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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 friend Zach
Miller, Sam Acho, and Jeff Lock.
Um, if you guys have been following
along with this, last week we
began to talk about one of the more
important NFL benefits that NFL
players have, and that's the NFL 401k.
And today I wanted to
talk about some more.
I mean, we're not gonna have an
exhaustive list of benefits, but
it's something that I know that most
players are not fully educated on, and
that is what benefits do they have?
When do they get these benefits?
How does it benefit them
while they're playing?
And then how do they benefit
when they're not playing?
And I'm always joined, and I
never get sick of saying this.
With guys who I get to work with and
over, over 20 years of NFL experience
as well as financial expertise.
And so I wanna be able to tackle
some of these questions about NFL
benefits in hopes that it would be
able to help educate, um, and in some
ways even inspire certain guys and
be like, Hey, there's, there's things
I have access to so I could use.
And so lemme start first with you, Sam.
When you were in the locker room, how
did you hear about NFL benefits and,
and were you properly educated in
terms of your, you know, experience?
Sam Acho: When I was in the locker
room, Ricardo, my focus was on ball.
I wanted to be the best football
player that I could possibly be.
That was the goal, and so all of my
focus, at least the majority of my focus.
During the season was how do I
be the best player I could be?
Now, I did know about some of
the different NFL benefits that
were negotiated, but when I heard
benefits, I was thinking things
like tuition reimbursement, so I
went back and got my MBA when I was
playing so I could use that benefit.
Think of things like some
of the off season programs.
They have like a masters in business
type of program, and so I'm like,
okay, these are great benefits, and
I heard about the 401k and I kind
of heard about the pension, but I
wasn't thinking about that at all.
What I wish I would've known
is that with some of those
investments, there were things that
I could have done that would've.
Added to my bank account in the hundreds
of thousands, if not millions of dollars.
So I got the very base minimum of, okay,
let me invest the full amount in my 401(k
and then I just put it to bed and didn't
think about it, thinking that it would
all be taken care of without realizing
there was so much more opportunity that I
was missing out on that actually wouldn't
have taken that much more work from me.
It would've just taken education and
really the right team to make it happen.
Riccardo Stewart: I mean,
most, most NFL players, right?
This is the first time
they've had a job, right?
And there could be five years
in, there could be a 10 year vet.
Even for those of us, myself
included, that has had like a career.
You know, I was a pastor for years.
I remember not knowing the benefits,
meaning I knew I had a 4 0 3 B, which
would be equivalent of a 401k and
I, I was talking to one of the guys
that ran on all of our benefits and
I was talking about what gym I was
going to, and he goes, well, isn't
it nice that you get a chance to go
for free considering how much you go?
And I said, no, I pay X amount a
month to go to this particular gym.
He goes, no.
Part of your benefits is if you
go 15 times a month, it's free.
I'm like, wait free, like
free, like free, free, free.
And I had no idea because who
reads the the player manual?
Who reads all of these things?
Nobody.
Because like you said, you
are thinking about ball.
So
Sam Acho: I'll say this,
Ricardo, real quick.
I know you're going to him, but
the guy, you're about to ask
the question, he reads them.
'cause I've had some conversations
with Jeff Locke, the professor.
I'm five years outta my NFL
I've played playing career.
I'm 37 years old, so I'm just
finished at five year, uh, mark.
And there are some different benefits
I didn't know about that I, I knew
kind of on the ancillary, but Jeff
Locke hit me with all the details,
so I apologize for interrupting.
But you said who reads it.
I know one guy who you're about to ask
the question to, who absolutely reads it.
Riccardo Stewart: Jeff, since you
read 'em and you know them, and
you are probably one of our better
experts on these NFL benefits.
Um, give us some of the more
important ones, and maybe important
is the wrong word, but just kind
of give us the ones that players
definitely need to know about.
And, and if, if there's any that
you want to drill down on, go ahead
and, and talk about those as well.
Jeff Locke: First funny
story to Sam's point.
Um, when I was playing for the Vikings, I
was literally in the hot tub one day after
our meeting and I was reading the books.
We had just gotten from them about the
investment choices and so many guys
walked by like, this guy's just different.
Like, no one, no one reads
this stuff, but last episode we
talked about the 401k, right?
So that's one of the biggest ones.
As a current player, you
gotta know what's going on.
Maxing contributions, selecting
the right investments.
There's another one called the Cap, right?
Capital Accumulation Plan.
It is essentially a second 401k
that you get in the NFL, right?
You get access to it a little bit
later than your 401k, but you can
also go select the investments.
You don't put any of
your own money into it.
The team puts money into it,
but you still gotta make sure
it gets invested correctly.
We see that missed all the time, right?
Life insurance.
As a current player, you get
life insurance on your own life.
To pay out to your family if something
happened to you while you're playing.
A lot of guys go out and buy
additional life insurance, too much
life insurance out of their own
pocket 'cause they don't realize how
much they have the NFL's paying for.
And then one thing Zach's gonna
talk about here in a second line
of duty and disability, right?
You don't get access to that until you're
done playing, but while you're active
player, it's extremely important that you
report your injuries when you get them.
Hiding an injury in the NFL.
Almost always the wrong thing to do
if you're trying to get paid later
on and you can get paid for five plus
years when you're done playing monthly
payments based on injuries you sustained.
So as a current player, those are
like the big three that I think about.
Riccardo Stewart: That's super helpful.
That's super helpful.
So Zach, as a eight year NFL vet, what
were some of the benefits that you had,
no pun intended, benefited from in terms
of when you were playing and then now, uh,
postcard, how many years out are, are you?
Zach Miller: I am over a decade out now.
Riccardo Stewart: Dang homie.
Sam Acho: That's what
I'm about to say today.
Zach Miller: hey, time is undefeated.
so the biggest ones, I mean, I'll,
like I just added up all my benefits
to get ready for this podcast.
$2.4
million in NFL benefits is how much
money like I accumulated from just all
those things that you earn as a player.
Your NFL benefits are a
part of your compensation.
Not just the salary, not just what you
get on the field, not just the paychecks.
So like that's a huge amount of money
and it should be like incorporated
into your investment plan, into
your financial plan, all that.
You can't ignore it.
I mean, 2.4
million should double and double again by
the time I start taking money out of it.
So that's huge numbers.
Just like Jeff said, I'm on line of duty.
So lateral ankle reconstruction,
you get like a point system.
Just keep track of your surgeries
and major injuries 'cause.
The NFL makes it hard to qualify for line
of duty, so everyone gets hurt in the NFL.
Keep track of those things because
when it comes time to claim that, I
mean that's $54,000 a year that they
pay to me for seven and a half years.
That if you don't keep track
of your injuries, the NFL
teams will try not to pay you.
Second thing, NFL tuition
reimbursement I literally made
the NFL pay for my finance degree.
That was like 50,000.
And then I have a NFL Health Reimbursement
account, so you see that NFL HRA So I
don't have the NFL insurance anymore.
I have to pay.
My own premiums out of
pocket for me for medical.
So you can use that account.
It's a cash account that anytime you have
anything medical, don't pay with your
checking account, use that HRA account.
'cause that's your money.
You want to use that
as quickly as possible.
'cause it's not an investment account, it
just sits there losing money to inflation.
So those are the three big ones.
Riccardo Stewart: Man, this is, this
is, uh, I hope this is helpful for you
guys as, as the listeners, especially
as NFL athletes, um, as parents,
wives, spouses, I mean, just to be
able to go, Hey, this is something
we gotta, we gotta get ahold of.
Jeff, just continuing to talk
more about these benefits in
particular that they have.
What's, what's something or a role
that your advisor should play?
I mean, 'cause we come from
the family office model and so
obviously we know about this.
We we're talking about it.
But what role should an NFL athlete
expect for his advisor to have in terms
of not just the investing side, but
also the educating and equipping side?
Jeff Locke: Yeah, you led the
witness here, like your advisor.
Should be helping you manage and should
be educating you on your benefits period.
If they're not, they're not doing
the job that you need them to do.
Right?
Two things happen in our industry.
One advisors just don't have the
knowledge like a group of us do,
right on the benefits to be able
to give you actual good advice.
And two is some companies
that advisors work for.
Literally don't allow their advisors
to advise on these benefits 'cause
they're afraid to getting sued
for guys given the wrong advice.
Right?
So like you gotta find an advisor that
can actually help you advise on this.
We've seen, we've had clients
come over from other advisors when
they're done playing right, we look
back at their benefits, we look
at what was not done, and we see
hundreds of thousands of dollars
out the window that guys are never.
Getting back because it wasn't
managed correctly in the first
place on the investment side mostly.
Or they're not taking advantage of all
the free benefits or the free matchings
coming from the NFL and the clubs.
And it takes a lot of knowledge,
a lot of expertise to be able
to maximize all that value.
Riccardo Stewart: Okay.
Just to hear from the three of you
guys, you know, just coming from your
own personal experience and that is
what tangible ways, and I know we've
mentioned some of them, but what
tangible ways are your NFL benefits
helping you right now in your life?
Sam Acho: I would say for
me, if I can go first.
Jeff Locke: Okay.
Sam Acho: These last five years
after retiring from the NFL or
not playing anymore, I haven't
officially announced a retirement.
Somebody calls come holler at me.
Um, but these last five years
I've been able to stay on the NFL,
some of the NFL insurance plans.
So like, I'm married, I
have four kids, right?
We've had some health stuff
in our family that's real.
And the fact that I'm still have
the, the insurance from the NFL.
Zach Miller: the.
Sam Acho: Paid for, essentially by the
NFL, negotiated through our collective
bargaining agreement from the players.
That's a benefit that we have.
That's something that we chose as opposed
to, Hey, give me more salary in my pocket.
Hey, I want more benefits so
I can have that down the line.
That's something that I've personally
benefited from over these last
several years, and even talking
with some of the guys who I've got
a chance to to spend time with.
I was calling the Cardinals preseason
games, talking with guys on the Cardinals
who've played for a decade plus.
They're asking me now.
They're saying, Hey man, how,
how does that, that insurance
work when I'm done playing?
And hey, what happens when
I finish those five years?
How does that work?
So those are the benefits that I've
experienced, and those are the questions
and the conversations that are happening
in the locker room with guys who we serve.
Jeff Locke: And I'm, I'm
just ahead of Sam, right?
My five years ended a
couple years back, so I was.
Kicked off of the NFL fully
covering health insurance, but then
there's two more things you can do.
There's something that most
guys don't know about called
the Dedicated Health Network.
So I literally go weekly with my
wife for free to marriage counseling
that the NFL fully pays for, right?
If you know how to use this benefit
physical therapy on some of my injuries,
punters do get hurt still in the NFL
I promise some of my PT fully covered
vaccines physicals fully covered, right?
Before you dip into the HRA, the health
reimbursement account Zach talked about,
where then everything else gets covered.
That's medical.
So if I keep up the way that I'm working
out right now, staying healthy, right?
I won't pay a single dollar in
medical costs for 25 years, right?
Just based on the NFL
benefits that I have.
But you gotta have a system.
You gotta know how the systems work to
make sure you maximize the benefits.
Riccardo Stewart: Jeff is,
is, is not working the system.
He's using the system.
Jeff Locke: Hey, when you read, when
you read the fine print, things happen.
Riccardo Stewart: I love that, and
this all started in the hot tub anyway.
Speaking of hot tub, Zach, what
benefits are you reaping right now?
Zach Miller: Well, first of all, on
the NFL insurance, after five years
you can keep it, but guess what?
Those premiums are like 40 grand a year.
If you have a family like that
40 grand a year, that's hard
to find that value in that.
So that's why you've gotta
start thinking about it.
You know, once you're done playing,
you gotta have a plan there, uh,
which we like to help out with.
The one thing I wanted to say that that.
A lot of guys don't use, and they
should use is the NFL Foundation will
give matching grants and it's probably
one of the l least used things that
we, we've earned as NFL players is.
So, like I'm coaching my son's,
uh, flag football team and.
I can get a matching grant of five grand.
All I have to do is
fill out some paperwork.
I donate five grand.
The NFL matches the five grand.
And so, um, there's a
lot of benefits there.
And it's not just for coaching,
it's, it's to also to help out any
program can be a community and social
justice and then a football program.
So there's a couple different ones
that's on the NFL Foundation and we're
happy to help any players navigate
that if they're, if they're looking
to, uh, to contribute and then get
those matching grants from the NFL.
Riccardo Stewart: It's good.
I'm try to wrap this up.
One a couple things.
I heard one, Sam has not retired
yet, so if any NFL team is out
there, you guys can get SAM two.
Zach is going through the foundation
to get $5,000 to help coaching.
If you get those kids free meals and RI
rides, don't get that Teddy Bridgewater.
Okay?
Don't get suspended, but, and
all seriousness here is there
are a whole lot of benefits
that you have as an NFL athlete.
These benefits is something you do need
to be educated on to be able to, you
know, no pun intended, benefit your life.
If you want more information on this,
you wanna talk with us and you wanna be
educated more, please reach out to us.
Our number is 6 0 2 9 8 9 5 0 2 2.