Two situations, two sets of questions
The math is different depending on where you are. Start with the one that describes you.
College athletes earning NIL
NIL money does not arrive like a paycheck. Nothing is withheld, and the tax bill shows up months later.
- What you actually owe, and when it is due
- Why product and travel count as income
- How deals in multiple states create multiple filings
- How revenue sharing is treated differently from NIL
- What to do with the money that is left
Professional athletes
The contract is the easy part. Making a compressed income stream cover a normal lifespan is the hard part.
- What the earning window has to fund
- How representation and tax costs change the real number
- Why timing of market losses matters more after the career ends
- Reading an offer you have already been given
- Building a plan that does not depend on the next contract
NIL tax reserve estimator
A rough estimate of what to set aside from NIL income before you spend any of it. This is an educational estimate, not a tax return.
What to hold back
Enter your deals. The tool estimates self-employment tax, income tax, and a quarterly set-aside.
The earning window
What a short, high income period has to cover once it ends. Arithmetic, not a projection of your results.
Career income against a lifetime
Enter the window. The tool shows what is left and what it works out to per year.
Two findings worth knowing
Both come from primary sources. Widely repeated numbers about athletes going broke often trace back to a single magazine estimate, so these are the ones with research behind them.
Bankruptcy filings within twelve years of retirement
Researchers tracked NFL players drafted between 1996 and 2003. They found filings began soon after retirement and continued at a steady rate. Career length and total earnings had little effect on the risk, so a longer, better paid career offered little protection.
Tax withheld from a typical NIL payment
The IRS treats most NIL income as self-employment income. It is taxable whether or not a form arrives, non-cash compensation counts at fair market value, and the reporting threshold rose to $2,000 for 2026, which means fewer forms rather than less tax owed.
Why the order of the down years matters
Two portfolios can average the same return over twenty years and end up in very different places. What separates them is when the losses arrive relative to when withdrawals start.
For an athlete this is not a distant retirement question. Withdrawals often begin in the late twenties, which means the sequence risk that most people face at sixty five arrives decades earlier and runs for far longer.
Illustration only. It uses identical average returns and identical withdrawals, with the order of returns reversed.
Working together
Flat fee, agreed before anything starts. No products are sold and no commissions are earned on anything discussed.
Financial advocacy means the professional explaining your finances has nothing to sell you.
Every professional athlete is surrounded by people who benefit financially from the decisions they make. Agents, advisors, and product representatives, often all at once. The Athlete Advocate Program is different. Kevin Dingle reviews what you already have, including advisors, contracts, insurance, investments, and proposals, and explains it in plain language, with nothing to sell and no commission riding on what you decide. You get a second, objective set of eyes on your financial life, and the specific questions to bring back to the people already managing it.
- Discovery and document review, covering everything currently in place
- Findings and questions, in plain language
- Action plan and close-out
- Written findings summary
- Plain-language fee and cost breakdown
- A specific question list for your existing advisors or agent
- A written action plan
- Email access for clarifying questions through the 90 days
- Everything in the 90-Day Review
- Six structured sessions across the engagement
- A mid-point reassessment
- A season-end summary session
- Everything in the 90-Day Review
- Review of any new financial proposal brought to Kevin during the engagement
- Written mid-point and end-of-engagement summaries
- Direct email and phone access during business hours for the full six months
Shorter engagements
Built for college athletes, families, and anyone with a single decision in front of them rather than a full financial picture to review.
The Clarity Session
One focused conversation. Useful for a first NIL deal, a first contract, or a single decision you want to think through.
The Second Opinion
You already have an offer, a policy, or a proposal in front of you. We read it together and cover what it does and what it costs.
The Comprehensive Review
A full look at income, taxes, obligations, and what the earning window has to cover. Built for athletes and families carrying several moving parts.
Start with a free 30-minute call
Bring the deal, the contract, or the question. The call confirms fit and costs nothing. Any fee is agreed before work begins.
Book the call See all free toolskevin@myclearview.co · (704) 770-7371 · myclearview.co
Educational purposes only. Everything on this page, including both calculators, is general financial education. It is not investment advice, tax advice, or legal advice, and it is not a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security or insurance product.
About the calculators. Both apply the rates you enter to the amounts you enter. The NIL estimator applies self-employment tax at 15.3% to 92.35% of net earnings, which is the standard method. It does not model the standard deduction, the deduction for one half of self-employment tax against state tax, the Social Security wage base above which only the Medicare portion continues, the kiddie tax, or any state specific rule. The earning window tool assumes level real returns and no change in spending. Real outcomes differ. Treat both as a starting point for a conversation with a CPA.
About Clear View. Kevin Dingle is Founder and Financial Coach at Clear View Financial Services. He holds FINRA Series 6, 7, and 63 qualifications and Life and Health Insurance licensing, with prior institutional experience at JPMorgan Chase, Smith Barney, and New York Life. He is not currently registered as a registered representative or an investment adviser representative, does not sell securities or insurance products, and receives no commissions. Clear View does not prepare tax returns and does not provide legal services.