Want your Kid to Grow up to be a Millionaire?

By: Debt Discipline I remember dreaming of playing in the NFL and being a millionaire from an early age. I strapped on my first helmet when I was five, following in my older brother’s footsteps, playing both football and lacrosse. My dad was an avid sports fan. He and my mom encouraged all of my brothers and sisters to be involved in activities. I was much bigger than many of the kids my age and instantly found success with football. You mean I get to do all the things my mom usually tells me to stop doing, like pushing and tackling other kids? I had a great early career in youth football. So much so that I began dreaming of playing in the NFL and being a millionaire. Isn’t that the fun part of being a kid, dreaming, being carefree, feeling like you could accomplish just about anything you put your mind too. Well, it was a good thing I was a level-headed kid too because as my football and lacrosse careers progressed so did the skills of the other players around me. The early success I achieved slowly faded as the other kids became just as big and strong as me. By the time high school arrived I was just your average size player with average abilities. I quickly realized my dream of play in the NFL and winning a Super Bowl would not be fulfilled, but that was okay because I now had my sights set on college and a career.

Dream Crusher

Now as a parent of three children of my own I also encouraged them to play sports and be involved in activities.  I had hopes that maybe one or all my children would have better sports abilities than their dear old dad. As it turns out all three play some type of team sports over the years, but as fate would have it we do not have any sports all-stars in our house. Which given my own experience I realize is a long shot. My wife and I have always preached a school work first approach when it comes to extra curriculum activities. We want a nice balance, we want them involved in sports, clubs, interest, but realize school work should always come first. If they wanted to try something we always supported them, within reason. We didn’t want to crush a dream but also wanted to set realistic expectations.

Sport or Tech

If your child has above average athletic abilities pursuing sports might be an option. I know several families and their children would have benefited from college scholarships because of their abilities. Unfortunately, being a good college athlete often doesn’t translate into becoming a professional one. The key I believe still comes down to education. Why not let the athletic ability fund your way to a great education that you can use for years to come. A recent report released by Paysa puts some data behind the discussion of pursuing a professional sports career or one say in technology. Since the average professional sports career lasts only a few short years, the long-term payout is not necessarily any better – and could even be worse — than what an individual would realize if he or she went to engineering school.

  • MLB: average career length is 5.6 years with the lifetime earning potential of $2,912,000
  • NFL: average career length is 3.5 years with the lifetime earning potential of $3,010,000
  • NBA: average career length is 4.8 years with the lifetime earning potential of $12,027,456

The chances of making it to the MLB, NFL or NBA are slim. But if an individual made it their goal to become a tech engineer, it’s reassuring to know that the average acceptance rate at engineering schools is 63 out of 100. Six out of 10 engineering students graduate and 97 out of 100 find jobs. Considering that average career length for an engineer is 40 years, with an average annual salary of $125,418.00, the lifetime earnings potential for a person in this role is $5,016,723. If you work at Facebook, your overall earnings could be as much as $13,533,236. If you are a Google employee in the tech engineering space, you could make as much as $10,674,690 over the course of your career.

Conclusion

We don’t have to worry about the NFL, MLB, or NBA in our house. We are focused on careers. Our three children have varied interests, but the keys we believe in their success are to continue to teach them to have a plan for their money, live below their means, save and invest. We are connecting the dots on college and degree choice, overall cost and the return on that investment. This way no matter what career path they take they can all obtain millionaire status if they want, and it won’t take them 40 years of working either. Making a lifetime salary of anywhere between $3 and $13 million no matter what career path you chose sports or tech is still above average. The question of will that be enough will untimely come down to how you spend and save that money. Did you ever have dreams of playing professional sports? Did you know anyone who did, if so how well did they manage their money? What career path would you take today or recommend to a child? Republished with the permission of Debt Discipline.