By Weld Royal

College athletes couldn't make money off their achievements in sports until 2021. That is when the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) changed their rules to allow students to profit from their name, image, and likeness -- and Dane Burkholder saw a niche.

It all started at a Los Angeles coffee shop where Burkholder, a managing partner at Ameriprise's Roseville Wealth Management in Lancaster, Pa., met with a couple of sports broadcasting friends. Their conversation turned to endorsement deals and payments to student sports stars for their promotional activities.

Soon Burkholder scored an invitation to speak at the Elite 11 camp, a football training program for high school quarterbacks whose graduates make up a kind of NFL who's who. "If you look across the NFL, Power Four college football, most quarterbacks that we recognize the names of have all been through the Elite 11 camp. They were looking for somebody to present to the parents and to the athletes on financial wellness," recalls Burkholder.

On our latest The Way Forward: Next Generation podcast , Burkholder discusses how that invitation led to a specialty within his practice. He shares how he talks to young athletes on the cusp of a windfall, and why behavioral finance shapes the conversation.

"It's so rewarding to see the parents and the athletes and to talk to them about, in some situations, this life-changing money," says Burkholder. He tells the players and their families: "The decisions that you make at 18, 19, 20, or 21 years old will give you a significant head start over virtually 99.5% of the rest of the country."

Burkholder also works with clients who collect a salary and are working their way up the corporate ladder, sometimes struggling to save enough for retirement and college savings plans. Student athletes can present another challenge altogether: a windfall.

A 19-year-old who earns a large check may be tempted to cash it in on fancy cars, jewelry, expensive clothing, and other luxury goods. "We always tell people, specifically in the athlete world, you can control two things. You can control what you save and you can control what you spend. You need to have a handle on both. If you have a couple hundred thousand dollars set aside, think about what that's going to be when you're ready to retire," says Burkholder.

Since retirement may be the last thing on the mind of a high school athlete, Burkholder turns to emotion. He uses behavioral finance questions, such as, "What is your definition of wealth? And think about wealth other than just money."

He asks them about financial role models. "You see everything -- mom and dad, and grandma and grandpa. You see celebrities and entertainers."

He also asks the player how success may change the people around them. "We go through a process to understand how they will impact their community, how they will have a positive impact on people," Burkholder says.

Answers to those questions form the foundation for the player's financial game plan.

This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

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May 09, 2025 11:07 ET (15:07 GMT)

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