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Career in Financial Planning
Erik Averill is a Co-Founder and Partner at AWM Capital. He is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ (CFP®) Professional and a Certified Private Wealth Advisor (CPWA®). Prior to AWM, Erik was a professional baseball player. He is the co-author of “PAID: How To Maximize Your Signing Bonus, Simplify The Money Game and Secure Your Future.” and is the host of the Athlete CEO podcast.
Co-founder of AWM Capital
A decade ago, Erik made his best sales pitch in convincing his brother, Brandon, and long-time friend, Robby to take a leap of faith in starting AWM.
Erik had a vision and a passion for providing financial advice to professional athletes.
While most would consider the prospect of working with professional athletes as an exciting clientele, it was his experience as a former professional athlete and personal exposure to bad financial advice that fueled his desire to start AWM.
Erik was convinced that the traditional model of financial advice for athletes was broken. Athletes have made the right decision to hire a “financial advisor”, however, the financial industry has failed them. The results have been disastrous.
Athletes are four times more likely to file for bankruptcy, twice as likely to be divorced, and have squandered millions due to fraud, high fees, and unqualified advice.
It was these convictions that led to the founding of AWM Capital and continue to drive the team today.
Erik believes education is the bedrock of advice. Erik is the co-author of “PAID: How To Maximize Your Signing Bonus, Simplify The Money Game and Secure Your Future.” He also co-hosts The Athlete CEO and AWM Insights podcasts.
Former Professional Baseball Player
Before co-founding AWM, Erik was a professional baseball player with the Detroit Tigers and Seattle Mariners organizations.
During his career as an ASU Sun Devil Erik was a 2003 Freshman All-American Honors, 2004 & 2005 All Pacific-Ten and Pitcher of the Year for the 2005 College World Series Team.
Personal Life
Erik is a member of Redemption Church where he serves as a Deacon.
Erik lives in Tempe with his wife, Sadie and their daughter, Olivia Grace, and sons, Levi Patrick and Jude Joshua.
Advanced Designations & Certifications
Certified Private Wealth Advisor (CPWA®)
Certified Financial Planner (CFP®)
Certified Kingdom Advisor (CKA®)
Education
Yale School of Management – Certificate of Wealth Management Theory and Practice
UCLA – Certificate of Personal Financial Planning
Arizona State University – W.P. Carey School of Business, B.S. Finance
Covenant Seminary – M.A. Missional Theology
More from Erik:
Latest podcasts by Erik Averill
Latest posts by Erik Averill:
The most important investment you can make as an athlete is finding the right advisory team. That decision should be based on skill, not personality alone.
We asked our CFPs, CPAs, and founders for their playbooks on financial planning for professional athletes to minimize tax and maximize wealth potential.
A look at how some of the most well-known athletes have chosen to spend their earnings - examples of how and how not to spend your fortune.
In this article, we’re discussing what a family office is, how it works, what different types are out there, and what is the ideal solution for your family.
The sports field is littered with stories of athletes who went broke. Unfortunately, athletes make a lot of financial mistakes. Despite lucrative playing careers, they often end up with no money and no retirement plan, wondering what went wrong.
In this article, we discuss seven piercing questions you can ask wealth managers to separate the qualified from the unqualified.
There is always a lot of “noise” out there when it comes to investing and the stock market. Whether its headlines in the news, a conversation with your neighbor, or your wife telling you what she heard from her friend at work.
Like in most election years, people are very passionate about who they support and who they want to win. This year is no different as people’s emotions are running high. They also have strong opinions on what this will mean for the economy and stock market. It’s okay for us to feel the way we do because that’s what makes us human. It is perfectly normal to address these emotions, but we also need to realize that people can make costly mistakes when making decisions clouded with emotion. That is why it is extremely important to remove emotion from investments, and to make practical decisions based on real data. Rather than promote one particular party or platform, this is being written to provide evidence-based data.
Today, the IRS provided the full details of the tax payment extension in Notice 2020-17.
Over the course of a summer, it’s not unusual for the stock market to be a topic of conversation at barbeques or other social gatherings. A neighbor or relative might ask about which investments are good at the moment. The lure of getting in at the right time or avoiding the next downturn may tempt even disciplined, long-term investors. The reality of successfully timing markets, however, isn’t as straightforward as it sounds.
It’s not what you sign for that matters but what you put in your pocket. As a player, your ultimate goal is not the gross MLB signing bonus amount; rather, it is the net (after-tax) amount. Are you familiar with how an MLB signing bonus is paid out?
Are you familiar with how an MLB signing bonus is paid out? Historically, teams have split the gross amount into two equal payments over two years. The most costly mistake? Believing this is non-negotiable.
You have worked hard for your money, which is why it never feels good when you see how much you lose to taxes. Unfortunately, most players neglect ongoing tax planning, which results in paying more in taxes than they should. For those in the highest tax bracket, they are losing between 40% to 50% of their income to taxes, contingent on their state residency. For those in lower tax brackets, they are losing out on the opportunity to build future tax-free investment growth and income.