There are countless stories of pro athletes making millions of dollars and going broke.

For example…

  • Six-time Pro Bowler Terrell Owens amassed more than $80 million during his 15-year NFL career. Yet he filed for bankruptcy in 2012—just two years after playing his last regular season game.

  • Three-time NBA All-Star Antoine Walker earned over $108 million during his 12-year NBA career. But in 2010, he filed for bankruptcy, two years after retiring.

  • Silver Slugger winner and three-time All-Star Lenny Dykstra had a 12-year MLB career. In 2008, his estimated net worth was $58 million. The next year, he filed for bankruptcy with only $50,000 in assets and $31 million in debt.

And according to Sports Illustrated, 78% of NFL players and 60% of NBA players go bankrupt or are under financial stress within two to five years after retirement.

The cause? Financial irresponsibility.

You see, many athletes lack financial planning. They make risky investments that bomb… invest in failing business opportunities… or have expensive hobbies.

Of course, most Daily readers aren’t multimillionaire pro athletes. But you can still learn from both their successes and mistakes.

And today, I’ll reveal a former NFL player who embodies the PBRG mindset. He should serve as a financial role model to other athletes—as well as anyone else trying to build their own wealth…

From Partier to Investor

Even if you aren’t a football fan, you’ve probably heard of former New England Patriots star tight end Rob Gronkowski.

After the Patriots won Super Bowl 53 on February 3, Gronkowski announced his retirement at age 30, citing multiple injuries. The likely Hall of Famer was still in the prime of his career.

According to sports contract website Spotrac, the “Gronk” earned over $53 million during his nine-year playing career (in which he broke several tight-end scoring records). And it’s estimated that he’s made over $3.5 million in endorsements.

In addition to his exploits on the field, Gronk was best known as a party animal during his playing days. He had his own party bus, party boat (the Gronk Party Ship), and dance moves.

Considering the money Gronk has spent partying, he may seem like the perfect pro athlete candidate for bankruptcy. But his financial plan is actually conservative. In fact, it sounds like it’s straight from our PBRG playbook.

Here’s what Gronkowski wrote in his 2015 book, It’s Good to Be Gronk:

To this day, I still haven’t touched one dime of my signing bonus or NFL contract money. I live off my marketing money and haven’t blown it on any big-money expensive cars, expensive jewelry, or tattoos. And I still wear my favorite pair of jeans from high school…

And while you probably don’t have millions in endorsement funds lying around… you don’t need it in order to build your wealth. You just need to follow these three steps…

Three Steps to Build Your Wealth

At PBRG, we’ve studied the secrets the rich use to amass their fortunes—and uncovered their most important alternative investing ideas.

So even if you aren’t a millionaire yet, you can still reach your retirement goals. Here’s how:

  • Save. Gronk saved or invested all of his contract money. Now, the sooner you start saving, the more time your money has to grow. Make saving for retirement a priority. Set goals, create a plan, and stick to it.

  • Invest wisely. Gronk didn’t blow his money away on expensive hobbies or risky businesses. Meanwhile, at PBRG, we believe the path to real, sustained financial prosperity is asset allocation. That means we invest in a broad array of assets. We don’t limit our ideas to just stocks and bonds. We also research options, real estate, private equity, and alternative assets—like gold and cryptocurrencies.

  • Build multiple income streams. Gronk’s second income stream came from endorsements, which he used as spending money. And to truly build long-lasting wealth, you need to generate multiple, reliable streams of income. It may seem paradoxical… but the more “safe” income you build, the more “free” income you’ll have. You can use this extra income to speculate on high-risk, high-reward plays. Or you can use it for dream vacations and second homes… or to pad your retirement nest egg.

Most of us will never see a fraction of the money that professional athletes earn. But if you follow these three simple rules, you’ll be on your way to safely building your wealth.

Regards,

Grant Wasylik
Analyst, Palm Beach Daily

P.S. As mentioned, we don’t limit our investing ideas and income streams. And one of our favorite alternative assets is crypto.

Speculating on cryptos can turbo-charge your wealth-building. And you don’t have to bet the farm to do it—a few hundred dollars across many projects is all you need.

This way, it’s not an all or nothing bet where you could possibly lose everything. Instead, it’s an asymmetric bet. If you’re right, you can make 1,000% or even 200,000% on your money. But the most you’ll lose is 100% of a small position.

And right now is the best time to get in…

Daily editor Teeka Tiwari says we’re about to see a catalyst that won’t happen again until 2024—and he’ll share the details during his first live crypto training session of 2019 on Wednesday, September 18. You won’t want to miss it, so be sure to sign up for his free event right here.