A successful rugby career brings many benefits, particularly when it comes to your finances. As you sign contracts with new teams and progress through your career, your earning potential may increase significantly, often when you are very young.
This could mean that you are better able to provide for your family and achieve your dream lifestyle now and in the future.
Unfortunately, there are those who seek to take advantage of professional sportspeople for their own financial gain. This is something you may need to be aware of during your playing career and beyond.
Meanwhile, working with a professional financial planner could help to protect you against bad actors.
Read on to learn four ways that we can assist you with this.
1. We provide regulated advice to help you achieve your unique goals
Throughout your life, you may receive advice about managing your wealth from various different people. You may be approached by so-called “experts” offering you guidance about saving or investing your wealth for the future.
Some of these individuals may have your best interests at heart. However, others might be more focused on their own gains.
These individuals might charge excessive fees for their services or suggest investments that do not align with your goals and attitude to risk. In some cases, they may lack the knowledge and training to effectively manage your wealth.
Conversely, we provide professional financial advice with your goals at the centre of every decision. We will discuss your aims and priorities, and then build a financial plan that helps you achieve your desired lifestyle. We will also charge you fairly and always be transparent about pricing.
Most importantly, we are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and adhere to the values set out by Consumer Duty. This means we are bound by the regulatory framework to act in your best interests, and you can be confident in the value of the advice we provide.
2. Using cashflow planning to help you determine whether you can afford to support loved ones
As a result of the wealth you earn from rugby, your friends and family may want or even expect you to support them financially.
You may well want to help those close to you, but there is a danger that your family and friends could take advantage of you by asking to borrow wealth that you cannot afford to give.
If you feel obliged to agree to their request, you may end up sacrificing your own goals to help others.
We could help you avoid this situation by using cashflow planning to model how your wealth will grow over time. We can also determine how much you need to contribute to savings and investments to meet your financial goals, both during your playing career and beyond.
Using this information, you can gift wealth in a sustainable way, while also achieving your own aims. Additionally, having this information about your financial plan could make it easier to decline requests from loved ones by explaining your situation.
3. We can protect you against fraudulent investments
Scammers often try to take advantage of people with high earning potential by encouraging them to invest in fraudulent schemes. Criminals might target you directly on social media as they know you are a professional rugby player.
Former England player Ollie Phillips experienced this first-hand. As he explained to This is Money, Phillips wanted to make some property investments, so he contacted a company called North East Property Buyers. He already knew them and had even been on holiday with some of the owners, so he trusted them.
After returning from a tour with the England team, he discovered that the company had borrowed £6.5 million in his name and purchased 30 buy-to-let properties. The scammers forged his signature and committed mortgage fraud in the process.
Phillips later found out that they were bulk buying the houses for below market value and making a significant profit when they sold them.
We could help you avoid falling victim to opportunist scammers who may target you. We have access to a range of investments and will perform due diligence on any opportunities we recommend to you. As a result, you can be confident that your investments are legitimate and suitable for your financial plan.
4. Protecting your financial interests if you fall ill or sustain an injury with a Lasting Power of Attorney
As a contact sport, rugby may be dangerous at times and while there are measures in place to keep you safe, you could sustain a serious injury that leaves you mentally incapacitated. Additionally, you might experience an illness that affects your ability to make decisions.
In this situation, you may be vulnerable, and it is important that you protect yourself from those who would take advantage.
To this end, we can help you create a “Lasting Power of Attorney” (LPA). This legal document names one or multiple attorneys to make decisions on your behalf if you are considered not mentally capable.
There are two different types of LPA to consider:
- Health and welfare: Your attorneys can make crucial decisions about your health and welfare. This includes your medical care and choices about your living situation.
- Property and financial affairs: Your attorneys can make decisions about your finances and have access to your pensions, bank accounts, and investments.
You can only create an LPA when you are considered to have mental capacity, so if you are injured or experience an illness without one, it may be too late. Without an LPA, the courts may decide who handles your affairs and this might be somebody that you would not want to make decisions for you.
This individual could make decisions that work against your financial plan or even take a portion of your wealth for themselves.
By putting an LPA in place ahead of time, you can be sure that a trusted individual looks after your affairs and has your best interests at heart if something happens to you.
Get in touch
If you are concerned about people taking advantage of you, then please do get in touch with us at DBL Asset Management.
Email enquiries@dbl-am.com or call 01625 529 499 to speak to us today.
Please note
This article is for general information only and does not constitute advice. The information is aimed at retail clients only.
The Financial Conduct Authority does not regulate estate planning, cashflow planning, or Lasting Powers of Attorney.
The value of your investments (and any income from them) can go down as well as up and you may not get back the full amount you invested. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.
Investments should be considered over the longer term and should fit in with your overall attitude to risk and financial circumstances.
