Your first NIL deal just made you a CEO.
Nobody handed you the playbook — until now.
A free, plain-English guide for college athletes earning name-image-likeness money — and the parents in their corner. Taxes, eligibility, contracts, and habits, across your first 100 days. Built by a fee-based fiduciary, not a salesperson.
Built for the moment the money shows up
An NIL deal makes you the CEO of a small business — while you’re carrying a full course load and a practice schedule. The contract, the taxes, the eligibility rules, the family conversations: they all arrive before anyone explains them. This guide is the timeline nobody gave you: what to do, in what order, across your first 100 days — written for athletes and parents to read together.
Your first 100 days, in four phases
Build your team & know the rules
Before you spend a dollar
Taxes & staying eligible
Build the future
NIL income is 1099 money — self-employment tax (~15.3%) on top of income tax, and nobody withholds it for you · why a 25–35% set-aside habit saves the April surprise · quarterly estimated taxes · what a Roth IRA can do while your tax bracket is low.
Every deal checked with your school’s compliance office before you sign · reading a contract before an attorney does · who belongs on your team (and who doesn’t) · handling money as a minor with a parent or guardian · building habits while the checks are still small.
Why trust this playbook
It’s from Davies Wealth Management — a fee-based fiduciary, SEC-registered investment adviser in Stuart, Florida. Founder Thomas Davies, CFS, has 30+ years helping people make sense of money. This guide is education first: it’s genuinely useful even if we never speak. Written for athletes and the people in their corner — parents, guardians, coaches, mentors.
We can help you make the most of what you have!