How Team Sports Can Affect Retirement Planning

The Olympics ended with a spectacular closing ceremony, the event showed competition is alive and well and the United States topped the medal table once again! Thinking about sports does not generally equate to thoughts about retirement or saving for retirement, but a new TD Ameritrade study demonstrates how the two can actually be closely related. The findings of the study may surprise you.

Youth Sports Can Cause Delays in Saving for Retirement

The TD Ameritrade survey/study targeted parents between 30-60 years of age who had $25,000 or more in investable assets, and who were decision makers for household investments. The other requirement was that respondents have children who play in “competitive youth sports,” defined by a child playing for highly competitive or elite club team run by a non-school organization. Does this describe you or someone you know?

The study’s findings demonstrated convincingly that a majority of parents paying for youth sports are underprepared for retirement. Here were some of the most surprising figures that TD Ameritrade released:

• A majority of parents whose children participate in competitive youth sports spend between $100 to $499 a month per child
• 1/3 of respondents said they do not contribute regularly to a retirement account
• 57% of parents did not have a long-term financial plan!
• Parents spend 4xs more time on children’s sports activities than on their own finances.
• 60% percent say the cost of youth sports has them concerned about their ability to save for the future
• 77% percent say youth sports affect household budgeting, and discretionary spending gets cut first.

When 33% of parents say they do not contribute to a retirement plan and 57% of folks say they don’t have a long-term financial plan, it gives cause for concern. But it also reminds us of our goal to create long-term investment plans for our clients—plans that address their retirement goals and adapt to whatever their financial situation may be, youth sports or otherwise.

Assigning Importance to Important Things

Team sports are a wonderful tool for helping a child grow up healthy and learn valuable experiences. And while many would love to see their kids go on to be an Olympian and make the country proud, the reality is that very few will actually make it. Even having college paid for by sports is far from a certainty, as in the study only 24% of the children surveyed got a college scholarship.

That means that parents with active children could end up paying a pretty penny for sports, which could in turn mean neglecting their own finances in the process. Indeed, only 38% of respondents said they have a diversified portfolio, and only 26% had a relationship with a financial advisor to keep them in check. If this applies to you or anyone you know, we think it makes sense to at least check with a financial advisor to see if there are some solutions available to get you started, even if it’s just little by little.

Our Wealth Managers might be able to help. To talk to one of us about what you can do to get started, just call 1-800-541-7774 or send us an email to wealth@wrapmanager.com. Or download our free eBook 5 Ways to Enhance Your Retirement Planning Strategy. 

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Source:

TD Ameritrade investor Survey: Parent perspectives on the cost of competitive youth sports July 2016