 And we are back live here in Hau'olulu, Hawaii with the Prince of Investments always. I'm your host Prince Dice, coming to you guys live from Denver, Colorado. And I want to say out there to everybody where you hear this on the podcast or YouTube or anything like that. All the people that's catching us live, don't forget hit the like, subscribe, comment, share button. Drop some comments if you guys have any questions or what you guys think. But as always, we've got a very, very interesting topic today and we've got a very, very interesting guess. And today, what we're going to be talking about as you guys can see in the description box and into the title, we're going to be talking about professional athletes, financial literacy, financial literacy, professional athletes. As you guys seen all the time, we've had, you know, several athletes here on the platform. But now we want to, why do we always hear these stories? These 30 for 30s are broke. Why do we hear all these stories of millions of dollars are swandered away and other things like that. But I know you guys in tuning in just to hear my mouth. And I know you guys don't want to hear my mouth all the time. So without further ado, I'm going to bring in my special guest, Miss Ty wanton Smith. So the guys who don't know who Miss Ty wanton Smith is, she's referred to as the Players GM. She's an ex, she's a former WNBA player herself, Women's National Basketball League, you know, WNBA Women's Professional Basketball, first time having a WNBA player here on the show. And she's representing dozens of clients, you know, dozens of clients and things like that. You know, she went to Ole Miss, played basketball there, you know, earned her NBA in marketing and marketing. And we're just going to sit back, we're going to talk to her and get a better understanding of financial literacy in the NBA and WNBA, NFL, all the other great stuff. Without further ado, to everybody out there, let me introduce my guest, Miss Ty wanton Smith. How are you doing? Yeah, I'm awesome. Awesome. I'm very excited to be on the investor show. So thank you for having me. Awesome. Thank you for being here. We're definitely glad to have you. You know, now I know how to talk to people a little bit about yourself, Miss Ty wanton Smith, but people out there who don't know who you are, can you give people a brief message of who is Miss Ty wanton Smith? Absolutely. I wear a lot of hats. I am a former professional athlete. I didn't play in the WNBA. I played in Europe. Oh, you played in Europe? Okay. Right, right. But I am a former pro basketball player and now I'm a business manager to other professional athletes. I'm a best-selling author and I have created a coaching system for athletes to prepare them for their various transitions. My ultimate goal is to create profitable, popular, protected and post-career-ready athletes. And I have a very, very well-rounded team through the Athletes Nexus, which is my business management group to really serve all the needs of an athlete that goes, you know, that falls between the cracks of some of the other ideals that we have of what professional sports should look like. So I got my hands all over this game. Okay, definitely. And you know, see, half a time I don't know what I'm talking about anyway. I said WNBA and she's actually, she said, I said WNBA and she's actually a professional athlete over in Europe. Now, by you representing so many athletes across the globe and, you know, things like that, being around pro sports. I know you probably heard the stories of professional athletes with financial literacy. And the question is, how does this happen? How does people swan away millions and millions of dollars? And what would be your insight on it? Yeah, there are actually a lot of moving parts. And it's what I call the perfect storm, right? So you have an athlete that's only played ball their entire life. And they've been accustomed to taking care of a lot of people. And without a lot of care about discipline, what to do next, having created another cash flow. And then all of a sudden their career ends. This could be because of politics. It could be because of injury. And here they are without anyone to replace that cash flow. They have this, you know, luxurious lavish lifestyle, taking care of multiple family members and friends. And they have invested in a way that's a bit too risky, honestly, for, you know, where they are in their income earning potential. And then when all those things crash together and that investment that they really didn't understand anyway, crashes or doesn't work out, they're left trying to pick up the pieces and figure out how to move on with their lives. I saw this happen frequently, right? And I was in situations as a professional athlete, where I had individuals telling me things that I knew not to be true. I graduated. I had my MBA before I went overseas. And so it really prompted me to explore supporting athletes and teaching them how to manage their lives and their finances in the same way that they have plays and blueprints that they utilize on the court and on the field. Okay, that's very smart, as you said, you know, like essentially this perfect storm happens. But like, you're right, you know, you say, hey, all you've done is play football or basketball your whole life and you're taking care of so many people and like anything else, an NFL athlete, you know, it eventually stops. And now you love trying to pick up the pieces of the whole situation. Now my question has to be that we've seen this happen so many times. How does it continue to happen? Yeah, well, I think that I don't think there's an athlete that plans for that to happen. And most of them don't think that it will happen to them. And so right now we have a lot of football athletes, right, that have chosen or are in the process of choosing an agent. And it moves very fast after that. They really don't have an opportunity. You have to think about it. These are teenage athletes or early 20s, young adults. Many of us had an opportunity to learn how to balance a checkbook and, you know, various life skills like that. They don't get that opportunity. They are thrust into this position of making adult decisions. And, you know, there really isn't a framework in place to prepare them for that. Yeah, you can tell them what to do. But unless you're actually showing them and putting processes in place that eliminate the emotional aspect, and I really think that's why it happens. You think about the things that make us great athletes, being impulsive, making split-second decisions, and being very passionate about what we do. That doesn't translate well when you're making very important life decisions. And so there's a disconnect. And again, I think that there needs to be more support and more of a blueprint to guide their decision-making. That's true. Now, you know that you make great points of saying that, and, you know, when you're athlete, you are making impulse decisions. You're, you know, you're thrust into all of a sudden, hey, I have to make quick decisions and things are moving so fast around me, which is great when you're on the basketball court or the football field or something like that. But once you get into the game of life, that's not really the smartest thing to do. Everything kind of slows down for you. Right. Now, what do you know, like you said, you know, athletes grow up, that's all they've done their whole life. How does the athlete, how does a person know, you know, I'm only a majority of the athletes, by the time they're done with pro sports, they're still in their 20s? Right. How do we figure out what's next? What do most athletes just kind of mosey around and trying to find their way? How does that happen? Yeah, well, I think that it goes back to, again, the support. And if you think about this, if it's something you don't know about, you don't even know the questions to ask to get started getting the information that you need to learn about it. So everybody talks about financial literacy, but for the great majority of athletes, and I covered this in my book, Surviving the Lights, the great majority of athletes come from very impoverished, you know, home situations, right? So they never knew about money. They've never had any money. And so it's very hard to understand where to start that conversation. Then you have this whole fear aspect, because they think they're expected to know what to do. But the truth of the matter is, there are a lot of professionals out there that play on the fact that they don't know. They don't know the questions to ask. They don't know how to get started. So those of us that are on the other side of the ball, those of us that have gone through this, we've got to be a lot more hands-on in telling them about the things that they don't even know to ask about, you know, because I mean, there's no real way to prepare to be in what I call the lights, right? But those of us that know what they're about to go through, we've got to reach back and help our young ball players, because we know exactly what they're going to experience and we know that they're not prepared to deal with it. Got it, got it, okay? Now, when you, we're looking back over your history, you know, going to Ole Miss, graduating Ole Miss and going off into pro basketball, you know, in Europe, you know, I'm so many athletes, you know, we just had, you know, a couple of weeks ago. We said last month, I think we had, you know, Mr. Walhairs, another Ole Miss, I don't know, Mississippi State, the other Mississippi school, right? Other Mississippi school. Right, that's the Mississippi State we're here. I thought he, I forgot he was Mississippi State, your Ole Miss, okay. Now, looking back over and being around so many athletes, what advice would you say financially, would you promise the best route to go, you know, being in the league and being around things like that? Right, well, I have a couple of pieces of advice. First and foremost, get a mentor who's been there. There is a certain level of wisdom that comes from someone who's worn those cleats or that jersey. So get a mentor that can help you, you know, harness that emotional impulse and urge that you have. The second thing I would say is to focus on protecting yourself and your assets first, okay. That can be your body, obviously, if that is the way that you earn your living, your life. There are a lot of individuals that will now depend on you. When you go pro, everybody goes pro. And so making sure you handle that business, and as you know, life insurance isn't just, you know, something that's important. If something happens to you, it also has living benefits. And then, you know, your assets, and that's something that we see as well. Athletes aren't protecting those things. They're taking it for granted and they're shelling out a lot of money just because of their lack of, you know, I guess, well, protection, I guess, for lack of a better word. So those are the two big things I would start off discussing, and then I would have them join, you know, some type of investment literacy program through their team. Believe it or not, there are resources through the NBA and the NFL where they provide support. They provide blueprints, game plans, guides to take their emotional decision-making out and then plan out your rookie season, all right? If you start a certain way, you know, it gives you a lot more chance of, you know, ending your career on a high note. One thing that happens as well is that agents will, again, they're playing on the fact that an athlete doesn't know. They will put them in positions where they have to spend money to get that whole lifestyle spending cycle started, right? If you have a mentor that's going to tell you beforehand, hey, figure out if you're gonna have to pay for this. Don't get involved in this type of purchase because when you get your first check, it's gone. And a lot of times they don't think that far ahead because in fact, you know, in a lot of cases, they're kids. So those three things, what I'd say, get a mentor, focus on protecting your assets and plan out your expenditures for your entire rookie season. And I think when they see those numbers, you know, it'll make a little bit more sense, you know, when you're talking specifics. Okay. Now, one thing I heard you, you know, that I don't hear a lot of people say about life insurance, right? When you spoke about life insurance and you spoke about living benefits. When I was younger, you know, I used to think life insurance for old people. I was like, you know, it's my dad, you know, I need life insurance, you know, I'm not gonna die anytime soon. All right. You see life insurance fitting into a financial picture, especially the athlete who's making millions of dollars or at least hundreds of thousands. All right. Well, it's really like a forced savings. You know, you think about it. And I know that, and I'm a fan of some of Dave Ramsey's principles, but you have people that are saying, okay, just buy term insurance and invest the difference. That's cool if you're actually disciplined enough to invest what you save. But for most of us, that's what we're wrestling with, you know, our human nature and that sort of thing. And so you'll buy the term and then you'll spend the difference. Well, with athletes, again, this is a part of protecting them from themselves in a lot of cases, right? So it forces them to save money that can be pulled on from retirement. You think of a traditional 401k and their pensions that they get through the respective leagues. Well, it's not commensurate with their income. I mean, you're looking at $10 million. They have a cap on the amount that they can put in a 401k. So this provides another savings vehicle for them, you know, an investment vehicle, depending on the type of life insurance that they utilize. But it's just another tool in their portfolio. Okay. I'm like you said, you know, being, you know, how life insurance plays a role, being another investment vehicle outside of that 401k, since it's capping everything like that. When you speak on people using, like you said, like Dave Ramsey said, you hear on something major that for people who don't understand, you know, one of Dave Ramsey's principles is that, hey, just get a term policy, invest the rest, right? Versus having a whole life policy, which is more expensive and you may not need it and it feeds associated with things like that. But like you said, most people are not disciplined enough. They're paid a 40, 50, a hundred bucks a month but then they're below the rest of it. So they don't have anything, you know, they're not disciplined enough. Now another thing that would turn policy, like today I'm 33 years old. If I got a 30 year policy, you know, simple math tells you when I'm 63, my term policy will probably be over. I have no coverage. And then you was around the age of 60 in my family. That's when the problems usually start to happen. That's right. That's when you need it. That's what I'm like, okay. I don't want to cancel when I need it. So, you know, I lean more to a whole life policy in that instance for myself personally. I get Mr. Ramsey saying, hey, do get a term policy and, you know, get a very cheap term policy, invest the rest by the time you're in your 60s you'll be, you know, self-insured or whatever the case may be. But I like to think of it and say, well, so far that's why I started to get the complications. That's why I'm not making any more money. You know, this is, and then now when it's time for me to go over my term, it's for way, way more. So which one do you think is, you know, you kind of lean towards a term on a whole life? I am a fan of whole life, especially if you can afford it. And these athletes that we're talking about, they can. Now, how much, it just totally depends on your situation. But, you know, the second part of this is the wealth creation and the legacy building that we look at the generational wealth, right? Most of these athletes, as I said, have family members that depend on them that won't work a day in their lives. And that, you know, being connected to that athlete is important to their livelihood. They have parents that they want to take care of. They have children. And so in the event that something happens to them, and unfortunately we've seen, you know, over 100 athletes, you know, over the last couple of decades that, you know, have passed away, you want to be able to leave a legacy behind, which really makes your responsibility, right, on an entirely different level, maturely. Because the rates are so sensitive to your age and your health, right? And again, you can afford it, right? And you can look at different options, seven-pay options, 10-pay options, where, you know, you don't have to worry, you're not looking at, okay, I've gotta pay this amount when I'm 60, you know, I don't know what I'm gonna be doing when I'm 60. There are ways to get that coverage locked in, right? And take advantage of the time value of money. And those are some of the important foundational blocks that we look at instituting with a lot of the clients that I talked to. And they don't think of life insurance that way, you know, the same way you said you were raised to think about it. And once they start thinking about some of the benefits and some of the tricks that we just weren't privy to, it usually buys the man at a very low risk opportunity to invest. Okay, now, I made a very great point there. It's almost forcing you to invest in a way, utilizing life insurance policies to be able to pull off of tax-free and things like that. But it's one thing I wanted to get to is something that you said in the beginning, that you're a best-selling author, right? Right. You're best-selling author of your books is called Time and the Lights. Surviving the Lights, surviving the Lights, right? Yeah. Now, tell us about your book. And what makes you like this? Yeah, yeah, so, you know, I'm looking at issues just like you, I mean, we see the stories in the media and, you know, as you said, athletes are still making the same mistakes. And I'm like, I mean, are they just looking at this for entertainment or really to educate themselves on things to look for? And so once I really thought about what an athlete goes through, from the moment they hire an agent, they're off to train because they're preparing for the draft. They're trying to solidify the contract. When they get there, they're trying to stay on the roster. You know how it is in the NFL, you know, every night, night in and night out, you have no idea what's going to happen because of the guarantees and that sort of thing in your contract, barring injury and all these things. There's so much that goes on. And I call that the athlete's dilemma, right? You got practice games, you're traveling, if you get hurt, you got rehab, you wanna spend time with your family, you got media appearances, you wanna spend time to yourself. And so you don't really have time to slow down and go on this crash course that you need to be up to speed on how to manage yourself day to day and all of your expenses and investments. And so I said, you know, we had to get to these young athletes sooner, right? We have to start this process on the way up. And so I wrote the book to focus on all of the things off the court and off the field that truly impact a lot of those money decisions and some of those poor life decisions that we see being made. So the book is designed for high school and collegiate athletes. And it's written more of a self-help style so you can skip around through the chapters, but they really focus on what to expect from dealing with your family members, you know, when that time comes from dealing with people of the opposite sex to the leeches, people that attach to you, leaving your legacy, your mental health. There are all of these different issues that are very prevalent in our sport that really change lives. Sometimes we get so fixated on the money that we don't realize all of the other activities that affect the money decisions that we have to make. And so that's what I wanted to accomplish with the book. I want to get them thinking business sooner so that they will survive the lights. Okay, what we're going to do for you guys that are here, we're going to drop them in below. And if you want to check out Ms. Tawana Smith's book, I'm going to have a book, you know, her link to her book here. And also the person who, whatever, who will comment first with the word, I don't know, Tawana Smith, who will comment with the word Tawana Smith, you know, we're going to send you a free copy from the Investor Show to where we are around the world. So the person who will comment with the word Tawana Smith, you're going to get a free autographed copy. Not autographed, I can't, you know, I'm in Denver, Colorado, but we're going to make sure the copy get out to you, you know, wherever you're at. And for people out there who, you know, whoever comments first, then I'm going to send them an email and, you know, get their address. And, you know, like we always do on the Investor Show, you always get treats from the guests when you watch. So that's great that, you know, not only did you go through the legal process, but you actually are doing something about it. You know, I want to commend you on that and say that's a great job of actually turning around and say, hey, you know, we've seen stories all the time. We hear about them all the time. So what are we going to do about them? So now your solutions, you know, everybody got the problem. Everybody can talk about the problem. How many people are going to bring in solutions and how many people actually have something in hand that can help with bringing a solution because we always can hear and talk about problems all the time. Oh, they know. All right. That's your question. Who's going to win the Super Bowl tomorrow? I don't know. Who do you think is going to win? I know the Patriots are going to win. You know it? Okay. I know the Patriots are going to win. You know, this is some crazy upset. It's going to be easy. I want to say it'll be a walk in the park. I think it'll come down to a tight game. It'll probably be about 24 to 30 points. Okay. 24 to 30, I see some of them at four points. That's who I say will win. Say Tom Brady's going to get to a ball for six, you know. You had a pro athlete. I had to answer that question. Right. I'm going to hold you to that. We got it on tape. So I'm going to hold you to that. You can be like, you knew it was going to win and everything. Yeah, in the pictures. Right. Right, right, right. Today. Right. Now, where are you located right now? I am in Tupelo, Mississippi. I split time between Tupelo and Memphis. Okay. Yeah. All right. So, you know, I've been in Mississippi in a long time, but now the next thing I want to get into the two, you spoke about doing your books, you spoke about becoming a professional athlete, playing with old men, you spoke about what people need to do and I really like how you brought in, how life insurance can help people out. Going back over your career, is there anything that you would have done different so far? Yeah. Hmm. That's a good question. I wish I could have done that earlier than that before. Yeah, I would have asked more questions. There were things that I didn't know and I was curious about, but I was afraid to ask questions because I felt like it would make me look, you know, a certain way because I was expected to know this. I wish I would have spoke up a little bit more to make sure I had a clear understanding about various things in my career. I suffered an injury. I tore my ACL when I was in high school and I suffered with problems throughout my collegiate career. I would have, I wish I would have asked more questions then that would have prevented a lot of those things and then maybe I could have been in a WNBA. But, you know, there were just very... I just wanna ask you, when you say you tore your ACL, what questions would you have asked? Well, even about my rehabilitation and things I needed to do to make sure that my knee was strong, I had a couple of scopes and things in college because I still suffered with, you know, things with the same knee, right? And I wish I would have asked more questions there to make sure that I understood everything I needed to do rather than just depending on them to tell me, you know, come to rehab and do this. And that, you know, there were things I could have done on my own that probably would have prevented a lot of those little nagging injuries that I suffered. Mm-hmm, okay. So that's a great thing, you know, looking at an injury and knowing if you have been able to take the injury, right? You know, that's a great thing. Now, for anybody out there that is listening, that's listening now, they hear this on a playback, they hear this on a podcast, YouTube, Facebook, whatever, Instagram and things like that. How, what would you want them to take away from this? And how could people get in contact with it? Who would they wanna get in contact with? Right, right. I guess the big thing is to learn about whatever you're involved in, whether it's finances, investment, the business of sports, learn about that, immerse yourself in that thing, absorb it, learn all that you can, and don't be afraid to ask questions. If you wanna reach me, because I have a myriad of different tools and processes and systems, I call them my athlete arsenal, please visit my website, towanasmith.com, that's T-Y-W-A-N-N-A-S-M-I-T-H dot com. Okay, do you have any social medias? I do, I'm on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, towanadismith. Towanadismith and all of them? Yep. Okay. I have to keep it simple. Keep it simple, let them run with that. So, Mr. Wanasmith, we wanna thank you for stopping by the show. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and your history, for the people out there, you know, be the first person to get in contact with me, to let me know what you wanna copy, Mr. Wanasmith book, bestselling book, and we will get that out to you. All you gotta do is just let us know you, let us know your mailing address. But until the next video podcast, so whatever you seem to do crazy around the globe, my name is Prince Dax, the Prince of Investing, and until the next, whatever you seem to do, peace, be safe, I'm out, thank you. Thanks.