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Playing to Win
Samantha Marshall and Matt Purdue
08/01/2005
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Branch hired Rosenberg in 2003 because the
advisor’s primary focus was on Branch’s children. “That just spoke volumes about
what type of person he is,” Branch says.
“Managing money is very, very
challenging for these young kids,” says Rosenberg, who serves more than 50
players. “For Deion, I don’t think his personality is affected by the amount of
money in his bank account. His ambition is to build family wealth. He’s
definitely a different kind of guy.”
Branch’s story is not one of rags to
riches. His father owned a car detailing business and his mother was a
supervisor at a Procter & Gamble plant. As a boy, he received an allowance
of $40 to $50 a week, which he carefully managed. “I had uncles who always
wanted to borrow $20, and I was excited to be able to lend my family money,” he
recalls. “I’m the same way now.”
Back to Basics
Rosenberg, a CPA, CFP and former tax manager in Arthur
Andersen’s private client group, acknowledges that players often require
rudimentary lessons in financial management. Many of his clients open their
first bank account with a seven-figure bonus. Like Mangum, Rosenberg’s primary
challenges are convincing them to live within a budget and plan for a future
without football. “We try to get them to save as much as humanly possible,” he
admits. “But there is so much peer pressure [to spend].”
Adhering to spending
limits can be a difficult task for Rosenberg’s clients, who are eager to cash in
on their newfound wealth. “We advise them not to build a lifestyle they can’t
continue if they left the league,” he explains. “There is nothing worse than
building a lifestyle, depleting your assets and having to leave the league at an
early age.”
After crafting a budget, the first vehicles Rosenberg recommends
to his clients are a will and injury insurance. For a player like Branch, $1
million in catastrophic injury coverage can cost $15,000 per year—or 6 percent
of his rookie salary. Branch knows all too well about the fragile nature of his
earning power, having missed more than half of the 2004 season with a knee
injury. “I am not going to be playing football all my life,” he says. “If
something should happen and I don’t have a plan set, then I’m done. Then I’d
really have people coming after me.”
Rosenberg also advises his clients to
delay sharing their largesse, even with family and friends. “Family asking for
money is a big problem for these guys,” he says. “They have a very small window
of opportunity to make money, and they can’t throw it away.” He suggests that
unless a player’s family is in dire straits, the player wait until he is
financially independent before including extended family in his
budget.
Branch’s wealth is invested conservatively. Most of his capital lies
in fixed income products, notably high-quality municipal bonds. Ther remainder
is in diversified equities.
Like Williams, Branch has set up a foundation. He
plans to use income earned from endorsement deals and other sidelines to fund
the foundation, which will support meningitis research. One of Branch’s sons
contracted viral meningitis, but is now fully recovered.
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