CPA around like February, March,

and then we're all good to go.

Right?

When you sign a big deal, your tax
team should be revving up, ready to go.

They should be in contact with your
new team immediately, and they should

be thinking, how do I help you pay
the least amount in taxes upfront?

Delay paying your taxes for as long as
possible so you can invest that money.

Instead, it's called Safe Harbor strategy.

We see it missed all of the time
with guys that sign new big deals.

It's not that people are lazy, it's
just they don't have that expertise.

Right?

We see it happen all the time.

Insurance, we talked about, you're
way more risky as a human being.

When you sign a 50, $60 million
deal, your name is all over every

single headline out there, right?

We gotta make sure you and your family
are completely protected on that side.

And we also see like.

How do I give to my family?

How do I give to charity?

How do I give back to my community
now that I have more money than

I can use in my entire lifetime?

How do I set the next generation?

There are strategies to do this that need
to happen in that first year when you

sign your contract, if you wanna take full
advantage and pay the least amount in tax

over your whole lifetime when doing it.

Just a couple of 'em.

I could talk for days on this,
what you should be doing when

you sign that new big deal.

Riccardo Stewart: Zach, I'm
gonna, I started with you.

I'm gonna finish with you
because we said okay when you

were going into the draft 2007.

Well, let's fast forward to get to
your second contract where you're

about to make, and, you know,
you're about to make life-changing.

Um, giving you the possibility to
have multi-generational wealth was

the thought of having a team even
in your mind, and why or why not?

Zach Miller: I mean,
we, uh, we explored it.

Uh, I explored it with Goldman
Sachs, but the problem is they

had a $10 million minimum.

And you're still just getting
the investment advice.

No tax advice.

So there were not family offices.

And the family offices that
are the best of the best,

they don't work with athletes.

They might dabble in athletes, but
they don't specialize in athletes and

they don't work with them specifically.

So really it's it, it wouldn't have
helped because there weren't ver,

I mean there just was not as much.

Good advice for athletes as there is
now, I can say that unequivocally.

Riccardo Stewart: That's good.

Well, if there's anything that
you've heard, you're going,

wait a minute, I got a guy.

Did you just tell me that's wrong?

I.

Um, no, we didn't say that that's wrong.

We're just saying it
may not be what's best.

And so if you wanna know what's best
or if you have any questions or any

thoughts, please reach out to us.

You can send us a text.

We'd love to send you some resources.

That number is 6 0 2 9 8 9 5 0 2 2.