Aldersgate Advisors

Professionals

 

 

HOW (and why) ATHLETES GO BROKE a Sports Illustrated article by Pablo Torre reveals

"athletes from the nation's three biggest and most profitable leagues—the NBA, NFL and Major League Baseball—are suffering from a financial pandemic. Although salaries have risen steadily during the last three decades, reports from a host of sources (athletes, players' associations, agents and financial advisers) indicate that:

• By the time they have been retired for two years, 78% of former NFL players have gone bankrupt or are under financial stress because of joblessness or divorce.

• Within five years of retirement, an estimated 60% of former NBA players are broke."

With all of their money, and the ability to retain the best "advisors" money can buy, wouldn't you think their "advisors" could do a better job?

 

But it is not just professional athletes.

Of all the sectors we serve, professionals of all disciplines – athletes, entertainers, physicians, corporate executives, attorneys, etc  the actual "working wealthy" that may benefit the most from our special services.  

Most “professionals” are blessed with very specific skill sets, special talents, and expertise, - but rarely are they trained in or equally proficient in finance, business or economics.  So that while as professionals they may earn high incomes, they are not particularly competent in business or investing – AND thus likewise many are not very good at picking their advisors or making good business decisions.

Again, we are not just speaking of professional athletes or entertainers, but of all “professionals”. Perhaps some of the most at risk professionals are physicians.  Considering the recent changes to health care and their valuable contributions to 
society, we are especially concerned with the plight of physicians and other health care professionals and their patients.

Our objective is simple: help professionals become (and stay) independently wealthy so that they can apply their special gifts without any concerns or constraints. These goals will be achieved in part by maximizing their professional incomes, maximizing investment incomes, and minimizing tax liabilities.

MAXIMIZING YOUR PROFESSIONAL INCOME

Make no mistake. We don’t negotiate professional athlete’s contracts or any other “professional” contracts. WE ARE NOT physician practice management consultants or “agents” of any type.  We do not have their specific industry expertise, and we 
do not compete with them.

 

Rather we expect professionals will have other advisers to help them maximize their professional income.  We value their participation and consider them to be an essential "part of the team" if we are to maximize your net 
worth and keep you in good standing within your profession.

Excluding the alternatives of getting another job or winning the lottery, most professionals wanting to improve and / or maintain their standard of living and accumulate greater wealth are left pretty much with three legal alternatives:

•        work longer and harder,
•        keep more by reducing their expenses – primarily taxes, and
•        have their investments earn more.

MAXIMIZING YOUR RISK ADJUSTED INVESTMENT INCOME

Clearly, there is a limit to how much any professional can legally or practically earn from practicing their profession. The best strategy then to maintain and even increase their standard of living is to have their investments earn more.

But you have to be smart about it. Almost any "advisor" can temporarily increase your investment yields by chasing greater risk. 

 

And they generally make more in commissions by placing you in higher risk investments. The objective is to have your investments earn more without taking additional risk.

To “stay on top of your game”, there is not enough time for you to keep up with all of your professional requirements that demand  your attention, so there surely isn't enough time for you to keep up with all the information about potential information or to properly evaluate the risk adjusted return.

Professionals are already widely known easy marks for investment scam artists.

According to Medical Economics, boiler room salesmen think doctors are easy prey. According to law enforcement officials, con artists searching for ripe targets buy lists of doctors. The scammers figure physicians are active investors who don't have time to ask many questions about where their money's going.

Furthermore, doctors have the reputation for failing to pursue successful scammers. "If they lose money in an investment, most busy professionals would rather forget about the money instead of hiring a lawyer to chase after a shady operator," according to Philip Feigin, former Colorado State Securities Commissioner. ( By the way, Philip is one Aldersgate's attorneys).

We ask the tough investment questions for you - BEFORE and after you have invested.

Our incentive is to maximize your long term net worth and prosperity

We achieve this in part by providing you with an information advantage: by helping you avoid making bad investments, by giving you access to investment opportunities that are not generally available to the general public, or by giving you access to them before the general public, and by making your other advisors more productive.

Think of us as your own personal buy side analyst and venture capitalist partner.