A quarterback came to me last spring.
I’ll call him Matt.
Matt had just signed his first NIL deal. $900,000.
He was 18 years old. Enrolled early. Hadn’t played a single college snap yet.
His phone was blowing up. His family was excited. His teammates were asking questions.
Nobody was talking about taxes.
When we finally sat down, I asked him one question.
“Matt, what did you set aside for the IRS?”
He got quiet.
“I didn’t think I had to do anything until April.”
April came.
His tax bill was deep into six figures.
He had set aside nothing.
The IRS classifies NIL income as self-employment income. You are not an employee. You are a business. And the IRS expects quarterly payments throughout the year. Not one lump sum in April.
Here is what we built together:
→ A cash, tax and savings plan with accurate projections so we knew exactly what he would owe from day one
→ An LLC with S-Corp status so he could be paid as an employee of his own company
→ A real business with tracked expenses that reduced his taxable income
→ A quarterly tax payment schedule based on our projections, eliminating penalties and interest
$900,000 is life-changing money.
Only if you keep it.
I work exclusively with athletes navigating exactly this. If that is you, or someone you know, my DMs are open.
♻️ Repost this. There is a NIL athlete somewhere who needs to read it today. Trust me.