Professional basketball athlete Kiefer Ravena who plays for Yokohama B-Corsairs, recognizes the importance of financial discipline in both his career and personal life. Just as he carefully plans his moves on the court, he takes a strategic approach to managing his finances. Here are some practical tips:
- How do you create a budget, keep track of income and expenses? Do you automate savings?
Kiefer: I try to write down my expense and chart them accordingly from ills, business, extra-curricular etc. It may not be exact but at least I have an estimate on how much I spend with how much I earn.
- How do you prioritize savings?
Kiefer: I prioritize savings with having an end goal of what i want to achieve 10-15 years down the road. It’s always easy to spend when you have high cash flow but as athletes, we know we can’t play forever.
- How do you avoid being an impulse shopper?
Kiefer: I try not to enter stores where I know I’ll but something impulsively. Haha. I just avoid them to not have a reason to buy.
- When dining out or entertaining family and friends, how do you spend your cash?
Kiefer: With family, I try to spend it on experiences instead of something material. Something I know we will always remember and talk about for a very long time. And I have a very small group of friends, and we always split whatever we order or get.
- How do you avoid credit card debt?
Kiefer: First, don’t get one if you know you don’t have control over your spendings. That’s the trap where a lot of people fall into. Second, put a cap on your credit card spendings. So you don’t overlook your important expenses.
- What are your financial goals? How do you set financial goals?
Kiefer: Financial goals has always been “let your money earn money” if i could invest and earn compared to my workload then, that is the “Goal”.
