Professional Athletes

Jim Stoops

As a former professional athlete, Jim Stoops understands the lifestyle, demands and transitions athletes’ experience. He was a walk-on at The University of South Carolina and an undrafted, 5th year senior free agent signee with the San Francisco Giants in 1995. He persevered through promotions, demotions, a Major League call-up, injuries and recoveries over a 9 1/2 year professional career.

During his playing days, he witnessed athletes who were not prepared to handle wealth without trusted guidance. So in 2004 upon his retirement from baseball, Jim quickly transitioned into the business world to become a successful Financial Advisor. His mission is to help athletes preserve and grow their wealth, while being an advisor who intimately understands and deeply cares for what an athlete is trying to accomplish. While living in Phoenix during the off-season of 1998, Jim met his eventual wife Karyn, and together they now have two boys and live in Karyn’s home town of Traverse City, MI. Jim remains passionate about inspiring athletes, and passing on the “life’s lessons” to be learned from athletics via the local teams he coaches. Through the highs and lows of professional baseball, together they have experienced much of what athletes and their families will encounter along their journey, and want to see athletes excel on and off the field.

Athletes are unique in many ways. In regards to their wealth, there is a special blend of growth, preservation, current lifestyle spending and long term family wealth planning that must be balanced. Often time’s athletes are caring for multiple generations and family members, while simultaneously protecting their wealth from people with self-serving interests.

Finally, professional athletes must have a singular focus to perform on a daily basis. Therefore they have to trust those in their inner circle to act in their best interest with many other matters. What makes Jim and his family distinct as a trusted resource to the athletes he advises, is his knowledge and experience of family wealth management earned over the last 14 years, combined with his loyalty to those who continue to pursue excellence at the highest levels of professional sports. At some point, every athlete’s playing career comes to an end. For those with proper guidance, a plan and trusted resources the transition can be as successful and fulfilling as their original athletic endeavors.