Adam Wolf- Financial Advisor, 1280 Financial Partners

10/28/2026

One of the things I love most about being part of the Sanctuary Wealth family is the commitment to giving back.

Through Sanctuary Cares, advisors across the country have the opportunity to support causes that matter to them and make a difference in their own communities.

At the end of the day, success isn't just about what we accomplish professionally. It's about the positive impact we can have on the people around us. Proud to be part of a team that believes in that mission!

1280 Financial Partners Sanctuary Wealth

10/28/2026

NIL: The Money Behind College Sports
Part 5 of 12 — The NIL Money You Never Hear About

Here's a perfect example of why I think we need to talk about more than just the million-dollar NIL deals.

In March 2025, CalMatters published a story about NIL compensation at California universities.

One of the schools was UC Davis. According to the school's athletic director, running back Lan Larison received $25,000 from an NIL collective, while basketball guard TY Johnson received $50,000.

Pretty significant amounts of money for college athletes, but here's what caught my attention.

At the time of the report, more than 700 other UC Davis athletes across 25 sports disclosed less than $19,000 in NIL deals COMBINED since 2021.

Now, that's based on the school’s reported transactions, so it doesn't necessarily capture every dollar earned by every athlete. Still, that's an incredible difference.

Two athletes received a combined $75,000, while hundreds of their classmates had reported relatively little NIL compensation.

I think we sometimes forget that the athletes we read about making millions represent a very small part of the college sports world. For most athletes, a $5,000 or $10,000 deal would still be a big deal.

And that's exactly why I find NIL so interesting.

1280 Financial Partners Sanctuary Wealth

10/26/2026

NIL: The Money Behind College Sports
Part 4 of 12 — What Does the Backup Tight End Make?

Everyone wants to know how much the starting quarterback is making. I'm more curious about the backup tight end. Same practices, same 6 AM lifts, same long days of meetings, same grind.

Opendorse published an interesting breakdown of how Power Four football compensation budgets were being allocated to different position groups.

According to its 2025 analysis:
Quarterbacks: 16.9%
Wide receivers: 15.4%
Offensive line: 14.2%
Tight ends: 4.5%
Specialists: 1.5%

C’mon man, kicking isn’t easy! Just ask Pat McAfee. Those percentages are for entire position groups, NOT individual players.

Meaning the quarterback group receives a much larger share of the football budget than the tight ends, kickers, punters and even the offensive lineman. And even within each group, the money isn't necessarily divided evenly.

Now imagine youre the backup tight end who signs a $50,000 deal. That's just a hypothetical number, not an actual position average.

You might not be an NFL prospect. You might never start a game. But you've just earned an amount of money that could make a huge difference in your life, particularly while you're still in college.

That's the side of NIL that interests me the most. Not everyone needs a million-dollar deal for this to be an incredible opportunity.

Throughout this series, I will constantly harp on how difficult it is to make a living playing a professional sport. I’ve known a lot of tremendous athletes, and only a tiny fraction of them will make a living playing their sport. Do you know anyone who made a living from ball?

1280 Financial Partners Sanctuary Wealth

10/23/2026

NIL: The Money Behind College Sports
Part 3 of 12 — Power Four vs. Everybody Else

$13.5 MILLION vs. $173,000. That's one of the craziest comparisons I've seen while researching NIL.

According to Opendorse's 2026 market estimates, the average Power Four school has approximately $13.5 million in commercial NIL opportunities for its athletes.

For Group of Six schools, it's approximately $173,000 per school. Obviously we have some outliers in this figure, with deals like the FedEx partnership at the University of Memphis.

Here's another interesting statistic. During the 2025-26 academic year, 68 schools either reached the $20.5 million revenue-sharing cap or came within 5% of it.

Meanwhile, 14 schools reported less than $100,000 in revenue sharing. The lowest reported amount was just $15,000. Those actual school names werent disclosed in the public report. I wish I could find which schools these were, but let’s all just imagine it’s our favorite underperforming mid-major. For our own sanity.

So, while we're watching the same college football games every Saturday, the financial situations of these programs can be COMPLETELY different.

It's not necessarily a level playing field anymore. Then again, was it ever??

1280 Financial Partners Sanctuary Wealth

10/21/2026

NIL: The Money Behind College Sports
Part 2 of 12 — The Big Ten Is Spending HOW Much?

If you think SEC football is an expensive industry, look at these numbers.

According to Opendorse's 2026 estimates, here are the average annual college athlete compensation budgets per school, across all sports, for the four major conferences.

Big Ten: $48.2 million
SEC: $44.5 million
ACC: $29.4 million
Big 12: $24.3 million

Big Ten actually comes out ahead of the SEC in this estimate. Now, those aren't just football budgets, and they're not verified salary totals. They include projected athlete compensation across each schools sports, including revenue sharing and outside NIL opportunities. I think they give you a pretty good idea of just how expensive college athletics has become.

We're talking about an average Big Ten school having an estimated athlete compensation budget roughly DOUBLE that of an average Big 12 school. And think about the schools competing against each other within those conferences. They don't all have the same resources, either.

College recruiting has always been competitive. Now there's another pretty significant factor involved in deciding where a kid wants to play.

I'll be interested to see whether the financial gaps between these conferences continue to grow or start to level off.

I know we all have our own opinions about what the addition of NIL has done for college athletics. I’ll go first. I think that it’s never been more competitive. Anyone else?

10/15/2026

NIL: The Money Behind College Sports
Part 1 of 12 — Five Years Changed Everything

In 2021, college athletes were finally allowed to make money off their name, image, and likeness under NCAA rules. Not to toot my own horn, but I wrote a 10-page paper in my freshman HSS class detailing how and why all college athletes should receive a full scholarship. You’re welcome, everyone!

Five years later, the numbers are jaw dropping.

According to Opendorse, the estimated NIL market was $917 MILLION in its first year.

For the 2026-27 academic year? They're projecting $4.5 BILLION in total college athlete compensation.

That's nearly five times the original estimate.

Now, a lot has changed in how these athletes are being paid. Schools are sharing revenue directly with their athletes, endorsement deals are everywhere, and some college rosters have budgets that would've sounded ludicrous just a few years ago.

I've spent a lot of my life around professional sports, and I find this entire world fascinating. Sometimes I feel like I was born a decade too soon. The boys and I would have loved a simple hot chicken deal, but I digress.

Over the next few weeks, I'm going to share some interesting facts about NIL, where the money is going, how it differs between schools and sports, and what happens to these athletes financially when their playing careers are over.

Because while everyone wants to talk about the quarterbacks making millions, I think some of the more interesting stories are about the athletes making a whole lot less.

I think some of these numbers might surprise you.

10/07/2026

Join NCYP for Financial Foundations: Things Every Young Professional Should Know, presented by Adam Wolf- Financial Advisor, 1280 Financial Partners and sponsored by Lord Abbett.

Learn practical tips to help you better understand your finances, make informed decisions, and build a stronger financial future—all in an easy-to-understand, interactive conversation.

🍹 Complimentary drinks & appetizers
🤝 Networking
📈 Financial tips + Q&A

📅 [Date]
⏰ 5:00–6:30 PM
📍Daly's Pub (back room)

Register today: https://business.greatersandusky.com/events/Details/ncyp-financial-future-mixer-1910428?sourceTypeId=Website

10/07/2026

The million dollar decade is something worth shouting from the mountain top.

Take two investors. Investor A starts at age 22. Invests for 10 years.
Then never contributes another dollar.

Investor B waits until age 32. Invests every year until retirement.

Who ends up with more?

Under reasonable long-term return assumptions, Investor A will finish ahead, even after contributing for only 10 years. Why?

Because compound interest values time more than almost anything else. At an 8% annual return, waiting just one decade can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars over a lifetime.

The hardest part of investing isn't picking the right fund. It's getting started.

Part 9 of my 9-part "The Roth Advantage" series

1280 Financial Partners

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09/25/2026

One of my favorite Roth IRA features has nothing to do with investing.

It’s about not being handcuffed later.

Traditional IRAs generally require you to begin taking Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) once you reach the applicable age—even if you don’t need the money.

Roth IRAs?

The original owner has no lifetime RMDs.

That means more control over when you take income, more flexibility in managing taxes throughout retirement, and additional estate planning opportunities.

Think about it this way:

You made good investment decisions for 30 or 40 years. Why put yourself in a position where those decisions could eventually limit your flexibility?

Sometimes tax planning isn’t about finding a loophole or chasing a clever strategy.

It’s about planning ahead so your future self isn’t handcuffed by decisions your younger self made.

Build flexibility while you have the opportunity.

Part 8 of my 9-part “The Roth Advantage” series

1280 Financial Partners