On Wednesday, October 28, Warriors forward James Michael McAdoo and Warriors legend Nate Thurmond visited 40 high school students at Balboa High School in San Francisco as part of the Future Leaders Financial Literacy Program, presented by PricewaterhouseCooper (PwC). McAdoo spoke from personal experience the importance of knowing your X’s and O’s when it comes to managing money and planning for the future.
“I’m here today with PwC to discuss the importance of financial literacy and learning at a young age why it’s important to invest, budget and manage money at a young age,” said McAdoo. “It’s great the Future Leaders program can teach these lessons because these kids will use them their entire life.”
McAdoo shared with the students his journey attending the University of North Carolina for three years, going undrafted in the 2014 NBA Draft, becoming a key contributor to the 2015 NBA D League Champion Santa Cruz Warriors and then joining the 2015 NBA Champion Golden State Warriors.
“Starting my career in the (NBA) D-League, where nothing is promised to you, taught me to focus on my goals and to be smart with my money and my time,” said McAdoo. “Last season was the highlight of my life and an amazing experience, and I think what I learned about being financially responsible will help me for the rest of my career.”
While McAdoo related to the students and shared insights and tales into this season’s Warriors team, Thurmond shared his experience playing 15 seasons in the NBA and being selected by the league as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History. Thurmond stressed the importance of learning financial lessons early in life and the value of planning for the future.
“I’m lucky to have learned at a young age the value of saving money, even a dollar a week, to make it worthwhile later on,” said Thurmond. “It took me a little while to learn that the key to financial success and independence is how to make your money work for you.”
To illustrate his point, Thurmond shared with the students his experience owning a successful barbecue restaurant in San Francisco after retiring from the NBA. Thurmond went into detail the financial challenges and hard lessons he learned by investing in an unfamiliar industry.
“No one tells you this when you get started, but owning a restaurant is the only business where your assets can spoil,” said Thurmond. “You never think the unique risks of owning a business, but if you want to succeed you have to think through everything.”
After a Q&A with the students, McAdoo joined PwC instructors to illustrate the day’s lesson topic of saving and investing. Using their newly-learned investment vocabulary, the students jumped into an interactive game on analyzing low-risk, medium-risk and high-risk investments. McAdoo provided an assist to the youth by helping them understand the financial terms used to help them make informed investments.
“I’m blessed to be here because I think sharing my experiences in school and my career will connect with students and teach them about the importance of managing their finances and making money work for them,” said McAdoo.
This event tipped-off the second season of the Warriors and PwC’s Future Leaders financial literacy program, which is dedicated to developing critical financial skills in San Francisco youth in the classroom alongside PwC professionals teaching PwC’s Earn Your Future curriculum. The program will feature four events this season when students will hear from Warriors players, coaches and PwC professionals about the value of knowing you financial X’s and O’s.
Across America, PwC’s commitment to financial literacy is substantial, nearing $200 million in cash and hours, with some offices winning critical acclaim for their work including a Guinness World Records title for simultaneously teaching 5,000 children the importance of earning and saving money.