WEBVTT NOTE This file was generated by Descript 00:00:18.967 --> 00:00:20.587 Riccardo Stewart: Hey, I wanna welcome you guys back to another 00:00:20.587 --> 00:00:23.467 episode of the A-W-M-N-F-L Podcast. 00:00:23.527 --> 00:00:26.107 My name is Ricardo Stewart, and I'm your host. 00:00:26.107 --> 00:00:30.397 And as always, I am joined with my friends and my coworkers, Zach 00:00:30.397 --> 00:00:33.187 Miller, Jeff Locke, and Sam Acho. 00:00:33.787 --> 00:00:36.697 You know, the last couple episodes, or two episodes ago, we begin 00:00:36.697 --> 00:00:37.117 this having this conversation. 00:00:38.392 --> 00:00:40.852 Of having a human-centered approach. 00:00:41.002 --> 00:00:44.512 And what we meant by that is essentially when it comes to building your 00:00:44.512 --> 00:00:48.652 financial plan, you know that these NFL athletes you have in a life that 00:00:48.652 --> 00:00:53.102 you've envisioned for yourself, and then you usually hire a financial advisor. 00:00:53.102 --> 00:00:56.372 We would say you need to hire a family office so that you can 00:00:56.372 --> 00:00:58.142 have yourself at the center. 00:00:58.382 --> 00:01:01.862 So that everything, that is every plan that is made, every decision that is. 00:01:02.147 --> 00:01:07.307 Talked about every idea that is had centers around who you are, your family, 00:01:07.427 --> 00:01:09.437 and the life that you want for yourself. 00:01:09.437 --> 00:01:12.557 And so we talked about that starting first with what are your priorities, 00:01:12.857 --> 00:01:16.187 what are those needs, and what are those wants and what are those wishes? 00:01:16.547 --> 00:01:19.907 And then today looking at, okay, if I have a human-centered approach. 00:01:20.762 --> 00:01:24.842 When it comes to building my portfolio or my financial plan, we'll 00:01:24.842 --> 00:01:26.972 use the word financial structure. 00:01:27.272 --> 00:01:31.922 What is different between being with the normal FA or being 00:01:31.952 --> 00:01:34.142 with a robust family office? 00:01:34.142 --> 00:01:37.502 And so I'm fortunate 'cause I get a chance to, to lead this conversation 00:01:37.502 --> 00:01:38.852 and I'm joined with my friends who are. 00:01:39.182 --> 00:01:44.672 20 years plus NFL experience as well as the financial expertise. 00:01:44.702 --> 00:01:49.622 And so I'm gonna start first with this idea of of an architect. 00:01:49.802 --> 00:01:50.192 Alright? 00:01:50.192 --> 00:01:51.452 I got a friend, his name's Jack. 00:01:51.662 --> 00:01:53.102 He's an architect here in Phoenix. 00:01:53.292 --> 00:01:55.662 He designs buildings and homes and so forth. 00:01:55.842 --> 00:01:59.172 And years ago he gave me a book to read regarding his profession. 00:01:59.422 --> 00:02:01.882 I cannot remember the title of the book, but there was a quote that stood 00:02:01.882 --> 00:02:03.922 out to me and the author says this. 00:02:04.417 --> 00:02:08.377 That an, that an architect or anybody who's trying to achieve perfection 00:02:08.827 --> 00:02:13.807 knows that the job is complete, not when he can't add anything else, but 00:02:13.807 --> 00:02:17.527 he knows that the job is complete when he can't take anything else away. 00:02:18.217 --> 00:02:23.202 And the point there is whatever you need is what you want, and that's what you get. 00:02:24.127 --> 00:02:27.907 When it comes to these fas and these brokers, there's a whole lot of just 00:02:27.907 --> 00:02:30.007 junk that is put into your portfolio. 00:02:30.157 --> 00:02:33.787 Oftentimes that benefits them, that does not have you in mind. 00:02:33.787 --> 00:02:36.547 It has a caricature of you as opposed to your story. 00:02:36.817 --> 00:02:39.937 So what does it look like to be a part of a family office when you 00:02:39.937 --> 00:02:41.737 build this financial structure? 00:02:41.737 --> 00:02:42.787 Jeff, let start with you. 00:02:43.067 --> 00:02:47.027 You're good as a professor at breaking down some of the things we talk about. 00:02:47.387 --> 00:02:49.457 I use the phrase financial structure. 00:02:50.027 --> 00:02:52.367 For our listeners, that might be the first time that they've heard of that. 00:02:52.367 --> 00:02:54.527 Like what do we mean when we use that? 00:02:54.527 --> 00:02:55.157 That word. 00:02:56.102 --> 00:02:57.752 Jeff Locke: Yeah, I like the architect analogy. 00:02:57.752 --> 00:03:01.232 You started, and I'm gonna extend it to just like a custom home build. 00:03:01.712 --> 00:03:04.712 Not everyone's gone through that, but it's a process to 00:03:04.712 --> 00:03:07.202 build a custom home from scratch. 00:03:07.262 --> 00:03:11.822 So your financial structure would really be the blueprints and the 00:03:11.822 --> 00:03:15.062 game plan to get that home in place. 00:03:15.467 --> 00:03:17.267 And it takes a lot of work. 00:03:17.267 --> 00:03:20.087 You've got the architect and you've got the main person 00:03:20.087 --> 00:03:21.887 called the general contractor. 00:03:22.187 --> 00:03:24.947 He's the one calling all the shots, telling everyone else what 00:03:24.947 --> 00:03:26.927 to do to get that home built. 00:03:27.137 --> 00:03:29.237 So when we think about financial structure, that's what we think 00:03:29.237 --> 00:03:33.887 about building the blueprint as the architect going back and forth with 00:03:33.887 --> 00:03:36.107 the client on what they actually want. 00:03:36.407 --> 00:03:39.077 A lot of times clients don't know what they want until they see it 00:03:39.167 --> 00:03:42.947 in that first blueprint, then you keep adjusting, keep adjusting. 00:03:43.562 --> 00:03:44.552 And adjust from there. 00:03:45.002 --> 00:03:49.832 As you mentioned, as a family office, we can build custom homes. 00:03:50.252 --> 00:03:56.282 Zach's gonna get into how some other fas don't have that ability here in a second. 00:03:56.752 --> 00:03:57.112 Riccardo Stewart: Yeah. 00:03:57.952 --> 00:03:58.372 Okay. 00:03:58.372 --> 00:03:59.602 Let me, let me shift to Z. 00:03:59.842 --> 00:04:03.862 I know the area of Phoenix that Zack grew up in, it's an area called Alwa. 00:04:03.862 --> 00:04:03.872 Toki. 00:04:04.042 --> 00:04:05.182 It's technically not a city. 00:04:05.182 --> 00:04:07.162 The city is Phoenix, but they're so good. 00:04:07.162 --> 00:04:10.032 They call themselves Alwa Toki, and there's a lot. 00:04:10.312 --> 00:04:12.442 Of track homes that are built there. 00:04:12.442 --> 00:04:15.712 So Zach, you probably know what it's like to grow up in a track home. 00:04:15.712 --> 00:04:19.942 And so let me ask you, in your first, you know, experience of working with 00:04:19.942 --> 00:04:25.132 an FA financial advisor, did you have a financial structure and was 00:04:25.132 --> 00:04:28.282 it even anywhere close to what we're talking about as a family office? 00:04:29.252 --> 00:04:30.512 Zach Miller: No, I had a model home, 00:04:30.572 --> 00:04:30.992 So 00:04:31.172 --> 00:04:34.292 exactly what I grew up in was that kind of one 00:04:34.292 --> 00:04:35.792 size fits all and. 00:04:35.882 --> 00:04:37.202 you know, do it for scale. 00:04:37.292 --> 00:04:40.142 And that's the opposite of what I bought. 00:04:40.172 --> 00:04:43.652 Once I signed my long-term deal and wanted to buy a house in Paradise 00:04:43.652 --> 00:04:46.742 Valley, I bought a custom home and that's what I should have 00:04:46.742 --> 00:04:48.002 had in the, in the finance world. 00:04:48.002 --> 00:04:50.042 That's what I should have had with a family office. 00:04:50.822 --> 00:04:55.352 And what I got was my advisor broker at Merrill Lynch basically 00:04:55.352 --> 00:04:57.092 putting together a portfolio. 00:04:58.367 --> 00:05:02.447 And ignoring the financial structure, ignoring cash flow, ignoring a guaranteed 00:05:02.447 --> 00:05:07.697 contract with the Seahawks, ignoring all those things of future cash flow, which 00:05:07.697 --> 00:05:11.837 you have to take into account because it ends up, you end up getting things wrong. 00:05:11.837 --> 00:05:16.127 And so those generic investments they make sense for for most people. 00:05:16.157 --> 00:05:19.037 And then I would even argue that like if you're gonna just do a portfolio and 00:05:19.037 --> 00:05:22.517 ignore the financial structure, you'd be better off just going to Vanguard 00:05:22.517 --> 00:05:24.437 and paying as cheap as as possible. 00:05:24.827 --> 00:05:26.492 But if you actually want to add. 00:05:27.512 --> 00:05:31.202 Wealth through other ways, which a family office does. 00:05:31.202 --> 00:05:35.982 And that includes taxes, estate planning, insurance private investments, like that's 00:05:35.982 --> 00:05:37.662 where you make the most amount of money. 00:05:38.322 --> 00:05:39.192 And So. 00:05:39.282 --> 00:05:43.002 if I went back and looked at my deal when I signed a, with the Seahawks, all of a 00:05:43.002 --> 00:05:44.172 sudden I should have had a custom home. 00:05:44.172 --> 00:05:47.592 I should have had financial structure evaluated and I own, 00:05:47.652 --> 00:05:49.212 I mean, in my particular case. 00:05:50.427 --> 00:05:51.297 I wasn't a big spender. 00:05:51.297 --> 00:05:54.507 I was pretty cheap as a player, so I didn't have a ton of cash 00:05:54.507 --> 00:05:57.177 outflow, so I shouldn't have had as many bonds as I did. 00:05:57.237 --> 00:06:02.427 And so why that hurts players is because all those years I was in bonds with 00:06:02.427 --> 00:06:05.037 future guaranteed money, fully guaranteed 00:06:05.037 --> 00:06:06.342 money that. 00:06:06.342 --> 00:06:07.812 money could have grown faster. 00:06:07.812 --> 00:06:10.902 So if that money would've been growing faster, you just can go back and do the 00:06:10.902 --> 00:06:14.262 math and it, and it's an opportunity cost, or what I would've been able 00:06:14.262 --> 00:06:16.332 to grow my money to, of more than 00:06:16.332 --> 00:06:18.912 conservatively more than $10M by 00:06:18.912 --> 00:06:23.532 just being misallocated So if you, if you get it wrong, when you're setting 00:06:23.532 --> 00:06:27.222 up your financial structure and you just think about the investments, you just 00:06:27.222 --> 00:06:29.382 think about the, oh, what do I wanna buy? 00:06:29.442 --> 00:06:29.892 What do you know? 00:06:29.892 --> 00:06:31.242 What asset do I wanna buy? 00:06:31.242 --> 00:06:32.112 And you ignore. 00:06:32.577 --> 00:06:35.517 It from a high level, it can cost you money, and I see it 00:06:35.577 --> 00:06:36.657 all the time with players. 00:06:36.657 --> 00:06:38.697 It keeps happening over and over and over. 00:06:39.407 --> 00:06:41.897 Riccardo Stewart: It the, you know, we have this metaphor, and 00:06:41.897 --> 00:06:45.857 I hate the mix metaphors, but I'm looking at Sam outro right now. 00:06:45.857 --> 00:06:48.377 It looks like he just got off of A-E-S-P-N show or something. 00:06:48.377 --> 00:06:49.817 I mean, the suit's looking good. 00:06:50.357 --> 00:06:54.257 I mean, you gotta, in some ways, feel like when it comes to custom 00:06:54.257 --> 00:06:57.347 is what we're talking about, that it's not just a one size fit all. 00:06:58.092 --> 00:07:01.332 A human-centered approach when it comes to building your financial structure 00:07:01.512 --> 00:07:04.212 means something a little different when it comes to a family office. 00:07:04.272 --> 00:07:06.642 I'd love to kind of hear your, your points on that, Sam. 00:07:07.542 --> 00:07:09.462 Sam Acho: Yeah, a human-centered approach when it meet, when 00:07:09.462 --> 00:07:10.782 it comes to a family office 00:07:11.172 --> 00:07:11.862 is somewhat like. 00:07:11.862 --> 00:07:13.722 getting a custom tailored suit. 00:07:14.352 --> 00:07:18.012 I remember when I first got in the NFL, one of my older teammates was like, 00:07:18.012 --> 00:07:19.302 Hey man, we need to get you a suit. 00:07:19.662 --> 00:07:21.852 And so I was like, I'll just take whatever suit I can get. 00:07:21.852 --> 00:07:25.002 So I don't know if we went to Dillard's or some store and just got a suit. 00:07:25.062 --> 00:07:25.932 I was just happy. 00:07:26.322 --> 00:07:29.712 To be in the league and to have a suit, right that my teammate wanted me to 00:07:29.712 --> 00:07:33.762 have on, on road games or maybe even travel to the stadium at home games. 00:07:34.212 --> 00:07:37.602 But after a couple years in the NFL, I started seeing some other of my teammates 00:07:37.602 --> 00:07:42.132 around me that weren't necessarily wearing just regular suits from the store, but 00:07:42.132 --> 00:07:46.332 they were wearing custom suits, custom suits that had been tailored to their body 00:07:46.332 --> 00:07:48.412 every part of their body measured, right? 00:07:48.412 --> 00:07:50.962 Not only custom suits, custom jeans, custom. 00:07:50.962 --> 00:07:54.532 I've seen even people with custom boots and it's like this idea of, hey. 00:07:54.937 --> 00:07:59.617 When you get a chance to try on this custom fit, you'll never want to go back. 00:08:00.577 --> 00:08:02.857 Now, I remember when I was first in the NFL, I was like, Hey man, I can't 00:08:02.857 --> 00:08:06.127 afford that custom fit, so I'm just gonna stick with the generic, general, 00:08:06.127 --> 00:08:07.807 hey, whatever, what, what have you. 00:08:08.407 --> 00:08:12.337 But then after a few years, I got a chance actually to go to Italy and meet with 00:08:12.337 --> 00:08:17.087 this master tailor who'd been tailor for his entire life, 80 something years old. 00:08:17.087 --> 00:08:20.957 Didn't speak a lick of English, but he made me a custom suit. 00:08:22.307 --> 00:08:24.167 And I haven't taken it off since. 00:08:24.167 --> 00:08:26.717 I mean, once I tried that on, I was like, man, I gotta get more. 00:08:26.717 --> 00:08:29.387 But the thing is like, that's what I deserved. 00:08:30.047 --> 00:08:33.757 That's, that's what I had been able to earn from being an NFL athlete 00:08:33.757 --> 00:08:36.547 and achieving what I, the level of success I've been able to achieve. 00:08:36.967 --> 00:08:37.777 Now, that's just me. 00:08:37.777 --> 00:08:41.247 Think about where you're at in your career what you've been able to achieve. 00:08:41.247 --> 00:08:45.627 Do you deserve a, a off the rack, like regular, like, Hey, I'll just go to 00:08:45.867 --> 00:08:47.367 Dillard's and pick up this jacket. 00:08:47.802 --> 00:08:50.292 Or would it be better to have a custom fit? 00:08:50.322 --> 00:08:53.382 What that means, like what that looks like specifically, even when it comes 00:08:53.382 --> 00:08:55.892 to giving, I know there's a good friend of mine who played a bunch of 00:08:55.892 --> 00:08:57.392 years in NFL still playing right now. 00:08:57.662 --> 00:09:01.172 There are some times where he was homeless and so he spends a lot of his Christmas 00:09:01.172 --> 00:09:03.302 time giving back to homeless people. 00:09:03.512 --> 00:09:05.402 He spends a lot of his time doing Christmas drives. 00:09:05.732 --> 00:09:08.402 And so this idea of, Hey, what if I just, I'm just write a check to 00:09:08.402 --> 00:09:11.522 this organization, Well you could actually donate appreciated stock. 00:09:11.522 --> 00:09:13.322 You could actually give 20% more. 00:09:13.322 --> 00:09:13.472 Let's 00:09:13.472 --> 00:09:14.942 say there were a thousand families you were helping. 00:09:14.942 --> 00:09:16.322 You could help 200 more. 00:09:17.117 --> 00:09:21.437 Families just by this human centered approach of people knowing what 00:09:21.437 --> 00:09:24.707 you care about what you're doing currently and adjusting some of 00:09:24.707 --> 00:09:26.267 your decisions in that same way. 00:09:26.657 --> 00:09:29.687 And so there's even more so we can go to the investment piece of it, 00:09:29.957 --> 00:09:32.372 but that custom fit, once you try it, you're not gonna wanna go back. 00:09:33.937 --> 00:09:36.322 Riccardo Stewart: So if I'm sitting and I'm an NFL athlete, 00:09:36.412 --> 00:09:38.032 I got 40, 50, 60 million. 00:09:38.032 --> 00:09:40.077 Clearly I'm in a different like category. 00:09:40.877 --> 00:09:43.907 When you get to a different category, Zach alluded to it earlier. 00:09:43.967 --> 00:09:46.937 I mean, he just said, Hey, I got a custom home in Paradise Valley. 00:09:47.147 --> 00:09:49.307 For those you don't know, that's one of the more lucrative 00:09:49.307 --> 00:09:50.657 places to live in Phoenix. 00:09:50.807 --> 00:09:52.457 Sam just talked about a Taylor suit. 00:09:52.457 --> 00:09:55.157 He talked about Dillard here in Scottsdale Mall. 00:09:55.187 --> 00:09:57.137 Then he talked about some dude that's in Italy. 00:09:57.377 --> 00:09:57.827 Okay. 00:09:58.127 --> 00:10:01.997 When it comes to these NFL players, Jeff. 00:10:02.612 --> 00:10:06.572 What does a financial structure, or what could a financial structure 00:10:06.752 --> 00:10:10.502 look like for someone who's made 60, 80, 90 million in their career? 00:10:11.732 --> 00:10:11.912 Jeff Locke: Yeah. 00:10:11.912 --> 00:10:15.212 A couple examples we see from guys are talking about that jump from kind of 00:10:15.212 --> 00:10:18.512 that rookie deal to the never work again. 00:10:18.512 --> 00:10:18.842 Deal. 00:10:19.172 --> 00:10:19.532 Right. 00:10:19.532 --> 00:10:19.832 Is. 00:10:20.312 --> 00:10:23.012 Literally you can build your custom home, right? 00:10:23.012 --> 00:10:26.552 You can start thinking about, I'm paying for education for 00:10:26.552 --> 00:10:28.592 my kids and all their kids. 00:10:28.592 --> 00:10:30.782 And all their kids' kids, right? 00:10:30.902 --> 00:10:31.892 Sam talked about it. 00:10:32.312 --> 00:10:35.042 Maybe it is time to pull the trigger on the private foundation, right? 00:10:35.042 --> 00:10:40.232 I'm gonna hook up my community, set them up for years at a time, right? 00:10:40.232 --> 00:10:44.402 These are the wishes during your first contract that now become 00:10:44.402 --> 00:10:46.142 wants that you can actually afford. 00:10:46.142 --> 00:10:48.932 because all of your needs are already taken care of. 00:10:49.742 --> 00:10:50.162 Right. 00:10:50.582 --> 00:10:56.702 So as Zach talked about though, other places are gonna just try to stick all 00:10:56.702 --> 00:11:00.242 these things you wanna do back into the same model home, or they might 00:11:00.242 --> 00:11:03.752 build you another home, but it's gonna be the same exact model home, right? 00:11:03.752 --> 00:11:08.312 And they gotta try to make what you want fit within the homes that 00:11:08.312 --> 00:11:10.172 they can build, and that's it. 00:11:10.682 --> 00:11:13.862 Whereas we're gonna look at what you can do with your new 00:11:13.862 --> 00:11:15.752 net worth and your new assets. 00:11:16.127 --> 00:11:18.167 And say, Hey, are we building a whole nother custom home? 00:11:18.317 --> 00:11:20.147 Are we adding wings to your current home? 00:11:20.567 --> 00:11:20.807 Right? 00:11:20.807 --> 00:11:25.637 All to try and get your goals achieved in the most tax efficient 00:11:26.147 --> 00:11:29.717 way possible that makes the most sense for you and your family, not what 00:11:29.927 --> 00:11:31.967 necessarily makes the most sense for us. 00:11:33.197 --> 00:11:35.927 Riccardo Stewart: Yeah, so I started this episode with talking 00:11:35.927 --> 00:11:38.027 about my buddy Jack, the architect. 00:11:38.837 --> 00:11:42.347 One of the things he does whenever he builds a home and whenever he builds the 00:11:42.347 --> 00:11:45.947 building, he goes to the owners, those who are going to build the building, 00:11:45.947 --> 00:11:50.097 he goes to the company that's gonna build the office or the building, and 00:11:50.097 --> 00:11:54.267 he has them tell them the story of their family or the story of the company. 00:11:54.837 --> 00:11:58.437 Because once he hears the story of who they are, where they've been, where 00:11:58.437 --> 00:12:02.757 they are, and where they're going, it begins to give them a picture of what 00:12:02.817 --> 00:12:07.287 that particular vision of that building could look like at a family office. 00:12:07.677 --> 00:12:11.847 When you're at the center as the human, as the family, we listen to your story. 00:12:12.297 --> 00:12:14.847 That's what we begin to discern your needs, your wants, and your 00:12:14.847 --> 00:12:19.167 wishes, and then begin to cus build the custom financial plan 00:12:19.377 --> 00:12:20.817 that you and your family need. 00:12:20.817 --> 00:12:23.757 Not just now, but, but also in the future. 00:12:24.342 --> 00:12:28.032 Listen, if you wanna learn more about what is this financial structure, what is 00:12:28.032 --> 00:12:31.872 a family office, and why don't athletes even hear more and more about that, we 00:12:31.872 --> 00:12:35.022 would love to be able to give you some resources and answer your questions. 00:12:35.142 --> 00:12:42.072 You can feel free to call us or you can send us a text at 6 0 2 9 8 9 5 0 2 2.