Professional Athlete (Backup)

Game On.

Coach, agent, trainer, nutritionist, attorney, accountant, broker, psychologist, publicist, foundation, friends, family. Remember when it was just you . . . and a ball?

Because it’s no longer just you and a ball – and a dream – you may need a personal financial advisor to help you navigate the many complexities of life as a professional athlete. We know this from serving over 100 professional athletes – and serving at the center of the evolving spiral of relationships and requirements that naturally occur when stepping onto the big stage. Ronald Blue Trust Professional Athlete Division understands your discrete and complex financial management needs and the relationship you have with your agent, management company, and other advisors guiding your career.

Not only do you need financial guidance and expertise, you need to discover the purpose for your talents and your wealth. It’s more than just the numbers.

Retired Major League Baseball pitcher, Jaime Garcia, received a piece of advice from his Ronald Blue Trust advisor that inspired him to give back in a tangible way that goes beyond writing a check.

Confidence and reassurance from having a trusted advisor will free you to focus on your career. We handle the cash flow management, tax planning, estate planning, investment management, charitable planning, risk management and other matters while you hone your craft.

Running the Same Play.

Sometimes metaphors say it best. In this case, a sports metaphor really says it best: Ronald Blue Trust serves as your quarterback, coordinating all areas of your finances and working closely with your agent, management company, attorney, accountant, and other advisors, to make sure we’re all executing the same game plan. It’s all so that you can benefit from a playbook based on more than 35 years of experience working with professional athletes in the NBA, NFL, MLB, PGA TOUR, and NASCAR, with a process and expertise that can be applied to other sports.

Professional sports has certainly changed during the last 35 years: Today, many professional athletes will enjoy lifetime earnings between $5 million and $25 million, work 35 to 45 years with only 7 to 12 of those in their chosen sport, and earn 70 to 90 percent of their lifetime earnings before the age of 35. However, the principles of comprehensive wealth management haven’t changed. In fact, more sophisticated and complex demands on athletes and their families – coupled with rapidly increasing wealth – makes even more critical the need for a team skilled in wealth management and experienced in understanding the athlete’s unique circumstances and opportunities.

Our financial planning process is comprehensive and personalized to help you meet specific goals and objectives. We understand the importance of cash flow planning for athletes and can help you capitalize on your peak earning years.

We design and implement an investment strategy based on your needs and time frame for investing. Our Principles-Based Investing approach combines our investment philosophy with rigorous investment research. Strategic tax planning and payment management is a year-round process, requiring a dedicated account team with a specialized skill set. Our total cash flow management process offers complete bill paying and cash flow services, including comprehensive reporting designed to help guide important lifestyle decisions. Our “gatekeeper capability” role allows you to share all business and giving opportunities with your Ronald Blue Trust advisor – he or she can affirm your “yes” when it fits your plan or deliver that hard “no” to people who may not have your best interests in mind. All of our services are offered in a fee-only model to give you objective advice based on your specific needs.

Total Cash Flow Management

One of the most valuable custom services we offer our professional athlete clients is total cash flow management. This service relieves busy professionals from the detailed and time-consuming routine of handling their expenses and bills and is designed to provide clarity and confidence around your finances through timeliness, accuracy, and a system of checks-and-balances. Our total cash management group provides the following services:

Develop a 12-month cash flow plan that correlates with the comprehensive financial plan.
Coordinate with vendors so that correspondence, invoices, and cash receipts are directed to Ronald Blue Trust.
Record cash receipts daily.
Review invoices for accuracy, comparing them against scheduled transactions and the 12-month cash flow plan. Code bills according to client input.
Pay invoices, interim cash requests, and wire requests and record transactions as incurred.
Update cash flow plan with bank account status.
Prepare reports that include bank reconciliation, bank register, cash flow update, itemized category listing of all activity, and copies of bills. Duplicate copies of bank statements are sent directly from the bank to the client as one of our many controls.
Research prior transactions.

This dedicated client service group is available every day for personal service to our clients, by phone and email.

Tax Planning

Every athlete deals with similar issues when it comes to their taxes. Because athletes have to pay tax in every state and country they play a game in, taxes can become very complicated. That is why as part of our service fee, we work closely with an experienced CPA firm who specialize in preparing personal tax returns for athletes. Our goal is to keep things as simple as possible for you to allow you to focus on other priorities that are most important to you. Through careful planning and strategy, we work closely with the CPA firm in order to help you save on your taxes.

Here are some tips and tools that we use with our clients to help them capture the different expenses they incur while performing across the country and around the world.

Team

Coming Soon

Perspective

“We apply biblical principles when guiding clients, helping them practice stewardship vs. ownership, wisdom and wealth, avoid conflict and anxiety about money, and develop a plan that can help them find – and follow – their generous path.”

– Don Christensen, Executive Vice President and head of the Professional Athlete Division

Biblical Financial Wisdom Tip

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Trust and investment management accounts and services offered by Ronald Blue Trust, Inc. are not insured by the FDIC or any other federal government agency, are not deposits or other obligations of, nor guaranteed by any bank or bank affiliate, and are subject to investment risk, including possible loss of the principal amount invested.
*The client’s experience may not be representative of the experience of other clients and is also not indicative of future performance or success.