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It’s not always ‘a sexy thing’ to be a millionaire: Brandon Copeland

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Brandon Copeland

Copeland Media

Brandon Copeland is a former NFL linebacker turned coach. But the type of coaching he gravitates to isn’t in the realm of sports — it’s in personal finance.

The 33-year-old — who played for six teams across 10 seasons in the National Football League before retiring last year — started co-teaching a financial literacy course to undergraduates at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, his alma mater, in 2019 while playing for the New York Jets.

The course, nicknamed “Life 101,” was inspired by his own experiences with money, according to “Professor Cope,” who is also a member of the CNBC Global Financial Wellness Advisory Board and co-founder of Athletes.org, the players’ association for college athletes.

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Now, the Orlando resident has written a new book, “Your Money Playbook,” that reads as a football coach’s blueprint to winning the financial “game.” It touches on topics like budgeting, paying down debt, saving, estate planning and starting a side hustle. (Just don’t call it a “side hustle,” as he explains in the book.)

CNBC reached Copeland by phone to discuss his journey into financial education, why becoming a millionaire “is not a sexy thing” and how it helps to think in terms of Chipotle burritos.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

‘Put the money to work for you’

Former NFL star Brandon Copeland on the importance of financial literacy

Fast forward to December 2016: My wife and I, we bought our first house, in New Jersey. When we bought that house I was in Detroit playing for the Lions. My wife was at the closing table and she called me and [asked], “Hey, does everything look right on this?” They e-mailed me the closing documents; it was 100 pages and I had no idea what I was looking at. I could see the purchase price was the price that we agreed to, but then I saw all these other titles and warranty deeds and this and that. And I’m like, “I have no idea if I’m getting screwed right now.” One of my biggest fears being an NFL player has always been, somebody’s taking advantage of me.

GI: What do you think is the most important takeaway from your book?

BC: The power of growth. That was the big discovery for me as I started to make money. I had no idea that existed as a kid. I always tell people, you either put the money to work for you or you go to work the rest of your life for money.

There’s a lot of folks who are afraid of the [stock] market. And I’m like, well, everyone’s an investor. If you have a dollar to your name, you’re an investor. If you take your money, you put it under your mattress, you do nothing with it, you put it in a safe in the house: That’s an investment decision. That’s a 0% return. If you take your money, you put it in a regular checking account, that’s a 0.01% return. You put it into a high-yield savings account, it’s a 4% to 5% return. The stock market, you put it in an index fund, the S&P 500, that may be an average 9% to 10% return.

All of those are investment decisions, you just have to choose wisely. [People] can put their money to work for them and get out of the “rat race” at some point.

‘That’s a lot of Chipotle burritos’

GI: For someone who is just starting out — let’s say they have been hesitant to invest their money in the market — how would you suggest they get started?

BC: I think the first thing you’ve got to do is download the [financial news] apps — the CNBCs of the world, the MarketWatch, Yahoo Finance, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg — and turn on the notifications. Those notifications are starting to explain to you what is moving the market and why, and you’re starting to learn the language of money. Whether you choose to invest money or not, you’re at least starting to get comfortable with, “Oh, the market’s down today. Well, why?” I think that’s important to start to develop your stomach.

The other thing is, start to look at where [your] money is: What account your money is sitting in and how much is in those accounts. By doing that, you’re starting to look at your money from a 30,000-foot view. You can start to determine, “I have X amount of dollars over here in my traditional checking account. Maybe I can take some of that money and put it over into a high-yield savings account that is now giving me 4% interest on it annually. And by getting 4% interest on it annually, maybe that’s generating me $500 a year that I otherwise wouldn’t have had.” Now you’re starting to put yourself in the game of money. What is the limited amount of effort I can do and still be generating money on my behalf?

As a kid, if somebody said, “Hey, man, I’ll give you $500 to do nothing, to press two buttons,” you’d be like, “Sign me up!” I always break that down as, that’s a lot of Chipotle burritos, that’s a lot of dinners, that’s a lot of time with my family at the water park. By doing that, it makes it more of a priority for me to hurry up and make that investment decision.

Brandon Copeland

Copeland Media

GI: One of the first things that you encourage people to do in the book is say aloud to themselves, “I can be wealthy.” Why?

BC: In football, your money or your job can be taken away from you overnight or through an injury. A lot of times, as I was making money, I was always just kind of looking around the corner. Even to this day, I still think about it as if somebody can rip the rug out from under my feet. So I’m still sometimes in survival mode. I think that although you can be making money, there are still ways where you can have anxiety around money, your lifestyle and when you spend money — all those things.

Starting to have positive affirmations — “I deserve to be rich. I deserve to have money. I deserve to not be stressed about keeping the lights on. I can be wealthy. I can do this” — sometimes you’ve got to coach yourself on that. Because where else do you go get that positive affirmation that you can do it?

Doing those things over time not only reinforce positive connotations about yourself, but they also genuinely have a real effect on your mental wellness. It is really, really hard to walk out of the house and be a super productive human being in society when you don’t know if the doors will be locked or changed the next time you get there.  

Why being a millionaire ‘is not a sexy thing’

GI: You write in the book that the journey of financial empowerment will require people to confront their “inner money myths.What’s the most common myth around money that you hear?

BC: For lot of communities that I serve it’s, put your money in the bank.

GI: You mean keeping it in cash and not investing it?

BC: Exactly. I think it’s a myth because you put your money in the bank, and the bank goes out and invests your money: They invest it in other people’s projects, other people’s homes, and then get a rate of return on your money. Not to say banks are bad and saving is bad, [but] you’ve got to figure out at some point when can I get to the point where I can put my money to work for me?

I think that some of the myths are about whether wealth is for you or not. A lot of millionaires, it’s not a sexy thing. A lot of times you feel like you’ve got to go and create the next Instagram or Snapchat or TikTok in order to ever be wealthy, when really you’ve just got to make simple, consistent, disciplined decisions. That is the toughest thing in the world, to have delayed gratification or to subject yourself to delayed gratification.

I think a lot of times, we don’t prepare for the situation we will be in one day or could be in one day.

GI: How do you balance today versus tomorrow?

BC: I went to a school a couple weeks ago and [asked] the athletes there write out what they want their life to look like five years after graduation. By doing that and saying, “Hey, I want this with my life. I want it to look like this, and I want vacations to be like this,” now you can always look at what you’re actually doing and determine whether your current actions [are working toward] your future, the future things that you want for yourself.

I think a lot of us never spend the time write out what we actually want or to visualize what we actually want with life. And so you end up going to school, you go to college, and you’re there just to get a good job and make money, but you don’t really map out what that job is and what you like to do versus what you don’t like to do. You end up being just a pinball in life.

I literally put people in my life to help hold me accountable. The best way I’d say to balance between delayed gratification and enjoying where you are today is having those accountability buddies who can tell you straight up, “Hey, you’re slacking,” or “Hey, you’re doing a good job.” But you can also map out against your own goals and wants for yourself, and [ask], are my actions actually adding up to this? 

GI: You write in the book that carrying high-interest debt, like credit card debt, and simultaneously investing is like putting the heat on high during the winter in Green Bay, Wisconsin, while also keeping the windows wide open. Can you explain?

BC: Sometimes folks are putting money in the market to try to get 6%, 9%, 10%, 12%, whatever, when they may be making the minimum payment on their credit card or no payment at all, which would be even worse, and they’re paying 18% [as an interest rate].

You are automatically locking in a losing scenario for yourself that you’re not going to be able to outpace.

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Personal Finance

Many Americans are worried about running out of money in retirement

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M Swiet Productions | Getty Images

Many Americans are worried they’ll run out of money in retirement.

In fact, a new survey from Allianz Life finds that 64% Americans worry more about running out of money than they do about dying. Among the reasons cited for those fears include high inflation, Social Security benefits not providing enough support and high taxes.

The fear of running out of money was most prominent for Gen Xers who are approaching retirement. However, a majority of millennials and baby boomers also said they worry about their money lasting, according to the online survey of 1,000 individuals conducted between January and February.

Separately, a new Employee Benefit Research Institute report finds most retirees say they are living the lifestyle they envisioned and are able to spend money within reason. Yet more than half of those surveyed agreed at least somewhat that they spend less because of worries they will run out of money, according to the survey of more than 2,700 individuals conducted between January and February.

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Meanwhile, a Northwestern Mutual survey reported that 51% of Americans think it’s “somewhat or very likely” they will outlive their savings. The survey polled 4,626 U.S. adults aged 18 and older in January.

Since those studies were conducted, new tariff policies have caused disturbance in the stock markets and prompted speculation that inflation may increase. Meanwhile, new leadership at the Social Security Administration has prompted fears about the continuity of benefits. Those headlines may negatively affect retirement confidence, experts say.

With employers now providing a 401(k) plan and other savings plans versus pensions, it is largely up to workers to manage how much they save heading into retirement and how much they spend once they reach that life stage. That responsibility can also lead to worries of running out of money in the future, experts say.

How to manage the ‘fear of outliving your resources’

Because of the unique risks every individual or couple faces when planning for retirement, the best approach is typically to transfer some of that burden to a third party, said David Blanchett, head of retirement research at PGIM DC Solutions.

Creating a guaranteed lifetime income stream that covers essential expenses can help reduce the financial impact of any events that require retirees to cut back on spending, Blanchett explained.

That should first start with delaying Social Security benefits, he said. While eligible retirees can claim benefits as early as 62, holding off up until age 70 can provide the biggest monthly benefits. Social Security is also unique in that it provides annual adjustments for inflation.

73% of Americans are financially stressed

Next, retirees may want to consider buying a lifetime income annuity that can help amplify the monthly income they can expect. Admittedly, those products can be complicated to understand. Therefore Blanchett recommends starting out by comparing very basic products like single premium immediate annuities that are easier to compare.

“Unless you do those things, you just can’t get rid of that fear of outliving your resources,” Blanchett said.

Without a guaranteed income stream, retirees bear all of the financial risk themselves, he said.

 “Retirement could last 10 years; it could last 40 years,” Blanchett said. “You just don’t know how long it’s going to be.”

Among retirees, there has been some hesitation to buy annuities, said Craig Copeland, EBRI’s director of wealth benefits research. Such a purchase requires parting with a lump sum of money in exchange for the promise of a guaranteed income stream.

“We see great increase in interest, but we aren’t seeing upticks in take up yet,” Copeland said. “I do think that’s going to start to change.”

What can help boost retirement confidence

To effectively plan for retirement, it helps to seek professional financial assistance, experts say.

Meanwhile, few people have a plan of their own for how they may live on the assets they’ve worked hard to accumulate, according to Kelly LaVigne, vice president of consumer insights at Allianz Life.

“This is something that you should not plan on doing on your own,” LaVigne said.

While the survey from Northwestern Mutual separately found individuals think they need $1.26 million to retire comfortably, the real number individuals need is based on their personal situation, said Kyle Menke, founder and wealth management advisor at Menke Financial, a Northwestern Mutual company.

In thinking about how life will look in 30 years, there are a variety of things to consider, Menke said. This includes stock market returns, taxes, inflation and medical expenses, he said.

Even people who have enough money for retirement often don’t feel confident in their ability to manage all of those factors on their own, he said. Financial advisors have the ability to run different simulations and stress test a plan, which can help give retirees and aspiring retirees the confidence they’re lacking.

“I think that’s where the biggest gap is,” said Menke, referring to the confidence Americans are lacking without a plan.

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Personal Finance

Trump tariffs will hurt lower income Americans more than the rich: study

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Shipping containers at the Port of Seattle on April 16, 2025.

David Ryder/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Tariffs levied by President Donald Trump during his second term would hurt the poorest U.S. households more than the richest over the short term, according to a new analysis.

Tariffs are a tax that importers pay on foreign goods. Economists expect consumers to shoulder at least some of that tax burden in the form of higher prices, depending on how businesses pass along the costs.

In 2026, taxes for the poorest 20% of households would rise about four times more than those in the top 1%, if the current tariff policies were to stay in place. Those were findings according to an analysis published Wednesday by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.

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For the bottom 20% of households — who will have incomes of less than $29,000 in 2026 — the tariffs will impose a tax increase equal to 6.2% of their income that year, on average, according to ITEP’s analysis.

Meanwhile, those in the top 1%, with an income of more than $915,000 a year, would see their taxes rise 1.7% relative to their income, on average, ITEP found.

Economists analyze the financial impact of policy relative to household income because it illustrates how their disposable income — and quality of life — are impacted.

Taxes by ‘another name’

“Tariffs are just taxes on Americans by another name,” researchers at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, wrote in 2017, during Trump’s first term.

“[They] raise the price of food and clothing, which make up a larger share of a low-income household’s budget,” they wrote, adding: “In fact, cutting tariffs could be the biggest tax cut low-income families will ever see.”

Meanwhile, there’s already evidence that some retailers are raising costs.

A recent analysis by the Yale Budget Lab also found that Trump tariffs are a “regressive” policy, meaning they hurt those at the bottom more than the top.  

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The short-term tax burden of tariffs is about 2.5 times greater for those at the bottom, the Yale analysis found. It examined tariffs and retaliatory trade measures through April 15.

“Lower income consumers are going to get pinched more by tariffs,” said Ernie Tedeschi, director of economics at the Yale Budget Lab and former chief economist at the White House Council of Economic Advisers during the Biden administration.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said tariffs may lead to a “one-time price adjustment” for consumers. But he also coupled trade policy as part of a broader White House economic agenda that includes a forthcoming legislative package of tax cuts.

“We’re also working on the tax bill and for working Americans, I believe that the reduction in taxes is going to be substantially more,” Bessent said April 2.

It’s also unclear how current tariff policy might change. The White House has signaled trade deals with certain nations and exemptions for certain products may be in the offing.

Trump has imposed a 10% tariff on imports from most U.S. trading partners. Mexico and Canada face 25% levies on a tranche of goods, and many Chinese goods face import duties of 145%. Specific products also face tariffs, like a 25% duty on aluminum, steel and automobiles.

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These payments can be garnished for a defaulted student loan

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What payments can be garnished?

The U.S. government has extraordinary collection powers on federal debts and it can seize borrowers’ federal tax refunds, wages and Social Security retirement and disability benefits, according to higher education expert Mark Kantrowitz.

The federal government can intercept other funds such as state income tax refunds and lottery winnings, Kantrowitz said.

In some cases, federal student loan borrowers can also be sued by the U.S. Department of Justice, and face a levy on the funds in their bank accounts, he said.

How much money can be taken?

Social Security recipients can typically see up to 15% of their monthly benefit reduced to pay back their defaulted student debt, but beneficiaries need to be left with at least $750 a month, experts said.

Carolina Rodriguez, director of the Education Debt Consumer Assistance Program in New York, said she was especially concerned about the consequences of resumed collections on retirees.

“Losing a portion of their Social Security benefits to repay student loans could mean not having enough for food, transportation to medical appointments, or other basic necessities,” Rodriguez said.

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Meanwhile, your entire federal tax refund can be seized, including any refundable credits, Kantrowitz said. Fortunately, if you’ve already received your 2024 federal income tax refund, “the government cannot claw it back,” Kantrowitz said.

As for your wages, the federal government can garnish up to 15% of your disposable pay without a court order, Kantrowitz said. Wages of federal workers may be easier to seize, he added.

How can I avoid collection activity?

Take steps to get out of default and to try to avoid the start of any garnishments, experts said.

Borrowers in default will receive an e-mail over the next two weeks making them aware of the new policy, the Education Department said. You can contact the government’s Default Resolution Group and pursue a number of different avenues to get current on your loans, including enrolling in an income-driven repayment plan or signing up for loan rehabilitation

Some borrowers may also be eligible for deferments or a forbearance, which are different ways to pause your payments, Rodriguez said.

“We’re advising clients to request a retroactive forbearance to cover missed payments, and a temporary forbearance until they can get enrolled in an income-driven repayment plan,” she said.

If you do end up facing the garnishment of your Social Security benefits or wages, the government is required to provide you with notice before it starts its collection activity, Kantrowitz said. For your wages, a 30-day warning is required, while 65 days’ notice must be given before the seizure of Social Security benefits, he said.

You may have the option to have a hearing before an administrative law judge within 30 days of receiving a wage garnishment order, Kantrowitz said. Your wages may be protected if your employment has been spotty, or if you’ve filed for bankruptcy, he said.

“Borrowers can also challenge the wage garnishment if it will result in financial hardship,” Kantrowitz said.

You can dispute the offsets to your Social Security benefits, too, he said, by contacting the Education Department. The notice you receive should provide information on whom to contact.

Are you worried about the garnishment of payments such as wages or Social Security benefits? If you’re willing to share your experience for an upcoming story, please email me at [email protected].

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