With the draft fast apporaching, the excitement for prospects thinking about their signing bonus is here. What type of advice would anyone offer a new professional athlete and how to take care of their money? Whether its a first rounder who gets a seven figure deal or a late rounder who signs for a couple grand.

my advice would be to invest that money. doesn't matter if you buy real estate or put it in the bank and earn money off the interest. My biggest mistake when i got my signing bonus was that i thought i could go buy whatever i wanted. Be smart with it, only use it if you need it. And if you decide to use a financial adviser make sure you stay on top of them. its your money, not theirs to play with. I have an investor that is wonderful if you are interested. i hope this helps.

Brett evert
http://brettevertbaseball.blogspot.com/

quote:

Originally posted by jwatts49:
With the draft fast apporaching, the excitement for prospects thinking about their signing bonus is here. What type of advice would anyone offer a new professional athlete and how to take care of their money? Whether its a first rounder who gets a seven figure deal or a late rounder who signs for a couple grand.

Wow,
What a prospect should be excited about is turning pro, money should be the secondary thought.

JMO

TPM

I like your thinking but in todays world it is totally archaic


Money is the key factor---do you sign or not sign ? This is especially so for the young man coming out of HS as he decides between pro or college

well one player I know told me he did this with his 90,000 bonus, bought a pick up truck, blew the rest on girls and dancers.

Common problem for ball players

ANDY


I am sure you know all about it !!!

Disagree with TPM...

Agree wholeheartedly with TRHit.

If you don't know what you're doing financially, you're a fool when dealing with the "professionals" they send to negotiate with you.

quote:

well one player I know told me he did this with his 90,000 bonus, bought a pick up truck, blew the rest on girls and dancers.

Common problem for ball players

What good does posting that do? It's not constructive at all, someone's asking a legit question and you go and say something that childish honestly it's pathetic.

TR,
You are right. As someone said once, signing bonus' are motivating factors.

Maybe I should explain my answer.

A player should be motivated by thoughts of doing well and reaping the rewards (in this case $$). A players thoughts this time of year, IMO, should be about helping his team win, not worrying about how he is going to spend or not spend his money he hasn't received yet.

Are prospects really the ones who are excited? I did notice it was a parent who asked the question...

But since asked, save whatever money you can.

Let me tell everyone a little bit about signing bonuses. I was a 7th rounder in 1999 and i signed for just less than 200,000. not let me tell you how signing bonuses work and what they mean. The more money they give you... the most chances you have to prove yourself. A player that signs for 5,000 will have one chance to show what he can do. I believe that a player that gets 500,000+ will get about as many chances as possible. It all makes since. Its an investment. As far as spending money on trucks and women... that does happen. You don't have to buy a hummer just cause all the other guys did. Buy yourself something nice... you deserve it, but don't blow it all on something that isn't necessary. I'm curious if you like me advice. I've been playing for a while now and understand how this game works. I really hope to help some of you players and parents understand how and what goes on in this wonderful game of baseball. I'd like to be an agent someday so lets hope this all pays off.

http://brettevertbaseball.blogspot.com/
any comments or questions are always welcome!

Can't remeber where I read a player said they "spent 3/4 of their huge signing bonus on a new car, women, booze and just wasted the rest of it."

Can't take it with you.

Brett;
I remember you from our 1998 Area Code games.
This was a special year, probable the greatest talent in our history [1987-2004].

Current MLB players:
Ryan Garko, Jeremy Reed, Chris Duncan, Cody Ross,
Corey Myers, Travis Hilton, Adam Greenberg, Rob Bowen, Jason Kubel, James Shields, Anthony Reyes, Darrell Rasner, Hank Blalock, Carlos Quentin, BJ Garbe, Jason Repko, Jay Garthwaite, Bobby Bradley, Albert Puljos and Josh Beckett all played in the 1998 games.

We wish you great success. Maybe you can travel with our USA International teams in the future.

Please visit our web site <www.goodwillseries.org>

Bob Williams

i know i invested most of mine in mutual funds, its done quite well for me, i got in at the right time i believe the market was at 10,300 when i got in now its in the 13500 range, sure stocks are kind of dangerous but its done well for me so far.

I sort of stumbled on this topic and these posts. My son is nowhere near having to consider signing bonuses. But I do appreciate the pragmatic approach. I don't think kids should necesarily have their heads totally in the clouds with dollar signs floating about. And I believe that doing your best to reach your ultimate goal, working for your team, etc. are noble thoughts. But this is some serious money and for most the first time it has been dangled in front of them. A trusted advisor and some good guidance will hopefully extend the life of some of these fortunes. One would hate to put the damper on anyone's fortune, but it is fair to speculate that for many that this money will be the last they will see associated with baseball. Enjoy on many levels but make it last beyond the last "game".