The REAL Reason Why So Many Athletes Go Broke Like Mike Tyson and Allen Iverson

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Outta Pocket with RG3

Episode: The REAL Reason Why So Many Athletes Go Broke Like Mike Tyson and Allen Iverson
Hosts: Robert Griffin III (RG3) & Grete Griffin
Special Guest: PJ Good Demi (Wealth & Mindset Educator)
Date: October 20, 2025

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Episode Overview

This episode dives deep into the financial pitfalls that lead many athletes—citing cases like Mike Tyson, Allen Iverson, and Antonio Brown—to go broke, despite earning millions. RG3 and Grete Griffin, joined by special guest and wealth educator PJ Good Demi, unpack the real reasons behind athlete bankruptcies, focus on issues like identity, environment, and the difference between having money and being wealthy. The conversation offers actionable advice for current and future athletes navigating newfound wealth, emphasizing delayed gratification, carefully chosen advisors, and cultivating financial self-awareness.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Outrageous Athlete Spending: Mike Tyson as a Case Study

• [01:25] Co-hosts outline Mike Tyson's lavish lifestyle: a $2.3M gold-plated bathtub, tigers costing up to $200K/year, a $400M fortune "burned through" by entourage and bad management.
• Insight: Athletes often feel compelled to “buy into” a new financial world overnight, with no gradual adaptation.

Quote

“Just because you have the money doesn’t mean you belong in that world. But they try to buy into that world and it gets very expensive because they’re doing it too fast.”
— PJ Good Demi [03:26]

2. Why Athletes Go Broke: Three Core Reasons

• [02:28] PJ Good Demi identifies three main culprits:
  • Lifestyle management: Overspending to match new social circles.
  • Taxes: Not realizing how much of their contract goes to the IRS.
  • Bad advice: Entering the “$50 million world” without training in managing smaller sums.
• [04:10] Key mistake: Getting a suite of advisors immediately, instead of a tax advisor to set realistic expectations about net income.

Quote

“The first thing they should talk about is, let me give you a tax advisor first. Before we even talk about what to do with your money, let’s talk about how much of that money doesn’t belong to you to begin with.”
— PJ Good Demi [04:11]

3. Identity, Comparison, and the Trap of Sudden Wealth

• [04:49] Rapid wealth often leads athletes to “compete” by spending (multiple luxury cars, expensive jewelry)—falling for comparison rather than financial competence.
• Social media fuels unhealthy spending by showcasing only the extravagant.
• [05:46-06:50] Success stories (e.g., Shaq investing in businesses early) are set apart by self-imposed discipline and focusing on building assets before upgrading lifestyle.

4. Liquidity, Illiquidity, and the Hidden Dangers

• [08:59] Net worth doesn’t equal cash in the bank—many athletes have illiquid assets and don’t monitor or reassess their investments regularly.
• [09:25] Grete shares her own positive experience with enforced tax withholding.

Quote

“You talk about liquidity, everyone’s like, hey, what’s this guy’s net worth? But a lot of them don’t have that level of cash in the bank.”
— Greta Griffin [08:59]

5. Advisors as Double-Edged Swords: Avoiding Leeching

• [10:05] Many athletes come from nothing and are suddenly surrounded by “leeches”—including certain “advisors.”
• [10:24] Key to survival: Delayed gratification, self-education, and always double-checking advice.

Quote

“Just because you got a ton of money does not mean you should spend it … remove the ego, delay gratification, and you insert the double-check clause.”
— PJ Good Demi [10:24]

6. Environment, Entourages, and the Myth of Loyalty

• [15:00] Athletes often try to “buy” loyalty by financially supporting large entourages—spending hundreds of thousands monthly.
• These moves are often attempts to find identity and appreciation, but lead to financial bleed.

Quote

“I think they were buying loyalty, friendship and appreciation and attention.”
— Greta Griffin [15:23]

7. The Deep Psychology: Identity, Environment, and Value

• [17:29-20:05] PJ introduces his “Third Circle Theory”:
  • Awareness: Control of environment
  • Self-awareness: Creation of identity
  • Consciousness: Control of time
• Having money becomes the athlete’s identity; true self-worth isn’t developed.
• Advise: Friendships and relationships require a balanced exchange of value; once you stop giving, opportunists tend to disappear on their own.

Quote

“Your identity becomes the money. That’s why they feel this responsibility, because everything they have becomes their identity.”
— PJ Good Demi [17:29]

8. Dangers of Returning to Toxic Environments

• [22:50] When athletes return “home” with money, they become targets—jealousy and guilt-tripping are common.
• The environment that once supported them may now expose them to risk and resentment.

9. The Social Media Factor: Vanity Over Asset Building

• [25:00] The internet amplifies pressure to display extravagant lifestyles, distorting the reality of wealth and fueling unsustainable expectations.
• Story: Marshawn Lynch only spent off-field money, not his NFL contract.

Quote

“If I don’t have a G wagon, I’m nothing … If I don’t buy my mom this, then I’m nothing.”
— Greta Griffin [32:31]

10. Navigating Advisors and Building Real Wealth

• [28:38] Not every “expert” is real; athletes need to double-check recommendations outside their immediate circle, and pay for independent consultation if necessary.
• Remove vanity for two years post-contract and focus on financial fundamentals.

Quote

“There are people who you can keep separate from the deal to review deals … keep 90% of your money, you’ll slip 10%.”
— PJ Good Demi [29:19]

11. Concrete Advice for New and College-Age Athletes

• [34:24] Advice for rising stars like Caleb Williams, Shadur Sanders, Caitlyn Clark:
  • Delay gratification for at least a year.
  • Put 50% of contract income aside for taxes.
  • Limit big purchases to two wealth-parking items (car, watch).
  • Only live off what your investments cash flow; preserve principal.
  • Build credit and seek advisors from the world of wealth, not just sports.

Quote

“Delay the gratification. Don’t look at what other people around you in your team are doing … take a moment, stop. Take one year between signing a contract and trying to compete with other people on the team.”
— PJ Good Demi [35:20]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Why Athletes Overspend:
  “When you’re poor and you get rich fast … you haven’t trained yourself to compete, you’ve trained yourself to compare.”
  — PJ Good Demi [04:49]

• On Advisor Transparency:
  “Don’t double dip on me … my transaction fees are 30% and the average human’s are 5%. Why am I leaning out 25%?”
  — PJ Good Demi [14:04]

• On Handling Old Friends and Guilt:
  “You don’t even have to talk to them. You just have to ignore them, they go away on their own.”
  — PJ Good Demi [20:13]

• On Family Expectations:
  “They don’t get to choose the terms. … They can get help, but you should also support your own ambitions.”
  — PJ Good Demi [32:56]

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Section Timestamps

• Opening & Introduction: [00:00–01:18]
• Mike Tyson & Athlete Excess: [01:25–02:28]
• Why Athletes Go Broke—Main Reasons: [02:28–04:49]
• Mindset & Social Pressure: [04:49–06:50]
• Liquidity, Tax, and Advisory Issues: [08:59–09:56]
• Delayed Gratification & Advisor Pitfalls: [10:04–12:14]
• Environment, Loyalty, and Identity: [15:00–20:05]
• Handling Old Friends, Guilt, Return to Toxic Environments: [20:05–23:28]
• Social Media & Vanity: [25:00–32:18]
• Advice for New Athletes: [34:24–39:24]
• Closing Thoughts & Takeaways: [39:27–end]

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Final Takeaways

• Sudden wealth without preparation nearly always leads to disaster—manage yourself, your environment, and your advisors proactively.
• Delayed gratification, independent double-checks on financial guidance, and learning to say “no” are crucial skills for preserving wealth.
• True wealth is about maintaining and building upon your principal, not just showing off your income.
• Athletes should focus on “playing the real game of life, not the filtered game of the athlete in the wealth game.” [35:20]
• Invest in self-awareness and remember: “You don’t have to be a product of your environment, but you can grow your wealth and still enjoy those nice things—if you do it the right way.”
  — Grete Griffin [39:37]

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Highly recommended for athletes, aspiring pros, and anyone navigating sudden financial success.

Transcript

[PJ Good Demi]

Foreign.

[RG3]

Yo, yo, yo.

[Greta Griffin]

Welcome to out of pocket with RG3 hosted by your boy and the lovely, amazing 90 time all American, Greta Griffin.

[RG3]

That's right, guys.

[Greta Griffin]

We got a really special show for you today. So go ahead and like and subscribe to our YouTube channel. Move that mouse over now.

[PJ Good Demi]

Come on.

[Greta Griffin]

Move it on over.

[PJ Good Demi]

Click, click, click, click.

[Greta Griffin]

Like and subscribe to our YouTube channel. Leave us a comment, Let us know who you want us to talk to and what you want us to talk about. But today we are going to figure out why do NFL players and athletes go broke? Some of them went from buying designer bags, expensive houses and cars and now their legacy is a financial question mark. We got a special guest for you today, a man by the name of PJ Good Demi. He teaches mindset and systems about sustainable wealth. But can he help Mike Tyson, Antonio Brown and Allen Iverson not go broke if he was in their life when they were at their peak? Welcome to the show, brother.

[PJ Good Demi]

I appreciate you having me on and yes, I could have helped him a lot, but I refused to. I'll tell you why in a little bit, but that's awesome.

[Greta Griffin]

Let's get to the opening drive.

[PJ Good Demi]

FOREIGN.

[Co-host/Analyst]

Let'S get straight to Mike Tyson and just talk about the fall of the baddest man alive. Let's just name a couple things that this man bought that was just outrageous. And starting off with the 2.3 million dollar gold plated bathtub. What do you do in that bathtub to need that?

[Greta Griffin]

Not enough. He didn't just do that. He also bought and owned tigers that cost him about $4,000 a month to feed and were $70,000 and $200,000 a year to maintain.

[PJ Good Demi]

Crazy, right?

[Co-host/Analyst]

He burned through $400 million by his entourage and management, which is you kind of see that for people like Mike Tyson when you see them, they travel 20 deep, 40 deep. Like you barely ever see them by themselves.

[Greta Griffin]

Yeah. So pj, when you see a guy like Mike Tyson and his story, very well documented, what did you see in the beginning or during some of these expenses that he was making that if you were in his life, you would have changed?

[PJ Good Demi]

So let's take one second and understand the three reasons people, athletes go broke. Lifestyle management, taxes. So it's always one of the three or it's altering.

[Greta Griffin]

Right.

[PJ Good Demi]

So it's usually a question of timing and prioritizing which comes first. So the big issue with athletes is they inherit a significant amount of money at once and they haven't evolved their capacity to interact with lower amounts of Money at different stages. So in order to manage a million dollars, you have to have a million dollars first before you get to 10 million, 100 million, 150 million. So when you get a $50 million contract, you're now in a $50 million world without the practice of a $10 million world, a 4 million dollar world, 100k world. Like maybe some of them are going from like the hood to the, you know, queen's castle. Like, there's no like in between. Right, right.

[Greta Griffin]

Yeah.

[PJ Good Demi]

But here's the problem. Just because you have the money doesn't mean you belong in that world.

[Greta Griffin]

That's true.

[PJ Good Demi]

But they try to buy into that world and it gets very expensive because they're doing it too fast. And so the real large. So Mike Tysons lives about three blocks from where I used to live. So his new house that after he finished paying for, after Jake Paul.

[RG3]

The.

[PJ Good Demi]

Very honest Jake Paul's, when he said that on tape. But anyway, so the way I look at it is this. When you make a ton of money, you can either stop for a second and say, I just made a ton. I just got a huge contract. Great. The first thing they're told to do, and I think this is where the mistake comes, they go, let me give you a series of advisors to help you manage that. Yeah, mistake number one.

[Greta Griffin]

Okay.

[PJ Good Demi]

The first thing they should talk about is let me give you a tax advisor first. Before we even talk about what to advise on what to do with your money, let's talk about how much of that money doesn't belong to you to begin with. No one's having that conversation because that's not a fun conversation. It's not a fun now. Now it's like your $50 million contract looks like 22 million. It'll look that exciting anymore. Right. But if someone had that realistic conversation with that person, that person would not feel as rich. So they would not go spend at the $50 million level. They would spend first off, even if they did at 20 million, so they wouldn't get in trouble to a point where they're ever behind. And then their decisions would be based on a smaller level of money.

[Greta Griffin]

Right.

[PJ Good Demi]

When they look at their taxes first in that first conversation, the second piece of it, which is the honest piece of it, is can you learn some of the basics during your off time? Maybe when you're not playing before you spend and you're the new guy, you got to look really good. You got to compare yourself to other people because you had something to prove to all the People that didn't believe in you. If I'm wrong correctly. So this is what happens when you're, when you're poor and you get rich fast, this is what happens. These are the things that go to your mind because you haven't trained yourself to compete, you've trained yourself to compare. So these are different dynamics of money that people aren't talking about. So you look on social media, you go, these guys said I would never make it. This guy's got a Benz, I got two Rolls Royces. You know, I'm going to my grandpa Rolls Royce, my cousin Rolls Royce. Oh, it's only 500 grand. 500. I got 30 million. So you're compounding 500 grand times five, but you don't know how to do math.

[RG3]

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[PJ Good Demi]

RG3 and so you have athletes like Shaq and people who take that money and say, hey, I'm going to build and invest in businesses first. I'm going to buy a nice house too. But it doesn't have to be that nice. On contract one, maybe on contract five, I can go huge and by then I've collected the rest of my investment, make money, and you got the other guys who just aren't trained mentally to handle the money. And so it either leaves through lifestyle advisors or taxes. And the problem with taxes, since nobody talks about the evil guy in the room, you know, is the evil word. Right. You're going to die and you pay taxes. Those are two realities. But since no one's facing that with people, here's what ends up happening. The taxes come later, and they come at a time in a way that just sneaks up on you. So you've already spent in all the houses, the advisors, you have all this monthly spillage. I talk it, money leaving and everything else, and you're not conscious about, like, how do I get my money back? Like, you talked about a golden bathtub. That's a good thing because gold has weight and it has a cost. But. But that's not how he thought about it. You know, he wanted a golden bathtub. Right. He didn't think the cost of gold would triple. And I will go ahead and melt this bathtub down the road. Because he probably got rid of the house and he gave it away free. Exactly.

[RG3]

They probably repossessed that house for a while.

[PJ Good Demi]

So it doesn't think that way. And that's the problem. You see, it's not even the act. Even if the act could be a financially positive act because the mindset's not there. They're losing the money, even though they could have made a ton of money in the same act. Now, what happens if something happens to you can't have a second contract. What happens if you don't get more money? What if happens if you get a lawsuit? I mean, we saw this with some actors. Some guys are starting to double dip, figure out ways to make more money because they're behind. Yeah. And so when it hits you, then it's the worst type of hit because now you're really broke. I mean, there was a news. There was a recent thing about Mayweather. You know, he bought some cars from a dealership. I know the guy he bought the cars from. And he campaigned. Like, that's a problem. Like, wow, he has money. I don't think he's like, oh, I don't have $10. But. But what happens is you have liquidity issues and you have capacity issues because you're not managing money properly. It's not a question of having it.

[Greta Griffin]

That's a great point. Because you. You talk about liquidity, everybody's like, hey, what's this guy's net worth? What's he worth? But a lot of them don't have that level of cash just in the bank somewhere or under their.

[PJ Good Demi]

Under their bed because they didn't manage it properly or they're relying on other people who told them that's a 10 year investment, you don't touch it for 10 years. But they're not even reviewing the portfolio. Once you didn't even know is it doing good? Then in 10 years, like, yeah, it didn't work out. So that guy's gone.

[Greta Griffin]

Yeah, exactly. But see, this is something that, at least in my, in my situation, I made a lot of money off the field and my tax advisors made me put money into a tax account.

[PJ Good Demi]

Exactly.

[Greta Griffin]

Just to, just to say, you cannot touch this because come March, April, that time of the year, you're going to have to spend this in taxes. Now sometimes I don't have to because you know, there's things, once you get.

[PJ Good Demi]

Past a certain level and you're good at managing, you understand that you're borrowing from that account, using it, bringing it back, etc. But it's a conscious choice, not an unconscious one. These are the different things. Right.

[Greta Griffin]

So how do we get, how do athletes who are put in front of those advisers. Because you're talking about a lot of guys that come from nothing, right? Correct.

[PJ Good Demi]

And that's the problem.

[Greta Griffin]

They're coming from nothing. So they, like you said, they go from being poor to $50 million in the bank and now they got all these leeches. And sometimes these advisors are also leeches. How do we prevent them or at least equip them with the ability to see it before it's too late? Because there's been a lot of athletes who've gone broke because they've been broken off or taken advantage of by advisors.

[PJ Good Demi]

And this is going to be very unpopular to say this, but delayed gratification, that's the only way you win, which is just because you got a ton of money does not mean you should spend it. And that's, that's. And you don't have to immediately act on it. You can have some self awareness, take a moment and said, I am poor and just because I got 50 million does not make me wealthy. It means someone gave me a ton of money. So now I have to stop for a second and say, listen, I was paid to play football, basketball, whatever it is, or boxing, whatever you want to do. Let me focus on that. Let me not immediately upgrade my life right off season. Let me take a moment and understand what makes better sense and double check and triple check what I'm told. So by taking delayed gratification, that guy, if he wants to buy like a 500k car and he needs that for optics at that moment, he's going to lose 100. He's consciously doing that. Sure, it's fine. Do that just so you have something to, like, just appease you for a moment, right? And then don't do anything else. Like foundational purchases, which are like, your home for years, like location you might have to relocate, etc. Those foundational purchases need to be delayed until you have foundational structure around actually doing it. You take away the I'm the new athlete. So you remove the ego, you delay gratification, and you insert the double check clause, which is, if an advisor tells me to do something, I'm going to investigate that myself and I'm going to learn why that's a good or bad choice, and that's what I'm going to do in my off season. So I train my body during the on season, I train my mind in the off season, but that's boring.

[Co-host/Analyst]

But. But you look at the guys that get that get drafted at 22, 23 years old, or, you know, they used to get drafted at 18, 19 years old in basketball. And that's why I feel like the company you keep is so important. Because in a lot of cases, once you get drafted and you get the big contract, everybody around you is like, live it up. You know, just no one's telling you, hey, exactly what you're saying. No one's in there telling you that. They're all telling you you deserve it. And they do deserve it, but, like, nobody's there to humble them and keep them.

[PJ Good Demi]

Like, because you didn't grow your environment, you just grew your money. That's why I said you're not wealthy. You have a false illusion of wealth. And it's gonna be that illusion soon because you're gonna overspend and basically be negative again. So you have to understand that, like, if you are not surrounded by the right people, which are people at your level, and I don't mean other athletes, like, you have to look at that and say, if Mike Tyson is giving me financial advice, maybe I should rethink my advice because. Or maybe let me Google what happens or let me chatgpt. If CH tells you Mike Tyson made bad financial moves, you're like, maybe I want to find out. Or like, why am I listening to if he's telling me, buy this house a good deal, I'm like, why do I care? Right? So where advice comes from holds a lot of relevance. And if someone has skin in the game on your advice, meaning they have something to gain from giving you advice, you have to Be very careful about the advice. So that's why it's very hard to not have advisors without double checking.

[Greta Griffin]

Yeah.

[PJ Good Demi]

Because if someone's like, you should buy that car. Cool, I understand. It's great piece of advice. Maybe I trust you. Let me check. Why do you say that? Once the math. Maths, like five, six times, you go, okay, like, I see your intent isn't to defraud me. You need to pay a fee. That's fine. Like, you got to get paid something too. Right. But let me be transparent about what you're getting.

[RG3]

Right.

[PJ Good Demi]

Right. Don't double dip on me. Don't. Don't get, like, first on that side, and then the dealer huts me back, the real estate agent cuts me back, and then before you know it, my transaction fees are 30% and the average human transaction fees are 5%. And you're like, why am I leaning out 25%? These are the questions you need to be understanding and reading and understanding and not saying, my advisor said this is a good idea. You know, like, I don't. Like, who cares?

[Greta Griffin]

You can't just trust them blindly.

[PJ Good Demi]

Exactly.

[Greta Griffin]

And once that happens, then they. It opens up Pandora's box for them to take advantage of you. But I think you bring up a good point as well. As far as the people around you, you know, I am a believer that you, at times, you can be a product of your environment. Right. And you can be a product of the people that are around you, whether it's, if you're 18, it's your mom and your dad, your cousins, your aunts, your uncles, your best friends, whatever it may be. But then you look at a guy like Allen Iverson who went broke and really got saved by Reebok, you know, putting a trust in his name that he can't touch.

[PJ Good Demi]

Yeah, he can't touch till later. Yeah, I heard about that. Yeah.

[Greta Griffin]

And. But he was notorious, spending $100,000 a month on. On clothes and jewelry. Now sometimes with watches. Right. That can be.

[PJ Good Demi]

If you do it correctly. You can still lose a ton of money if you don't do it correctly.

[Greta Griffin]

But he was also notorious for being. Bringing, you know, 20 to 50 people with him everywhere he went. Spending money like it was, you know, hotels.

[Co-host/Analyst]

I mean, paid for everything.

[Greta Griffin]

And one thing that I have noticed in my own experience of, you know, former teammates and just people who I didn't know were family until I got drafted, Right. They. There's an expectation that you're going to take care of them. And for guys like Mike Tyson and Allen Iverson, I don't think they were necessarily thinking in their mind that they were spending money frivolously. I think they were buying loyalty, friendship and appreciation and attention. How do you, how do you prevent them from knowing? Like, hey, it's not your responsibility to buy a house and cars and clothes for every single person in your entourage because you're going to just bleed money so fast that way? Especially when you talk about, like, Tyson with the Tigers. He probably didn't know it was going to cost him $200,000 a month or a year to take care of those Tigers. They're not thinking of that. You buy someone a Lamborghini, well, they got to get Lamborghini.

[PJ Good Demi]

I'm going to answer this in a very, very deep, philosophical way. I might get you. Like, what am I talking about?

[RG3]

All right, look, I'm not the type to go around over sharing secrets, but this, it just feels too good to keep to myself. Right now, I'm watching all my favorite sports on Fox Sports with just one subscription. That subscription, a paid TV provider.

[Greta Griffin]

Yep.

[RG3]

Fox Sports has everything you're keeping up with right now, like the NFL on Fox, the Big Ten Network, FS1, and.

[Greta Griffin]

Even the MLB postseason.

[RG3]

And someone's about to take home the trophy. People, don't be the one that strikes out because you didn't have Fox Sports.

[Greta Griffin]

Now you might be asking yourself, how am I watching the game?

[RG3]

Then you may realize how many subscriptions and apps you've got on your TV every single night.

[Greta Griffin]

I've been there. And trying to manage all that is just too much.

[RG3]

Having Fox Sports all in one place.

[Greta Griffin]

Just makes things convenient.

[RG3]

My couch time is crucial. Okay, I just use my paid TV provider and boom, there it is, all of my Fox Sports waiting for me. So get in on the secret. Head to www.watchfoxsports.com RG3 to find your pay TV.

[PJ Good Demi]

So I teach online. Exotic cards, watches, the two key criteria of like, parking, wealth, which is you can still have everything you want. If you buy it correctly, you park your money in it, you can reuse it later, the IRS comes, get rid of it, get your money back, stay safe. Right? Like, that's what I'm known for on the Internet. What people don't know. I'm actually known more for my books on human consciousness. And in my book Third Circle Theory, I talk about the evolution of a human in three stages. Awareness, self awareness, consciousness. The first circle, which is the awareness circle, comes from control of your environment. Your second circle in your self awareness comes from the Identity you forge. And the third circle, which is consciousness, comes from your control of time. Let's remove consciousness control of time for another conversation, more philosophical. If you ever want to come back, we'll talk about that. We'll go deep into anime stuff, but let's talk about how when you get a lot of money, your identity becomes the money. So that's why humans identify that way. That's why they feel this responsibility, because everything they have becomes their identity. They don't have an identity yet. They never mastered environment. Entourage is an environment. You know who's around you, how and why they're around you, how much control you have over that is an environment. Remember, these guys lived in the hood. They had no money. They suddenly have a ton of money. They skip that whole piece thinking that because they have money, they have identity. So they relate to their identity. They are their money. They are their ability to buy their cousin a Cullinan, to buy their cousin a Rolls Royce or Ferrari, to say, you know that waitress, I'm gonna change your life right now. Here's 100 grand. Like, they are that. Unfortunately, you're propelled so far in the game so fast because of the money that you don't understand that that trial and error has very deep, dire consequences. And it's expensive. So what you do is your identity becomes this. You take care of everyone. So if you're watching this and you're new and you've gotten a big contract or a lot of money, you have to understand a couple of things. First off, yes, it isn't your responsibility to own everyone. Before I was rich, I had already cut out half my friends. Only because the way I would basically gauge if someone was my friend is that any relationship, I don't care. It's a woman, a man, a friend, a girlfriend, or boyfriend has to have an equal exchange of value. But what is equal for each person is not the same. These things are like things you said in your mind as to what is the value I'm seeking, what is the value in providing and that Provide that whatever value you're giving, you're receiving back in your own right. That's the balance of relationship.

[Greta Griffin]

So then how do you tell those friends that were friends with you when you didn't have money and now you do, and you're just like, all right, see you later.

[PJ Good Demi]

You don't even have to talk to them. You just have to ignore them. They go away on their own. They disappear. They just disappear, man. Once you don't respond, they just go away.

[RG3]

Just don't respond anymore.

[PJ Good Demi]

You don't have to respond. You don't have to. If they try to trick you into conversation, trick you into, come out, you know, we're going somewhere. And you also have to understand you're a different human now just because you have a lot of money. There are now expectations and people that rely on you now. And there was that mom that supported you all this time, that does deserve to be taken care of. And the first thing she wants isn't for you to buy her a car, is to make sure you actually get out of the hood, don't come back.

[Greta Griffin]

Right.

[PJ Good Demi]

At all.

[Greta Griffin]

Yeah.

[PJ Good Demi]

Zero ever. Because that's what she wants. She wants your safety. She wants you to grow up in a better environment. She wants you to have a family. That's what your parents want for you. Right? And then what? But you prioritize your buddy who, like, brings you back to the same bar you were going to to get those people. And. And there, that's where the shootings happen. That's where you're around the wrong people again. And they didn't have a reason to shoot you back then because you didn't matter. Right? But now you're the enemy because you're there with a lot of money and you're trying to take control over the environment that they're in. That force had environment power. Now money has environment power. Now you're an enemy. And why are you in that situation? Why'd you answer the phone when that friend called?

[Greta Griffin]

And they've always been the ones that are the most popular in those environments.

[PJ Good Demi]

Yes.

[RG3]

What was the.

[PJ Good Demi]

But what was the value? This is what you have to ask yourself. You have to have an honest conversation. Whenever, like, people ask me for my business card, I'm like, I am not going to give you my business card. First off, I don't have a business card. I haven't had one in 10 years. Secondly, I don't give it to them. They go, you're so rude. I'm like, there is no value in our conversation where I'm not going to give you significantly more than what you can provide me. And therefore it's a waste of your time for. Because I'm just going to take your card and give you the false expectation that I'm going to call you. I would rather tell you, go away. Go find someone your own age to play with or your own wages should say.

[Greta Griffin]

But that's a real thing that athletes deal with. They have a guilt, Correct.

[PJ Good Demi]

Because it's their identity and they feel like now that their new identity is money, they feel like everyone's identity should be that too. So you should come with me because we're all in this hood together. And it's like, you're not, though.

[Co-host/Analyst]

And you've seen so many athletes just alone this year from in colleges. Because now players in the in colleges are also. And you see so many of them, or a couple of them this year have gone back home for a bye week or whatever, get shot and die.

[PJ Good Demi]

Exactly. Because they go back to the environment they had no control over. They insert money. They're now target.

[Greta Griffin]

Right.

[PJ Good Demi]

So it's a different dynamic.

[Greta Griffin]

It's crazy because this is such a deep conversation, but it's a good one. Because athletes deal with this all the time. And I know you deal with it as well. Going back to Estonia to where you're from. They want you to get out, Right? When you're in the environment, everyone wants you to get out. The local drug dealer, the teachers, the person that hated you in high school, they see you go off to college and like, man, I hope you make it pro. And then as soon as you make it pro or college is kind of pro now as well. So as soon as you get to college and you're making money, they're jealous, they're upset. Why is this person making more money than me?

[PJ Good Demi]

Because they can't control you.

[Greta Griffin]

Why? Why them, not me? And now if you don't come back, they guilt trip you by saying, look, he's too good for us. He forgot about us.

[PJ Good Demi]

And you are, and it's okay, walk away, don't respond.

[RG3]

But it's the.

[Greta Griffin]

It's the Jay Z thing. You know, a lot of people say, hey, Jay Z changed as he earned more money.

[PJ Good Demi]

Poor people confuse confidence with arrogance all the time. Just because you're confident in your stand and you say, I tell people you're not going to lose money on this Ferrari. This guy. What, you think you know better than, like, me as a car dealer? Yes. Because I've done it longer. I'm better than you at it. If I wasn't, I'd be poorer than you. But I'm not much richer. And it is what it is. You don't like it, I understand. Doesn't make it arrogance. You just see it that way. But my track record is what differentiates arrogance from confidence. We don't have to justify our position as experts or masters of our craft to people who have never done anything of value or expertise in themselves. No expert ever has an opinion about another expert. It's always someone that has no experience, no money, no success, that has a problem with how you do something that you've mastered for years. Somehow they know better. Like the plumber that thinks that this other guy that created some engineering thing that's running the Olympics. Oh yeah, I would have done better. And what do you do on the other? I fix toilets and I never got past that. Okay, you know, like, what about it? I don't know. Why do you have an opinion about this?

[RG3]

This is a big deal for us.

[Greta Griffin]

Because like everybody's an expert at everything now. All you have to do is just garner a social following. And you know there's people out there who do culinary critiques. And it's like, are you a certified food critic? Did you go to school for that? No.

[Co-host/Analyst]

You take Ellen Iverson or Mike Tyson, that's known to just spend on an entourage, spend on everybody. Like Allen Iverson used to just hand out the hundred dollar bills from his back back to people. But then you have AB who got like a million lawsuits because he refused to pay people.

[PJ Good Demi]

Correct.

[Co-host/Analyst]

He wasn't paying for his private jet bills, he wasn't paying for his, I mean, anything.

[Greta Griffin]

You think contractors for houses and.

[PJ Good Demi]

Yeah, well that's a whole different ballgame. Extortion is something else. Like there's a lot of guys also where the fame becomes their identity and they think that now people should work for them for free to get some ego, to get some like Instagram post or be like, you know who I am dude, like as if, like the more money you make, the more you respect the people trying to make money. And that's something, that's just a reality because if someone's trying to do a good job at something and you have a lot more money, that's your opportunity to pass on the idea that they can also make it in their field. Maybe they're not maybe going to get a hundred million dollar contract. As a plumber, I know plumbers that are millionaires because they've done a good job with their businesses. Even pre covered, you know, they were, they were that. But I know those guys because they're good at what they do. And so if they get to work on your new house because it's epic and you're building a 30 million house, they should be encouraged to do a better job. Right? You should never make them wait. Like I've always said, the one thing I've learned in my life is like I pay people like on the spot immediately. Like never wait because it's A disrespect. When you hold back money, that's the exchange of value for what you're getting, right? You got something, you're supposed to exchange value for it. Now you put a condition on that exchange after the fact. You're an extortionist. You know what I mean? Like, and what I'm saying is that if you agree to something and the job was done the way it is, you may have changed your mind. It doesn't change what the reality was. Right. And someone may say, hey, I'll charge you an extra 10 instead of 30 and we'll get it done the way you want to. This is what you asked me to do. Oh, no, I don't want to pay you. These are just like ego plays of like, I'm more important than you, so you don't want to piss me off, you know, like, yeah, you don't want to do that to people. That's not like, like you're playing with the livelihood of, of a lot of people for no reason, you know?

[Co-host/Analyst]

And he played with the livelihood of other people and now it all bit him in the ass because now he filed for bankruptcy, you know?

[RG3]

Correct.

[Greta Griffin]

And there's different ways of. I know there's different ways of like filing for bankruptcy and guys do it.

[PJ Good Demi]

Strategically as a business. As a business. As a business. Yeah, exactly.

[Greta Griffin]

But your point of like paying people on the spot. I think a little bit of what happened to AB Was maybe he was running out of money. So.

[PJ Good Demi]

Well, then why was he flying on a plane?

[Greta Griffin]

He shouldn't have been.

[PJ Good Demi]

Yeah, he should have been flying coach with the little kids that are making noise in the back of the plane.

[Greta Griffin]

There's more sense of community, coach.

[RG3]

You know, there's more.

[PJ Good Demi]

There you go. It's a good way to give back to. You can always create a story. I wanted to be amongst the people. Like, this is what I wanted to do to like really sign autographs to the back of.

[Greta Griffin]

But I want to go back to one thing that you said about, you know, being able to say no. Right. And the people who are really experts in their field are the ones that have a proven track record and they're an actual expert at it. So now I'm a first round pick. Going from prop poverty and being poor, from the hood, going to the pros, and they throw all these experts at me. And it's a financial advisor, a tax adviser.

[PJ Good Demi]

Are they really experts or they're just.

[Greta Griffin]

Workers in that space point, how can that athlete then determine if that person is a Real expert when they don't even have the circle around them to.

[PJ Good Demi]

Help them identify that by double checking outside the circle. That's it. There are good people in the world. Like, not everyone's an extortionist or a scam artist. Like, I know that. Unfortunately, we glorify the stories of the scam artists. So we see those. We don't see the guy that actually help someone make millions in a portfolio because that was his job. It's like, this guy did his job well, we're going to recognize him. Nope, that guy stole $10. That's the bad guy. This guy I wouldn't talk about. So just check outside your circle. It's really simple. Like you have a circle. They told you to do something. Go outside of circle, outside of sports, outside of this. Ask someone, maybe even pay them for their time. Be like, I'll pay you. Like, sometimes I do one on one consultations with people and they're like, I'm about to buy this car. I've been told that this is a really good deal on this car. They're like, I want to pay you 500 bucks. That's it, just 500 bucks an hour just to look over this deal and tell me what you think. I'm like, you're going to lose 150 grand. They're like, okay. So I knew something was up, you know, and they're like, why? And I'm like, this is what they're not telling you. And also, this is the wrong car. On top of that, it's probably totally messed up. Like, you know, it's got all these signs for wrong dealership. Like we talked about earlier. This, this, that, all these red flags. That was $500. Like, like it just saved you 150 grand. Right, right. It just takes. There are people who you can keep separate from the deal to review deals. So if we can remove vanity off the table for, for the first two years that you got your big money and focus on business decisions and double checking these business decisions, you're going to keep 90% of your money. You'll slip 10%. Because it's inevitable. You have to play. You can't be like, I'm going to show up in a Kia at practice and all everybody else is in a call in and you're like, I don't get it. Like, why are you. Then it's the peer pressure getting your ass kicked in the locker room.

[RG3]

This guy's got.

[PJ Good Demi]

It's like someone's gonna punch him. You're making us all look bad.

[Greta Griffin]

So there's a couple of things you bring up here, and this whole conversation has been great. I think for all the athletes out there that get drafted or are running into money in this college football and sports era. This is why you talk about being wealthy versus being having money.

[PJ Good Demi]

These are different things. Yeah.

[Greta Griffin]

You never hear stories of guys that are pro athletes or women who are pro athletes that go broke, who have other pro athletes in their family or high net worth individuals in their, in their family. They usually not because they know they've, they've made and had those pitfalls. So now when you take men and women from the hood who go from nothing to having $50 million in the bank, they don't have that structure. All they've seen on TV and in music videos is jewelry, cars, alcohol, drugs, lavish lifestyles.

[PJ Good Demi]

Well, we talked about comparing, comparing, you know, it's like I need to fit in there.

[Greta Griffin]

Like they're wearing the, the Chanel shoes and the, you know, the Gucci shirts and everything. And they don't understand that you're wasting money and not spending it correctly. Marshawn lynch has a great story of how he signed his contract and then didn't spend any of his contract money and only spent the money that he made off the field.

[PJ Good Demi]

Exactly.

[Greta Griffin]

Right.

[PJ Good Demi]

Or off the contract money itself. So, like, you never lose the base. You go, I got 50 million, whatever I can cash flow off that 50 million, then I'll spend that. So if I'm cash flowing 4 million a year, I'll live a 4 million a year lifestyle. And I preserve the 50.

[Greta Griffin]

Correct.

[PJ Good Demi]

Now if I'm done and I go after like two seasons, I can't play anymore. I injure myself. Something happened then. Okay. Now I know exactly how much money I have. Yeah, I know. I have 10 million a year coming in from that money. I'm going to figure out better ways to make money now that I can't play anymore. But I still have the core of it. So I'm never going to be poor again. I'm never going back to the hood.

[Greta Griffin]

Yeah.

[PJ Good Demi]

And I still lived well, you know, $10 million a year, it's a lot of money. Maybe not on Instagram, but it's a lot of money on Instagram. Everyone's making $100 million.

[Greta Griffin]

Oh my gosh. But it's what you're saying, it's the vanity of it all. It's, it's what you preach. And when you make it, the thought is, man, if I don't have a G wagon, I'M nothing. If I don't. If I don't buy my mom this and get her and retire my mom and do this, then I'm nothing. And then I think athletes also deal with the struggle of sometimes it is the family, sometimes the family is expecting that, hey, they made it, so we made it.

[PJ Good Demi]

And in a way, they're not wrong, but they don't decide how much they've made it, and they don't decide how quickly they've made it. So. So the argument is not abandon your family. And I want to be clear. Like, I mean, I take full care of my mom or any of my family members need something, I'm always there. But they don't get to choose the terms. So they get help because they need help. And they might be supportive family members who have done a lot for you and been there when you had nothing and stood there, taught you, fed you, did things that, you know you would be very thankful for. But they don't get to choose the rate of return they got for that because they're imagining what money of yours they can spend. They can get help, and you should have a heart and help them, but you should also support your own ambitions. I always say it's easier to say to people like, hey, like, you don't get to decide how I spend my money if I want to help someone, right? If I want to help someone, I'm going to help them at the way. I believe that help will hold the most weight. And it could be money. It could be my decision if it's 10 grand, 100 grand, 5 grand, or whatever else it is. But you, you don't get to tell me, like, how I'm going to spend my money. And, you know, poor people do it all the time. They're like, come to you and they're like, you should have done this. You should have bought that. You should be helping this cause. Why aren't you donating to charity? Well, why aren't you rich enough to do any of these things yourself? Why are you worried about what I do with my money? Why are you concerned about my money? Like, you don't even know me. You're like a stranger on Instagram and you're like, dude, you're not helping this charity. I'm like, I don't even know you exist. Like, why am I having this conversation with you right now?

[Co-host/Analyst]

What's a. What's a piece of advice you would give the new age athletes like that Caleb Williams and the Shadur Sanders and Caitlyn Clark who are coming, you know, on to big amount of money.

[PJ Good Demi]

You might.

[Co-host/Analyst]

It might be a little bit different for Shador because Exactly. Is probably still rich. But what's one piece of advice you would give them for them to stay rich or keep getting richer?

[PJ Good Demi]

So I'm going to, I'm going to pretend I know exactly every one of those people. You true names here. I'm not huge into sports. When she's showing these names, I'm like, okay, Mike Tyson. We're on the surface of the mainstream.

[Co-host/Analyst]

So we got two NFL players and a women's basketball player.

[PJ Good Demi]

Okay. Luckily for you, I know what the NFL is in basketball is. I know what that looks like on tv.

[Greta Griffin]

So we're good.

[PJ Good Demi]

Okay. So I think if you're getting a lot of money, like I said, delay the gratification. Don't look at what other people around you in your team. Maybe just in your team, you're in Redskins, you know, you're in the Yankees. Doesn't make a difference. If your team's doing something, you don't have to do it. You're new. Take a moment, stop. Take one year. Between the time you sign a contract and the time you try to compete with the other people on the team in that one year, which I know is so long, 112 months. Can you imagine that? I mean, oh my God, these kids, like three months later, they're like, I'm out 12 months in just. You will have the clarity you need once you actually understand how these things work. So if you live in a 500k home at the time you sign your contract, and that's what your family can afford, and that's where you are, and you've always dreamed of a $10 million home, the best piece of advice I can give you is take the contract money you're getting in your hand, take 50% of it, put it away. That's your taxes, that's your tax liability in its worst case format, basically the other 50%. Before you buy all this stuff, buy yourself two items, buy yourself one watch. You can park money in one car, you can park money in that. You can drive like something cool. So you. Some water, okay. Like being there, like some gratification, right? Like you made something, it's an exciting time to be alive. Before you buy a house, which is a foundational concept, which means where you're going to live, your parents going to live, everybody's going to be there. Before you go, spend 10 million, 12 million, etc. The money of leftover after these two items. And that's the only two items you get to get for the year. Just one of each. That's it. Pick one you like and just stick with it. Now, the money you have left at a 50%, that's not spend whatever it cash flows. That's the ability of your purchasing power. If it doesn't cash flow anything, you don't have it. It's not your money. So if you have 20 million left after that, that's what it is. If you can get an advice, not your advisor, you double check, you get in a normal S and P fund, you're making 2 million a year. Then that's the level of income you live at. Year one. What is it going to make me? What can I afford? And here's why it's important. When you're poor, you also don't have fundamentals like credit. You don't understand credit, right? You don't have credit. Right. You don't have. So, so here's what happens when you have that money in the bank. You're going to have a wealth advisory team. And you want to go to banks that are specialized not in athletes, but in that level of wealth in dollars. Because you want to remove yourself out of the athlete circle for the first five to 10 years. And you want to play the real game of life, not the filtered game of the athlete in the wealth game. So if you go into that world, you start to meet people who actually manage all walks of life. Not just athletes who know other advisors, not just athletes who know other car buyers, car sellers and people that they're like, hey, I'm a smart financial advisor. I make good financial decisions around my cars. You should now go meet pj. You should know, go meet this guy. You should not go meet this other guy. And these are the real advisors that you're going to personally know yourself. And you don't start the conversation with, do you know who this is? You don't do that because it's very likely, and this is the important part, it's very likely that the expert who's actually worth knowing is not only expensive, but not just in fees, but not accessible as easily. And it's going to require referral from someone to even go see them. The guy who's openly available to giving you advice all the time, who makes income off the advice you're getting isn't your friend. That's his job. His job requires him to make a profit. And that profit is you.

[Greta Griffin]

Yeah.

[PJ Good Demi]

And that's what you got to understand the difference between the job and the expertise. And expertise you'll go pay for. And it's okay. It can be expensive. But it also has to make you understand that there is a disconnect, meaning there's no direct connection to the advice they're giving you and the income they're making.

[RG3]

Right.

[PJ Good Demi]

And that's the big lesson that people have to learn.

[Greta Griffin]

There you have it.

[PJ Good Demi]

P.J.

[Greta Griffin]

We appreciate you coming on the show.

[PJ Good Demi]

Thank you for having me. It was a lot of fun even having you here in the office and showing you all this stuff. So again, always open to helping in any way I can.

[Greta Griffin]

Yeah, this is great. And to the people at home, the athletes who are watching this, learn from the mistakes of Mike Tyson, Antonio Brown, and Alan Iverson. Learn to say, no, I think that's the big thing. And always double check everything that you're being told. You don't always have to be a product of your environment, but you can grow your wealth and you can still enjoy those nice things if you do it the right way. We appreciate you guys coming and checking out the show with us. This is out of pocket with RG3 with the lovely host, 90 time all American, Grete Griffin. Make sure you guys, like, subscribe to our YouTube channel and we'll see you guys next time. Peace.