Did you know that even if you have a 401k for retirement, you could still have an IRA? Robinhood has the only IRA that gives you a 3% boost on every dollar you contribute when you subscribe to Robinhood Gold. But get this, now through April 30th, Robinhood is even boosting every single dollar you transfer in from other retirement accounts with a 3% match. That's right, no cap on the 3% match. Robinhood Gold gets you the most for your retirement thanks to their IRA with a 3% match. The offer is good through April 30th. Get started at Robinhood. Com/boost. Subscription fees apply. And now for some legal info, Claim as of Q1 2024, validated by Radius Global Market Research. Investing involves risk, including loss. Limitations apply to IRAs and 401(k). 3% match requires Robinhood Gold for one year from the date of the first 3% match. Must keep Robinhood IRA for five years. The 3% matching on transfers is subject to specific terms and conditions. Robinhood IRA available to US customers in good standing. Robin hood Financial, LLC. Members, Sippik, a registered broker dealer.

Hey, guys. Are you ready for some money rehab?

Wall Street has been completely upended by an unlikely player, Gamestop.

And should I have a 401k? Because then I said- You don't do it? No, I never- No.

Do you think the whole world revolves around you and your money?

Well, it doesn't.

Charge for wasting our time. I will take a check. You recognize her from anchoring on CNN, CNBC, and Bloomberg.

The only financial expert you don't need a dictionary to understand. Nicole Lappin. As you know, every Friday, we talk with a public figure making change in every sense of the word, and along the way has been in or is still in money rehab. Today, I'm talking to Devon Knard, linebacker for the Arizona Cardinals. But like any good money rehabber, Devon doesn't have just one stream of income playing football. He is also a real estate investor and soon to be financial author. Devon, I am so excited to have you on the show and hear about all the football, real estate, all the things. But first, a quick game of money rehab, Never Have I Ever. Have you ever played Never Have I Ever? The drinking game. Yeah. Okay, so this is the money financial version of that with no drinking, unfortunately. I spend So never have I ever maxed out a credit card?

I have not. Nice.

Never have I ever negotiated a contract?

I have.

Yeah, you have. Never have I ever bought crypto?

I have.

Nice. What did you buy?

I got into Bitcoin. I don't got a whole lot, but I dibble and dabble a little bit. It's not really my thing. I stick to real estate.

Never have I ever bought a used I have. Nice. Have you bought a new car?

Yeah, I bought a new car, too. Strategically, because it wasn't going to cost me much more than a used one. So it was like, All right, I might as well just buy it new. But my rule of thumb is typically I don't buy new.

Yes. Yes, that is also my rule of thumb. Buy used cars, run them into the ground, sell them later. New cars are a total waste of money. Never have I ever taken out a student loan. I have not. Never have I ever played the lottery.

I've never played the lottery.

No. Never have I ever cashed in a savings bond. I have not. Never have I ever bought myself a six-figure gift.

I have not.

I don't know what you all call it in football, but what would be the equivalent of a layup, Never have I ever bought an investment property.

That's definitely a layup, but I've definitely done that multiple.

I spend my money, money, money, I can't wait to hear more about that. Tell me, though, what your relationship was like with money when you were growing up.

For me, growing up, I had a father who played in the NFL, and I got to observe a lot, and he did pretty well, but I was really young when he was actually playing. So most of my life, it was when he was retired. And I got to see what I did and didn't want. And my parents did well, but I always had a desire to do even better and put myself and my future family and generations. I took it upon myself to where I was like, my dad did well. He was like first generation, like going to college, getting out of the hood type of situation. I put a lot of responsibility on myself to advance my family much further than that and utilize the position my dad put me and my siblings in. So that was at a young age, that was my motivation. I don't really know where it came from. That's not like I grew up talking about finances with my family my family a lot, but it was always like, If my dad could do this, I got to try to do better type of thing.

Wow. So what were the things that you wanted to do differently, and what were the things that you wanted to do the same watching him?

I like that he didn't have to get a full-time stress full job. So he did well enough and was smart enough with his money where he had some jobs and some things he did. But for the most part, he was able to do the things he wanted to do. So I like that. But I wanted more. I don't know everything I want yet, but if I wanted, I want to be able to do it type of attitude.

And what was their relationship with money? Were they strict? Did they spoil you? Was it a little bit of both?

They were pretty strict. I grew up in a good community, and anything I really needed or if I really wanted, I pretty much had. But they didn't just throw money at me ever. My mom is very conservative. I always joke and say she's a penny and she still shops at outlet stores and cuts out coupons and does the whole thing. So that really taught me to be frugal with my finances.

I mean, rich people stay rich by acting like they're poor, and poor people stay poor by acting like the rich. I think she probably taught you really well by doing that.

Yeah, absolutely. I always joke and say the richest people I know, you couldn't even tell.

Right? The Millionaire's Next Door. Is that what you wanted? Did you want to just not be able to tell and have a bank account, but not all the flash that goes with it?

I've never been super into the flash. I mean, at this point in my life, in my career, there's certain things that I like, but it's all within reason, depending on how much money you're making, what your situation is, and all that. So for me, it There were things that I wanted, but I'm okay with delayed gratification. So I'd rather be able to splurge and buy things with passive income than earned income. So I played football for a living. My dollars have work just as hard as I work. Just as hard as I work for them, they got to work for me. So that was my mindset. And once I'm regenerating enough passive income, if there's things I'm going to splurge on from time to time, then I've earned that right. But for me, I had to I learned it first.

When did you become interested in football? Did you always think that's what you were going to do because of your dad?

I always love sports in general. Actually, even till this day, if I could, I'd play basketball. But I started growing this way and not vertically. So I was like, I think my genes are dictating, but sports was always a passion of mine. But I had a lot of injuries, even my senior year of high school and throughout college, to where I didn't always know, and it wasn't always like a shoe in that I was going to play professionally. So it really pressed on me to figure out, and I had to make a decision. Do I want to be successful if I end up playing football, or do I want to be successful no matter what? And the vision I had for my life, it wasn't just tethered the football. I wanted to be able to live that life, period. So I had to start thinking and operating in a way of like, all right, whether I play zero years or I play 10 years, how am I going to live the life that I want to live?

What do you mean it wasn't a shoe in? You were recruited by more than 40 schools. That's not a shoe-in?

But once I got to college, I had a lot of injuries. There was a chance I wasn't going to get drafted into the NFL. And even once I got in the NFL, there's a lot of skepticism of, Will he actually play? Will he end up getting cut? All those things. And I've been blessed enough to play eight years now. So it's definitely a blessing. The average NFL career is three years. So to make it to eight years and be able to do what I do It's definitely something I don't take for granted.

And it's something that has been a big business. You've referred to college recruiting actually as a business. Can you tell me a little bit more about that?

It definitely is. You're trying to, just like any other business, trying to get the best talent so you can put the best product on the field and it's generating income. And the NCAA and college institutions are using athletes. I don't know if you saw the reports, but now they're going to start being able to get paid as college athletes. I think that's great because there's a lot of universities in the NCAA that's making a lot of money on college athletes' backs. And for me, I was like, I know that I'm going to school for free. I'm going to take full advantage of it and try to I try to use them just as much as they're using me to sell tickets and get people to support USC football. That's where I went to college. I was like, I'm going to use them and take advantage of this free education. So that's why I took school seriously and knocked it out as fast as I could.

Do you have a sense of how much USC makes off the football team? When you were there, was there the same movement that players should get paid, college athletes should get paid?

Everybody said so. It was ridiculous that I'm at USC and we're dealing with guys who are for sure about to go first round or have NFL careers, and they're waiting for a stipend check for $1,200, and more than half of it has to go to rent. And in downtown Los Angeles, and then the rest is we're eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and training table. It's ridiculous to think that's what our lifestyle is like when we're playing USA football, competing for national championships, and bringing in millions of dollars. I don't know exactly how much, but I know it's a lot.

Then you got drafted. You went to play for the NFL. What was the best piece of financial advice you got when you were being drafted?

I don't know if anyone really told me, but I went in immediately with the mindset of I'm going to save as much as I can because I didn't know how long I was going to play. But I looked at it as like, I'm 23 years old. I get a chance to make a lot more money this year than any other 23-year-old. So I'm going to save as much as I can and meet as many connections, build relationships, and try to leverage myself and put myself in position to be successful. So that was my mindset. I know I got made fun of, but as soon as I got drafted, I had my high school car shipped out to New Jersey because I got drafted to the Giants. Shipped it out, and I was driving my high school car for the whole first year. Then I found I got a marketing deal that I leveraged myself with the IKEA dealership because I drove a Kia, but my car was having issues. When you asked if I negotiated my own contract, well, that's when I did on my own. I worked out a contract in an agreement with the owner of a dealership, and I got to drive a car for three years.

I didn't buy my first car until I got my second contract and went to Detroit. So that's where my mentality, I had to make sure I was like, I want to put all my money towards investments and savings, and I could do all the other stuff down the line.

My heart is bursting. I'm so happy here, Chris. Hold on to your wallets, boys and girls. Moneyrehab will be right back.

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Robinhood has the only IRA that gives you a 3% boost on every dollar you contribute when you subscribe to Robinhood Gold. But get this, now through April 30th, Robinhood is even boosting every single dollar you transfer in from other retirement accounts with a 3% match. That's right, no cap on the 3% match. Robinhood Gold gets you the most for your retirement thanks to their IRA with a 3% match. The offer is good through April 30th. Get started at Robinhood. Com/boost. Subscription fees apply. And now for some legal info, claim as of Q1 2024, validated by Radius Global Market Research. Investing involves risk, including loss. Limitations apply to IRAs and 401(k). 3% match requires Robinhood Gold for one year from the date of the first 3% match. Must keep Robinhood IRA for five years. The 3% matching on transfers is subject to specific terms and conditions. Robinhood IRA available to US customers in good standing. Robinhood Financial, LLC. Member, Sippik, a registered broker dealer. Now for some more money rehab.

Nerdy question. You talked about the highest tax bracket, but How do state taxes work for sports? I read that some sports league, what you make per game is actually subject to state tax in the state that's hosting the game. Is that true?

Yeah. So you get taxed in every state that you play in. So it gets complicated. You got to make sure you have an accountant that understands that. That's bananas. But yeah. So I'm in Arizona now. When I was playing in New York, my checks looked a lot different than they do now in Arizona. So even now, I joke, and I say, I hate going to New York to play because it looks a lot less than it does when I'm playing in Arizona or other places.

Wow. I mean, it really depends also what city you're playing in, because if you're making 250 grand, is that the starting salary? That looks a lot different and different.

Yeah. It's growing up. It's going to be like 550 this year. So even bottom of the roster guys are making pretty good money. But yeah, it can look a lot different depending on what city you're playing in and where all your away games are. You want to be in a good home-based city because you know you're playing home at least eight games. So if you're in a high-tax home stadium, then that really sucks because eight games, you already know you're getting taxed the worst, and then you just got to see where else you're playing from there.

Yeah. New York, California, probably. You could paint in other things. But being in Arizona, I like because the tax situation there is much more favorable. In March of 2020, you reportedly signed a three-year, $20 million contract. Based on what we talked about, it's not $20 million in your pocket. What was that negotiation like? That's still... I mean, even with all the taxes and all the stuff taken out, that is amazing.

Yeah, it was definitely a huge blessing. And it was actually my second big contract that I signed. I signed one in Detroit, and then I was actually released from Detroit for essentially negotiation reasons. I wanted more money. And then I signed a new deal with the Cardinals, and the negotiation went well. As soon as I was released from Detroit, there was interest right away, and my agent got to work. He did most of the groundwork. I'm a firm believer. I earned my payday on the football field. I let my agent do his work from there. So he negotiated a good deal. I had a number in my head that I wanted to hit, and he was able to it. And now I get to play home in my hometown.

And then you get paid in just doing that, which is priceless, it sounds like.

Yeah, absolutely.

So when did you start getting into investing? Was it with real estate investing at first?

Yeah. I mentioned earlier, but my college career was really shaky. I had some injuries. I had a lot of position changes. I wasn't sure if I was going to play in the NFL and have that career. I always had confidence, but there were days where it was like, I don't know if it's going to happen. So I started trying to figure out what else I was going to do. And I met a mentor, and he started out as a police officer and a special education teacher. And he bought one property, turned into two, turned into three. And now he has a property management company in California, and him and his partner own over 4,500 units in LA. Just hearing his story, sitting down, talking with him, that was really inspiring because I'm like, if he was able to build that off of a teacher and police officer salary, if I only play one year in the NFL but leverage it right, I can put myself in position and give myself a really good Head Start. So that was my mindset. And after my first year, I went to a couple of real estate meetups in Arizona with a partner of mine who used to go to USA with me.

And we bought our first property in Indianapolis, and I never looked back after that.

So what does that mean? How many properties do you have now?

So I now own 15 properties on my own, but I'm also in 40 other syndications. I'm not I don't know how familiar you are with that, but I'm a limited partner, and a few of them, I'm a general partner in big syndications all across the country, from apartment complexes, single family homes to senior living, to warehouses. I try to reach and touch all the bases in different fields and different industries and invest and collect what I call mailbox money every month and just push up that, what my passive income is and my mailbox money is every month. And that's what I've been building out. So a combination of my own personal portfolio and then finding people who are already syndicating really good deals and networking working with them, connecting with them, investing alongside them, and reaping the benefits.

So here's a tip from Devon you can take straight to the bank.

I think everybody should adopt the mindset of building passive income, of mailbox money, of looking at and creating multiple revenue streams. I think it's essential. I think that's what the New American dream is. There's more ways now to make money than ever before in our society and in life. So everyone should take advantage. You can have a 9:00 to 5:00 job and sell stuff on Etsy that you like making and make some nice chump change. And then that, you could start to put into your first investment property and just let things start to feed each other. And you'll be amazed at where you can be five years and 10 years from now if you start doing that.

Money Rehab is a production of iHeartMedia. I'm your host, Nicole Lappin. Our producers are Morgan Lavoy and Katherine Law. Money Rehab is edited and engineered by Brandon Dickert with help from Josh Fischer. Executive producers are Mangesh Hateekader and Will Pearson. Huge thanks to the O. G. Money Rehab supervising producer, Michelle Lams, for her pre-production and development work. And as always, thanks to you for finally investing in yourself so that you can get it together and get it all. We spend our money, money, money, money, money. You spend my money, money, money.

You spend my money, money, spend my money, money, money. You spend my money, money, money. You spend my money, money, money.