20 free guides
Learn it before you sign it
Written for players, parents, and the people who love them. Real numbers, real sources, no sales pitch.
Your contract
The Contract Number Is Not Your Money
A '$100 million' deal is a headline, not a paycheck. Here is how the number shrinks between the press release and your bank account, and the five leaks that drain it.
8 min read
The Jock Tax, Explained in Plain English
Pro athletes pay income tax in almost every state and some cities they play in. Here is how duty days work, why a Texas or Florida contract can be worth more than a bigger one elsewhere, and what changes for Canadian teams.
8 min read
Agent Fees, and When a Flat-Fee Lawyer Makes Sense
What agents can legally charge in each league, what you are actually paying for, how to negotiate the fee down, and what happened when star players negotiated without one.
8 min read
Financial Advisors and Business Managers: Who to Trust and the Red Flags
Fiduciary or salesperson, what fees really cost over a career, how to check anyone in five minutes on free government sites, and the warning signs from real cases where athletes lost millions.
8 min read
Agent or Attorney? How to Negotiate Your Agent's Fee
The union cap is the most an agent can charge, not the price. On a big contract, one percentage point is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. Here is what agents can charge in each league, when a contract lawyer makes more sense, and exactly how to ask for a lower rate.
9 min read
Prize Money Taxes: Golf, Tennis, UFC, Boxing and Track
Team athletes get a paycheck with taxes taken out. Golfers, tennis players, fighters and runners do not. You are a one-person business, you pay both halves of Social Security and Medicare, and every country and state you win in wants its cut. Here is how it really works, with real numbers.
10 min read
Plan for Three Seasons: The Short Career Money Plan
The average NFL career is about 3.3 years. Most players spend like it will last ten. Here is how to plan for the career you can count on, what the money really covers when it ends, and the one number that keeps you from going broke.
8 min read
Your First 90 Days After Signing
Ten moves to make before the money changes you: taxes set aside, the right team around you, insurance, a will, league retirement plans, and a budget built on the smallest check.
8 min read
NIL, LLCs and business
After House: Read Your School Contract Before You Sign
Colleges can now pay athletes directly, and for a lot of 18-year-olds the first real contract they ever sign comes from their school. It has real money, real exit fees, and fine print that can cost you. Here is what is in these contracts, what changed, and the questions to ask before anyone signs.
10 min read
Do Athletes Need an LLC? The Honest Answer
An LLC cannot touch your team salary, but it can be the right tool for NIL, endorsements, camps, and business ventures. What it really does for taxes and liability, what it costs, and how to spot an LLC being sold to you as a scheme.
8 min read
The NIL Money Guide for Athletes and Families
NIL money is self-employment income, and the IRS expects its share four times a year. Taxes, set-asides, the House settlement and revenue sharing, high school rules, minors and contracts, financial aid, and protecting eligibility.
9 min read
Family
Friends, Family, and Saying No Without Losing Them
The money pull is real and it comes from love as often as from need. How to set a giving budget, run a family fund, avoid cosigning and house traps, handle gift tax, and say no kindly.
8 min read
Buying Mom a House: Give It or Keep It?
It is the first thing a lot of players do, and it should be. But whose name goes on the deed changes the taxes, who controls the house, and who gets it later. Here is how to do it right.
8 min read
Marriage, Prenups, and Your Contract
Love is not a financial plan, and a wedding changes who owns the money you earn next. Here is how states split a player's paycheck, why the date you signed matters less than the date you played, and how a prenup actually holds up.
9 min read
A Parent's Guide to Protecting Your Athlete
You got them here. Now the job changes. How to stay involved without becoming the manager by accident, the questions to ask any agent, how to read a contract, custodial accounts, and why somebody has to be the 'no.'
8 min read
Making it last
Protect What You Keep: Insurance, Trusts, and Walls Around Your Money
Making money and keeping it are two different skills. Here are the walls that actually work: insurance, retirement accounts, homestead laws, the right kind of trust, and a plan for your family. Plus the scams that come for athletes first.
9 min read
Play It Like the Rich: The Legal Playbook to Cut Taxes and Keep Wealth
Wealthy business owners do not hide money in shell companies. They use a short list of legal, boring moves that stack up to millions. Here is every one of them, what it saves an athlete in real dollars, and the questions to take to your CPA.
14 min read
Starting a Foundation vs. a Donor-Advised Fund
A private foundation sounds like the way pros give back, but it comes with strict rules, public filings, and real costs. Here is how it compares with a donor-advised fund, fiscal sponsorship, and simply giving well.
8 min read
How Long Will the Money Last?
Careers are short and retirement is long. Real data on career length, simple math for how many years your savings can carry you, the 4% rule in plain English, and when league pensions kick in.
8 min read
Life After the League
Nobody tells you the hardest part of retiring is not the money. Identity, health insurance after playing, second careers, athletes who built real businesses, and the conversations worth having before you need them.
8 min read