Is Dez Bryant Financially Smart?

For those of you that don’t know, Dez Bryant was a wide receiver that was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in 2010. This past spring, Dez was released by the Cowboys after eight seasons, three Pro Bowls and one All Pro on his resume. Shortly after being released by the Cowboys, the Baltimore Ravens offered Dez Bryant a contract for three years and up to $21 million dollars. Amazing offer. Any one of us would take that offer in a heartbeat. He accepted right? Nope. He declined the offer and as of this writing is still currently unemployed. We won’t really know for sure until next year if this was the right move for Dez, but if you look close enough, there is a financial lesson to take away from his situation.

Most of us are not professional athletes, but at some point, we may find ourselves in a situation where we suddenly lose our job. Our employer ultimately has more control over our job prospects than we’d like to admit. They do have the ability to lay employees off at any time.

So, what does Dez Bryant have to do with this? Dez is in the position to be selective about his next opportunity. You can be selective with the right planning. The right planning means that you have at least six months of expenses saved in an easy to access bank account. Those six months will give you the time and the ability to look for a new job that is better suited for you and your future career. Without the savings backstop, you’d be forced to take the first job available instead of the best job available.

A study by Bankrate, shows that 39% of Americans would not be able to handle a $1,000 unexpected expense. 22% of Americans has 3 months or less in savings and 23% have zero short term savings available. This is a significant risk that can be easily avoided by setting up a system to save.

Having six months of expenses in the bank can seem like a daunting task. You don’t have to get there right away. Start by saving what you can, then slowly increase the savings amount until you have your six months of expenses saved. Once you do that, you can move on to saving into more wealth building investments like stocks, bonds or mutual funds.

The ultimate take away here is you want to be in control of your financial situation instead of the other way around. When your finances control you, it will lock you into short term decisions that can take years to recover from.

Want more information? Contact Derek at the Bulfinch Group in Needham, MA.