$1.2M NIL deal at 18. Most keep $588K. Michael kept $805K. The $217,000 gap was four decisions wide. Meet Michael. 18 years old. From California. Never filed a tax return in his life. Just walked into more money than most adults will see in a decade. Here’s how we drew it up. 𝗠𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝟭: 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆. California has a 13.3% top tax rate. Texas has none. NIL income is taxed based on your state of domicile, not your school’s state. We established Michael as a Texas domiciliary. Saved: $127,000. 𝗠𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝟮: 𝗘𝗻𝘁𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. NIL income is self-employment income. As a sole proprietor, Michael would pay self-employment tax on every dollar. We set up an LLC taxed as an S-corp, paid him $190K in salary, and took the rest as distributions. Lower SE tax. And it unlocked the next move. 𝗠𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝟯: 𝗥𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝘀. Remember that $190K salary? It wasn’t random. It maxed out his solo 401(k): $24,500 employee + 25% employer match = $72,000. Add a backdoor Roth IRA at $7,500. Tax savings today: ~$26,000. Plus 50 years of compounding. 𝗠𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝟰: 𝗗𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀. Here’s the one most athletes never hear: Off-field NIL income lets you deduct agent fees. On-field salary doesn’t. Agent fees ($60K+) + business expenses ($20K) = $80K off the top. Four moves. $217K back in his pocket. Now we invest. If Michael puts $685K to work at age 18 and never adds another dollar, an 8% return gets him here: Age 30: $1.7M Age 40: $3.7M Age 50: $8M Age 60: $17M Age 70: $37M Age 80: $80M He’s 18. His superpower isn’t the $1.2M. It’s the 60 years of compounding nobody his age understands he has. What he does in the next 12 months decides whether $1.2M stays $1.2M or becomes $80M. If you’re on a big NIL deal, let’s talk.