On this episode of Saving the American Dream, we’re talking about NFL quarterback battles and what they have to do with your finances. Football is back in most parts of the country, so it seems like a good time to see what we can learn about financial planning from the boys on the gridiron.

Picking a quarterback can be like picking investments. It depends on your risk tolerance.

You can pick someone like Cam Newton, who might run for 100 yards and pass for 200, but he might also throw some interceptions and get sacked and fumbled a couple of times. Or, you could pick someone more consistent who doesn’t make as many explosive plays but will limit mistakes along the way.

In finances, staying inside of a structure is important because if you get outside of a structure, you’re more prone to making mistakes. You need to diversify and make sure you understand what those possibilities are.

It’s important as you’re building your balance sheet to really stay in that structure and make sure that you are staying on the design path.

So if we are fully protecting your balance sheet, saving 20% of your income consistently and systematically building liquidity, paying off debt, if we’re doing those four things over and over, we don’t need to rely on miracles happening. We don’t need to rely on picking a certain stock in your portfolio.

We don’t need to do anything crazy. We just need to stick to the basics. If we can master the basics, like Tom Brady has mastered the basics of quarterbacking, we can master the basics of building your balance sheet. That will put you in a position to win much more often than not over time.

And if you’re winning more often than not, over time you’re going to put yourself in a position where you’re able to live life without compromise, no matter what happens, and build a bulletproof balance sheet. If you don’t have a structure, you should create one.

Listen to the full podcast or use the timestamps below to jump to a specific section.

Navigating the Show

[1:17] – NFL

[3:44] – Competitive teams

[4:26] – Risk vs. consistency

[7:59] – Risk tolerance

[16:24] – Mailbag: Business loans

[18:23] – Mailbag: Trading options

[19:44] – Mailbag: Roth option

“In finances, staying inside of structure is important because if you get outside of structure, you’re more prone to making mistakes.”

– Michael Schulte