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Industry Spotlight > Advisors

Advice for NFL Players, From a Financial Advisor Who's Been There

By Jane Wollman Rusoff

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Walter Stith, a former NFL offensive tackle-turned-financial advisor, is rooting for the San Francisco 49ers in their Super Bowl matchup with the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday. 

He has several reasons — not the least of which is that he has a client who happens to play for the 49ers.

Stith, who had NFL stints with the Buffalo Bills and Cleveland Browns, as well as with the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League, works mostly with professional athletes as a financial advisor with the RM Compass Group at Morgan Stanley, with assets under management of $2.5 billion.

Stith, who is based in Atlanta, is also a Global Sports and Entertainment director at Morgan Stanley, helping other financial advisors serve their athlete and entertainment industry clients. 

In the interview with Stith, who joined Morgan Stanley as an advisor in 2011, he discusses the challenge that NFL players have in saving for an extended retirement and offers advice to rookie advisors without the luxury of joining a family practice. “You have to be relentless in your pursuit,” he maintains.

Here are highlights of our conversation:

THINKADVISOR: What are your expectations for the Super Bowl?

WALTER STITH: I’m rooting for the 49ers. This is a rematch of the 2020 Super Bowl; Kansas City won that one. This season has been volatile for both the 49ers and Chiefs. 

But I feel pretty good about the 49ers’ chances to win. Plus, I have a client that plays for the 49ers! 

It’s going to be a great game. Viewership will be even higher because of Taylor Swift’s effect on NFL viewership [attending games and rooting for boyfriend Travis Kelce of the Chiefs]. 

Her fans are looking forward to seeing her at the Super Bowl. She has almost a hundred million followers on X. The NFL has, like, 30 million!

Is there anything new within the NFL that you particularly like?

A lot more Black coaches and Black general managers have been hired. 

That’s a good thing: 75% of players are Black. That should be reflected in leadership as well as coaching.

As a Global Sports and Entertainment director, what are your responsibilities?

I’m an advisor to athletes and people in entertainment [among others]. I also support the advisors that work with those markets, [providing] the resources necessary to meet the unique needs of the clients.

What’s a salient characteristic of these clients that advisors need to keep in mind?

Many times, they’re really young. They get huge payouts, but then they have to live on them until they get their next year’s payout.

One of the biggest ways to give support is to [equip them with] educational resources.

Broadly, what can be done to increase financial literacy among pro athletes?

The sooner a student-athlete is exposed to financial literacy and understands how to set up a budget, what investing is and how you should think about your future, plan and save now, the better: The average career in pro sports is [only] between three and five years.

What are the implications?

You’ll make a lot of money in a very short time, but you need that money to last through retirement, which is longer. Players are done in their 30s and are retired for 60 years. 

Also, they probably have a higher standard of living given what an NFL rookie [earns]. So already they’re making a lot of money and spending a little more.

[Thus] you set this lifestyle expectation that many times is unsustainable once that amount of cash flow stops.

Playing for the Bills I saw how quickly some careers ended. 

You should think about what you’re going to do after football because it’s always going to come sooner than you think.

How has being a pro athlete helped you as an advisor?

There are several transferrable skills and attributes. Being able to work on a team is really important as an athlete. As an advisor working on a team, I have that collaborative mindset. 

Also, the ability to handle frequent and unexpected change: You may go into a game expecting the opposing team to do [a certain] thing, but then they do totally different things. So you have to adjust. 

As an advisor, clients will have sudden changes in their financial plans.

The ability to take the emotion out of decision-making and focus on the end goal helps whether you’re an athlete or an advisor.

Any other similarities?

There’s so much competition as an advisor, and being a pro athlete prepares you for that. 

As an advisor, not only are you competing with other advisors in your own firm but also with advisors that work at other wirehouses, independents and people who think they’re financial experts. 

What advice do you have for financial advisors just starting out?

For an advisor coming into this business who wasn’t brought into it by their family, my advice is: “Don’t give up. You have to be relentless in your pursuit.”

You need to have a genuine interest in wanting to help people. It takes time to be successful in this industry. If you work hard enough, success will come. 

What type of advisor should pursue pro athletes as clients? 

I don’t think there’s a type with certain characteristics. If that’s what you want to do, then you should just pursue it. 

But you need to get into it for the right reasons.

Too many people do it for the wrong reasons, like just wanting to be around sports and athletes.

Some get into it because of the vulnerability of the athletes. They know they can charge a higher percentage because of the athletes’ [naivete].

What’s the right and best way to serve these clients?

To help them, be patient and educate them, know how to manage the pro athlete’s income and that the money they make needs to last a long time.

The focus with my clients is getting them to think about the end at the beginning.

Jane Wollman Rusoff

@jrusoff2

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