It is hard enough for Olympic athletes to foot the bill when it comes to traveling to the big show every two to four years.

With training, strength conditioning, film review, recovery sessions and well-managed rest filling up a majority of the calendar, it’s tough to track down a decent financial advisor to manage your investments. It was such a bad experience for sprinter and bobsledder Lauryn Williams that she eventually became one herself.

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“I ended up in the hands of somebody who didn’t teach me a whole lot about financial literacy,” she admitted to Michelle Singletary on her podcast, adding that she lost $150,000 of her money that was earmarked for taxes because that adviser’s bad investment advice.

That person was more focused on investment management, rather than what a financial adviser is supposed to do: guide her in the decision-making process and hone her financial literacy.

“I really needed somebody to look and analyze,” she told Singletary. “And I think that’s the difference in like what a certified financial planner does or how they’re taught to do is like think about like how much house can you afford? What does it look like to pay this mortgage for 30 years? Because we all know that most professional athletes are not going to have a career of 30 years.”

Competing at the Olympic level

The U.S. Olympic system relies heavily on sponsorships, media deals and fundraising that reward athletic success. Unlike traditional careers, most Olympians do not receive employer-sponsored retirement plans, guaranteed income or benefits that extend beyond their competitive years.

It was touched on in a 2024 report commissioned by Congress. Elite American athletes found they were, on average, worse off financially for having competed. Most paid $12,000 per year after all was said and done. Despite that reality, the government does not provide salaries to Olympic or Paralympic athletes.

That insecurity is not uncommon. In a survey of nearly 500 elite athletes across 48 countries, many preparing for this year’s Olympic Games, 58% said they do not consider themselves financially stable, according to an athletes’ rights group cited by the Associated Press.

Passing the baton

Billionaire Ross Stevens has been one of those who wants the nation’s athletes to have financial security. During the Milano Cortina Games in 2026, Stevens gave $200,000 to every U.S. Olympic and Paralympic athlete.

But there was one huge caveat, according to Fortune. The athletes would get their first $100,000 at age 45 or 20 years after their first qualifying Olympic appearance. Another $100,000 would be offered as a guaranteed benefit for families after the Olympian dies. The offer also expires after the Brisbane Games in 2032.

Stevens, the founder and CEO of Stone Ridge Holdings Group, committed $100 million to the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee in 2025 to fund the initiative, marking the largest donation in the organization’s history.

“I do not believe that financial insecurity should stop our nation’s elite athletes from breaking through to new frontiers of excellence,” Stevens said in a statement.

For many athletes, the lack of long-term financial security means building income streams outside their sport.

That circles back to Lauryn Williams’ advice and her emphasis on finding the right financial adviser.

“I didn’t know that I was financially illiterate,” she told Singletary. “I knew I didn’t know a lot about money, but I didn’t know how dangerous it was to not have somebody who was going to guide me, who was not focused on my literacy.”