Athlete Wealth Podcast

Finding the Right Advice | Molly Sewald | Athlete Wives #4

Episode Notes

Molly Sewald, the wife of Mariner's closer Paul Sewald, has a unique story to share of their experience in the minor leagues and stewarding their wealth. Molly and I discuss a topic that can be difficult or exciting for others to talk about - choosing a financial advisor.

Molly first shares important context and background on their personal story, which weaves into what feelings they felt when choosing an advisor. Their biggest hurdle was paying another fee to someone else and to quote Molly, "do we really want to pay someone to invest our money?"

Molly shares that after hiring a family office, the value is obvious and far outweighs the cost of the service - and even goes as far as to state that a competent advisor is 'a lifeline' for their family.

Her advice to others who may be experiencing something similar is simple - seek guidance. You never know where you can receive help for your specific situation.

Episode Highlights

• 1:30: Molly shares how she and Paul met in the Arizona Fall League, and how Molly at first thought that Paul was a student at ASU, not a professional baseball player.
• 4:37: Molly discusses her and Paul's time in the minors, and how Paul had to continually prove himself time and time again for every minor league promotion.
• 6:00: In his final year as a minor leaguer, Paul & Molly experienced what may be their biggest emotional setback in that he didn't make the team out of spring training.
• 7:51: A common theme for non-prospects is that they feel like they need to be perfect - Molly shares the weight of that stress of rooting for Paul to be perfect. She even goes as far as to share how her heart would sink if she received a phone call from Paul at the field, fearing that they were going to get optioned.
• 9:45: Molly shares the weight of her stress was recognizing Paul's stress.
• 11:53: Molly shares about when Paul's contract was non-renewed, she was relieved and excited for a new opportunity.
• 14:32: New opportunities bring new options and new confidence - Molly shares the confidence that Paul gained in Seattle, where he became the most important reliever in their bullpen.
• 17:13: Molly shares their personal story of how they handled finances prior to hiring an advisor, which was to save as much money as possible - a plan that every human should have!
• 18:01: When choosing an advisor, Molly shares how their eyes were opened to a lot of planning that is available to them as their wealth grew - tax planning, investments, automation, and even protecting their wealth.
• 18:17: She shares that hiring an advisor was a way for her and Paul to educate themselves, and then ultimately have people on their team who help automate their future.
• 18:48: Knowing what they know now, Paul and Molly recognize that they would not be where they are today without the help of a trusted advisor.
• 20:47: Molly shares that her biggest fear when they were looking to hire an advisor was "do we really want to pay someone to invest our money." She felt like it would just be one more fee that she was not totally psyched about.
• 21:51: Molly admits that after learning about what a family office does and its services, the value created far outweighs the fee.
• 24:00: Simplicity is the goal - and Molly shares how an advisor's job is to simplify their matters and optimize their family's future.
• 25:15: Molly shares that the convenience of having all advice being in a one-stop-shop for taxes, savings, investments, communication with teams payroll, players' agents, etc. further expands on that level of simplicity that they desire.
• 27:00: Money is a tool to be taken of for what's important to you - and Molly shares that its services, and the security of their daughter is what is important to them in regards to money.
• 28:28: Molly's advice to other families is to seek guidance for your situation, and a competent team that works day in and day out for your family.