This week: Being a professional athlete is the dream for many kids. But that dream creates very different realities. And the reality for most elite athletes is that their sport struggles to fund their life and athletic goals. These are the 4 categories athletes can be classified into.

At this stage, your income is less than or equal to your expenses.

This means that everything you earn goes straight back out. Rent. Travel. Coaching. Food. Family. The cost of playing your sport is the same as or greater than how much you make playing it.

Nothing is left to save. Nothing is left to invest. Athletes in this bracket usually have part-time or even full-time jobs to help fund their sport.

And this isn’t a small group either.
In a 2020 survey of nearly 500 elite athletes across 48 countries, 58% said they didn’t consider themselves financially stable.
These are athletes at the top of their sport. Many of them are even Olympians.
If the elite can get stuck here, most athletes probably are too.

Even medallists.
Months after winning Olympic bronze in judo at Beijing 2008, Ronda Rousey couldn’t afford rent and was living out of her Honda Accord.

You can use your money to save and spend.

At this point in your athletic career, the money you make playing your sport is enough to cover your expenses and save a portion of it every month. Athletes in this stage are full-time athletes and usually don’t have other jobs to support themselves.

Even though these aren’t world-famous athletes and will have to continue working after retiring from sport, their income from being an athlete is stable and funds their basic lifestyle needs comfortably.

You have enough left over to save, spend, and also passively invest moderate to good amounts for the future.

This is the point at which athletes can begin to set themselves up for longer-term financial security and build a safety net for themselves.

These are highly successful, star-powered athletes.

You now have enough to save, spend, and invest. But you can also fund active projects and investments: giving back to communities, taking care of family members, and building real alternative sources of income through both active and passive investing.

This is the smallest group of professional athletes, and it is reserved for the very best players in the most popular and in-demand sports.

Ronda Rousey won an Olympic medal and lived in her car. A bench player in the NBA, who most fans couldn’t name, may never worry about rent again.

Same level of elite athlete. Different stage.

Your stage isn’t a verdict on your talent. It’s a reflection of your sport.

And it isn’t permanent, in either direction. One contract can move you up. One injury can drop you back down.

Surviving: Understand that sport isn't enough to cover costs yet. Increasing or maintaining income sources is a priority.

Saving: Build your savings cushion before you upgrade your lifestyle.

Investing & Owning: Seek trusted advice on how to build a life outside of your sport. 

Most athletes, even elite ones, never reach a level where the game sets them up for life. 

The goal is to know your stage and plan for it, not for the one you hope to reach.

Your sport decides your stage. You decide what you do with it.

Grow Beyond Sport.

This content is for educational purposes only and does not constitute to personalized career, legal, or financial advice.