For many young college coaches, financial planning feels like something reserved for a later chapter in life—when the salary is higher, the debt is paid down, and the job feels more permanent. But Hillary London, a financial planner and former college lacrosse coach, is trying to change that mindset.
“There are two main reasons people in this world don’t have a financial plan,” London explains. “First, they assume you need to have wealth before you’re allowed to talk to a planner. Second, they’re simply too busy. Coaching or working in college athletics is an all-consuming job. You’re thinking about your team long after you leave the office.”
It’s a familiar story for many in college athletics — especially assistant coaches or early-career staff navigating modest pay, demanding hours, and the pressure of career mobility. Financial planning, when it’s considered at all, often takes a backseat to more immediate professional concerns. Just like recruiting, sometimes the idea of creating a personal financial plan to go along with retirement savings plans administered by a college or university is easy to push off to sometime in the future when a coach has a higher salary. London says that assumption about wealth can be the most damaging.
“It’s not true that you have to be rich to work with a financial planner. I believe everyone deserves a plan — especially those just starting out, because that’s when the right advice can make the biggest difference.”
And she’s seen the difference it makes firsthand. One of her youngest clients, a 24-year-old restaurant server, came to her with $8,000 in credit card debt and no plan. Within nine months, after London took the server through the process of building a basic budget and sticking to it, the debt was gone. That server is now setting aside money for a home and investing in retirement.
“For younger clients, the goal is to create structure and avoid the big pitfalls,” she says. “They don’t always know what’s possible until they see a path laid out.”
But it’s not just recent grads or early-career college coaches who benefit. Older clients, too, often find themselves re-evaluating priorities after years without a clear plan. London cites one couple – longtime professionals – who adjusted their retirement strategy and are now projected to retire five years earlier than they thought possible, thanks to London’s help and structured plan.
Planning, she argues, isn’t just about investments or retirement for college coaches – it’s about creating more options. And, those options bring peace of mind. A national survey backs that up, finding that 87 percent of people with a financial plan report being significantly happier than those without one. She’s seen that in her own follow-ups with clients: “One hundred percent said they felt more confident and more hopeful after just the first meeting. And that was before we’d even delivered their full plan.”
Looking back, London is candid about what she would have done differently when she was in the same position back when she was a young college coach as many of her current clients. “I wish I’d been more aggressive about retirement savings when I was younger. And I wish I’d locked in life and disability insurance earlier, when it was cheaper and easier to get. Those early years may not bring in much income, but your personal expenses are often lower too. There’s a lot that can be done with a plan in place.”
Her message to college coaches of any age is simple: Don’t wait.
“You don’t have to do it all overnight,” she says. “But having someone in your corner – someone who can look at your full picture and help you take that first step, and who understands the college coaching life and all of the unique challenges that career brings, that’s what changes everything.”
For college coaches juggling long hours, modest pay, and uncertain timelines, the idea of a financial plan might seem like a luxury. But for those who’ve taken that first step, it’s often the beginning of something better: clarity, confidence, and the ability to focus more fully on the job they love.
Every college coach has access to the retirement savings plan options that their college or university offers. But are you maximizing it? To understand what else you could be doing to create a more comprehensive financial plan, click here to talk to Hillary London and have her create a free financial model for your personal situation at this stage in your coaching career.