3rd Year Huskers Attend In-Person Financial Forum

Husker student-athletes had the opportunity to attend an in-person financial forum on Monday, October 11th. A total of 96 third-year Huskers from all 24 sports were in attendance to learn helpful tips about handling their finances. Attendees had the pleasure of hearing from Michael Haddix Jr., financial advisor, founder of Empower3d, and co-founder of the Scout financial app.

Haddix kicked off the night breaking down important details to consider regarding NIL deals. He presented a mock scenario and discussed the details of the potential deal with the attendees to get their opinions and to see if they would catch the red flags purposefully placed in the details. 

 "When it comes to NIL you should not rush anything. If someone is rushing you it's for a reason," Haddix stated.

Next, Haddix talked about the importance of being financially responsible and covered a variety of topics. He advised attendees to remember that making money means taxes are coming as well and broke down what that looks like with an NIL deal versus a typical full-time job. Student-athletes were reminded that they are responsible for paying taxes including state, federal, and self-employment taxes in some scenarios.  He then gave the Huskers helpful tips when it comes to saving and budgeting.

"Set three different spending goals: 50% of your money should go towards your bills. 20% should go towards your savings. If you do those two things, you can have the remaining 30% and do whatever you want," shared Haddix

Haddix then addressed investing and knowing your credit. He shared that a credit score is a financial scouting report that institutions use to see if a person can be reliable with paying back the money given to them. Haddix also broke down credit scores and provided tips on things to do right now to start building good credit.

Finally, Haddix introduced his financial app called Scout. Scout is designed to help student-athletes be in control of their finances and includes features like viewing their credit score, breaking down monthly spending, and creating a budget. The app also features short educational videos taught by current professional athletes who focus on important financial literacy topics. 

"No one should care more about your finances than you".

For questions about the Financial Forum, please contact Assistant Director of Life Skills/PEO Director, Tom Lemke.