STUDENT ATHLETESINVESTING

Thinking Forward: Investing as a Student-Athlete

You have spent countless hours on the fields, courts, pools, and tracks, honing your skills and becoming the best version of your athletic self, in addition to all the hours you’ve spent increasing your knowledge. Now it’s time to increase your financial knowledge, begin thinking about the future, and consider investing.

As a student-athlete, you have a day packed with classes, hitting practice once or twice per day, completing homework, actual study time, and commuting to all of it. Your life is busy, to say the least. However, this is your reminder that life is never too busy to start planning your financial future.

When you start planning, you create a future that is filled with less stress because of the actions taken today.

The Facts on Athletics

While not everyone plans to go pro after college, it’s the hope for many student-athletes — maybe you or one of your friends fall into this category. However, the facts about student-athletes are a stark reminder that this route is challenging and, for this reason, the path to glory is one many won’t choose.

According to the NCAA, only 7% of high school athletes move on to college to participate in NCAA sports, and only 2% of NCAA college athletes will go on to play at the professional level. So, the struggle is real. This is not about steering you away from the opportunity to rise to this challenge, but instead to help you take steps toward ensuring your financial needs and goals are not part of this struggle so you can achieve your dreams — no matter how lofty or humble they may be.

Unraveling investing

Forbes defines investing as, “the process of buying assets that increase in value over time and provide returns in the form of income payments or capital gains.” That might sound a bit complicated, but as a student-athlete, you have been investing your whole life. You are the investment! Each training session, meal, and good night’s rest make up the buying process to increase the value of your body, skills, and aptitude over time, which results in your payoff — your performance.

With that in mind, let’s talk about using real-world money to build your wealth and future financial security. Investing may sound scary, which is a great reason to listen to MSUFCU’s, Wallet Watch podcast, where various financial topics get a more in-depth look. The episode titled “Investing 101” discusses investing and how to begin the process yourself.

Learning the basics

If you search the internet, it’s easy to become overwhelmed by all the information out there. Instead, let’s start with things you can do today that will have a big impact on tomorrow.

• Know your budget: Budgeting money is like budgeting your time or energy intake and output, like the way we track calories. The math is simple: How much money do you make in any given month, and how much money will you spend? Once you have the necessities written down — including things such as housing, food, and transportation — you can budget for extras like investing. If you are having trouble getting started with budgeting, read the article, Know Your Money, from MSUFCU’s Financial 4.0 website or app.
• Do your research: Would you ever undertake a new form of training without researching the benefits or disadvantages? Probably not! Being intentional with research means vetting your sources when it comes to the investments you are considering. Ask yourself as many questions as possible regarding the opportunity and then seek out those answers. Remember, there are no stupid questions, just unanswered ones. The better your understanding of different investment types, the better the strategy or game plan you’ll be able to implement to make the most of your money.
• Find a mentor: This is HUGE! When you’re looking to invest, having a person to guide you along the way is crucial. Your mentor may be a financial adviser with a company that specializes in 401(k) and retirement savings. Mentoring could also come from something as simple as listening to a specific podcast or reading books that arm you with information to ask the right questions and make informed decisions. Think about what other resources you have at your disposal.
• Choose your investment style: Once you understand how much money you’re working with, you can choose how you’d like to invest your money or time. Investing is easier now than ever before, and with so many apps and websites, you are likely to find something that suits you. Just like the different ways to fuel your body, there are different investment types that may interest you such as individual stocks, index funds, real estate, certificates of deposit, bonds, and more. There is no right or wrong way to invest, but it’s important to consider your investment style and the best investment vehicle for your goal.
• Stay a student and always be learning: If there is one thing you take away, let it be this: keep learning. As with your chosen sport, you cannot stay stagnant and expect to have continued growth and progress. Investing is the same. You must always be willing to learn more and apply what you’ve learned to reap the rewards at the end of the season.

Remember, investing is about the long game. It’s about discipline and delayed gratification to live in the bigger financial picture of your future.

Sources:

https://www.forbes.com/advisor/investing/what-is-investing/

https://msufcufin40.evergreen3c.com/blogs/budgeting/know-your-money/

https://msufcufin40.evergreen3c.com/blogs/investing-basics/what-is-your-investing-style/

https://ncaaorg.s3.amazonaws.com/compliance/recruiting/NCAA_RecruitingFactSheet.pdf