Finding the Right Advice | Molly Sewald | Athlete Wives #4
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Episode Summary
Molly Sewald, the wife of Mariner's closer Paul Sewald, has a unique story to share of their experience in the minor leagues and stewarding their wealth. Molly and I discuss a topic that can be difficult or exciting for others to talk about - choosing a financial advisor.
Molly first shares important context and background on their personal story, which weaves into what feelings they felt when choosing an advisor. Their biggest hurdle was paying another fee to someone else and to quote Molly, "do we really want to pay someone to invest our money?"
Molly shares that after hiring a family office, the value is obvious and far outweighs the cost of the service - and even goes as far as to state that a competent advisor is 'a lifeline' for their family.
Her advice to others who may be experiencing something similar is simple - seek guidance. You never know where you can receive help for your specific situation.
Episode Highlights
1:30: Molly shares how she and Paul met in the Arizona Fall League, and how Molly at first thought that Paul was a student at ASU, not a professional baseball player.
4:37: Molly discusses her and Paul's time in the minors, and how Paul had to continually prove himself time and time again for every minor league promotion.
6:00: In his final year as a minor leaguer, Paul & Molly experienced what may be their biggest emotional setback in that he didn't make the team out of spring training.
7:51: A common theme for non-prospects is that they feel like they need to be perfect - Molly shares the weight of that stress of rooting for Paul to be perfect. She even goes as far as to share how her heart would sink if she received a phone call from Paul at the field, fearing that they were going to get optioned.
9:45: Molly shares the weight of her stress was recognizing Paul's stress.
11:53: Molly shares about when Paul's contract was non-renewed, she was relieved and excited for a new opportunity.
14:32: New opportunities bring new options and new confidence - Molly shares the confidence that Paul gained in Seattle, where he became the most important reliever in their bullpen.
17:13: Molly shares their personal story of how they handled finances prior to hiring an advisor, which was to save as much money as possible - a plan that every human should have!
18:01: When choosing an advisor, Molly shares how their eyes were opened to a lot of planning that is available to them as their wealth grew - tax planning, investments, automation, and even protecting their wealth.
18:17: She shares that hiring an advisor was a way for her and Paul to educate themselves, and then ultimately have people on their team who help automate their future.
18:48: Knowing what they know now, Paul and Molly recognize that they would not be where they are today without the help of a trusted advisor.
20:47: Molly shares that her biggest fear when they were looking to hire an advisor was "do we really want to pay someone to invest our money." She felt like it would just be one more fee that she was not totally psyched about.
21:51: Molly admits that after learning about what a family office does and its services, the value created far outweighs the fee.
24:00: Simplicity is the goal - and Molly shares how an advisor's job is to simplify their matters and optimize their family's future.
25:15: Molly shares that the convenience of having all advice being in a one-stop-shop for taxes, savings, investments, communication with teams payroll, players' agents, etc. further expands on that level of simplicity that they desire.
27:00: Money is a tool to be taken of for what's important to you - and Molly shares that its services, and the security of their daughter is what is important to them in regards to money.
28:28: Molly's advice to other families is to seek guidance for your situation, and a competent team that works day in and day out for your family.
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+ Read the Transcript
Josh McAlister (00:00): Welcome to the MLB Players' Wive Series. Here we go behind the scenes with players' wives. I'm Josh McAlister, I'm a advisor at a family office called AWM Capital. And today we get the privilege of having a conversation with Molly Sewald, who is the wife of Paul Sewald, closer for the Seattle Mariners. I will say I'm very excited for this conversation.
Josh McAlister (00:29): Molly and Paul are near and dear to the AWM family, we thoroughly enjoy getting to work with them and having the privilege to work with them. But also just their story and their journey, I believe will be able to resonate with a lot of families going through this. We're going to hear from them. We're going to hear about the good, the bad, the ugly, but then also Molly's going to give advice on something that might be a little bit difficult for families to resonate with is, is like, hey, how do we actually choose? And what are the feelings associated with choosing a financial advisor?
Josh McAlister (01:03): And so, without further ado, Molly, thanks for being and the podcast.
Molly Sewald (01:07): Thank you for having me.
Josh McAlister (01:10): Curious, I would love to just like start with exactly what we just talked about. Just tell me about Paul. Tell me how you met him. Tell me the ups and downs of Paul. Yeah.
Molly Sewald (01:22): Yeah. So Paul, we met, he had been playing in the minors for three seasons at the time, and he got invited to go to the Arizona Fall League with a bunch of prospects, which at the time I think was a shock to him. He was very excited, but he was caught off guard. He felt like he deserved it, but he was never that guy that was seen as a prospect. So he was a senior sign out of college, got a thousand dollars, worked his way up through the minor league system very slowly. I think he had around a one ERA every season and just could not get that call up mid-season.
Molly Sewald (02:03): So he was stoked to go to the fall league. However, he did not have the finances to live with any of his teammates in Old Town Scottsdale and do that fun thing. So he was rooming. Rooming, literally rooming in twin beds with his brother, who is in college at Arizona State. So that worked out well.
Josh McAlister (02:24): Separate twin beds, or same twin bed.
Molly Sewald (02:26): Separate twin beds, but the room was so small that they could hold hands while they were in bed. I mean, you could walk through the beds, but that was about it. That was a really small room. So he went out tailgating one day in his ASU gear that he borrowed from his brother, his younger brother, and we met tailgating for a football game. And I truly, I never thought to ask him, what do you do? Because I just assumed he was one of my schoolmates. And then I learned later on that he was there for the Fall League.
Molly Sewald (02:57): So we met there. I was a senior getting my civil engineering degree. And then kind of the rest is history, I guess, started dating pretty immediately, and the long distance. He went to AA after that off season. So he was in New York and I was in, I moved. So I guess I was in Arizona for finishing school, and then I moved up to Nevada for the rest of that season.
Josh McAlister (03:27): That's interesting. I think it's funny to hear you say, I didn't even think to ask him the question of like, oh, what do you do? You just probably were like, maybe the more appropriate question you should have asked him, was like hey, what's your major?
Molly Sewald (03:36): Right, and that might have been how it came up.
Josh McAlister (03:36): Right.
Molly Sewald (03:40): I mean, he was wearing ASU baseball gear and I just assumed, and then yeah, he kind of gave me the whole explanation. I was very clueless to the whole baseball thing, especially the minor leagues. I mean, I really had no idea what all that entailed.
Josh McAlister (03:56): Yeah. That's interesting. And I'm sure now looking back on it, you're just like probably thinking like, oh Molly, if you only knew, right? Luckily Paul's one of the best human beings out there, but yeah, if you don't mind, talk about even just, maybe fast forward a little bit I would say, from maybe let's get to where you're married and whatnot, but talking about minor leagues, major leagues, Mets the whole side of baseball that is a little bit more strenuous and difficult.
Molly Sewald (04:31): Yeah. So he spent eight seasons, I believe it was. I might have to redo them. Seven or eight seasons in the minors before he got called up. And it was slow, as I had said. No mid-season call ups. Every year he would just get bumped up a level. And I think it got really difficult when he got to AAA and he felt like since he was a senior sign, he was getting a little bit older, he was seeing a lot of guys get called up ahead of him. He was feeling like he was overperforming. He was always the closer, he was always leading in ERA, and strikeouts, and doing everything he could really to get called up and just it seemed like they always had a different plan.
Molly Sewald (05:24): And I'll never forget, it was his spring training. He had, I think, played a whole season in AAA at the time, and he's like, all right, this is my year. I'm going to make the team out of camp. I mean, who else do they have? I've got to be the guy. And he was like the last cut on the last day. And he was just heartbroken. And I think at that time, he just really started questioning like, how many more years am I going to do this? How many more years am I going to be in AAA?
Molly Sewald (05:56): We were pretty serious at the time. So I think he was starting to think about a future and the long distance and just how it all plays into it. But later that week he got called up and made his debut. And that's not to say that it was all sunshine and rainbows from there. But I think getting that taste of his first season, he realized like, okay, baseball is what I want to do. I don't want to retire, even though the grind is really difficult. And the ups and downs are really hard. He decided to stick with it, and I'm very glad he did, but yeah, it's definitely been a roller coaster.
Josh McAlister (06:38): Yeah. So many things. Most people don't understand this that wouldn't be in the baseball world, but this is a very common theme. And Paul's current, I don't know, let's just say call it status, is much different than when he was the senior sign, the thousand dollar bonus. The, hey, I'm just trying to get by. And the problem is, I like to remind people at times, hey, every year there's a first rounder. Every year there's somebody that is... This is kind of the business side of baseball that is going to be part of the plan. And if you're not part of the plan up front, it's almost like you have to be perfect, or feel at a minimum to be perfect. I want you to even just like talk through your feelings on watching Paul having to be perfect and just like, how did you navigate that? What did you deal with? What were your thoughts?
Molly Sewald (07:43): Yeah, I mean, I think we even experienced that more so after he did get called up, just because you are feeling that pressure of every day counts. And especially when you're not the guy that is their prospect, they're not going to give you too many chances to perform. And so, I mean, it was definitely common in the first four seasons where he would go out there, even sometimes no matter how perfect he was, he would still get optioned after the game. And so, I think we felt that stress a lot. And I remember in New York, it was every day you're looking on Twitter, every day he would go to the field and if he would call me, my heart would sink. Even if he was just like, oh, I just had to tell you this, I remember specifically telling him, do not call me unless you give me a warning that everything is okay, because you get just that pit in your stomach of like, here we go again, when it's happened so many times, it's just what you expect.
Molly Sewald (08:42): And I do think that that mindset that we were both in of living in fear, that his spot was always going to be taken, did play a huge factor in his performance. Even like at the time when we didn't experience that and we weren't blaming it on that. But looking back, it's like, how do you not do your best when all of that stress is weighing on you, and you're just trying every single day to make it. You give up one run and then you go home and you're like, okay, tomorrow's my last day here. So I do think living in stress like that was hard for Paul and it was hard for me too, but I mean, even more so for Paul.
Josh McAlister (09:24): For sure. Yeah. And from your standpoint, I would say it's like probably equally hard, but just different hard. Not to put words in your mouth, but to be like, there is a level of like, Paul feels like he can control it, whereas you know you can't.
Molly Sewald (09:40): Yeah.
Josh McAlister (09:40): You just have to watch him go through this.
Molly Sewald (09:41): Yeah. He's mentioned that before too. He's like at least I can go out there and perform, but I mean, I think it's more stress on him. He feels like it's not only his own career, but he now has a family, so that plays a massive factor in it. And so, I think that's something that people don't really realize that players are going through is like the personal trials. And not only as it relates to baseball too, but everything they have going on in their family lives on top of being gone so much. I mean, baseball takes up so much time. We only see him for a few hours a day when he is home and they're just dealing with a lot more and people look at them as players on a TV screen, or when they go to the games and they're like, oh, why aren't they doing better? And we heard that a lot with the Mets, but it's like, you don't realize the whole lifestyle that is baseball. It's not just the game. It's a lot more than that.
Josh McAlister (10:47): Yeah. I like to say like, oh, do you actually think they were trying to give up a home run or to strike? And I know that people know that intuitively. I mean, I'm a huge Cowboy fan and I just think that the Cowboy's should be perfect and we all know that they aren't, in the past 25 years, but it's the same notion, right? They're human beings. And then baseball players, right? And that's how we all want to be viewed as a human being, and then whatever we do to support our family.
Josh McAlister (11:19): But little bit of a transition here, I mean, that's real, that's difficult and that's very common, unfortunately with a lot of families is that this unknown up and down grind. And there was a shift, there was, I would say, a clean cut, and then a big opportunity that came for you guys.
Molly Sewald (11:42): Yes.
Josh McAlister (11:43): And then a lot of success. Talk about the time-
Molly Sewald (11:45): Yeah, so when the Mets non-tendered Paul, I was immediately excited. I think my reaction maybe caught him off guard, because it was not a great thing for your career to get non-tendered, but I immediately smiled because I just was hopeful, even though he was going to be a free agent and a minor league free agent, I was just hopeful for anything that was going to be a fresh start for us. An so, he got a call from a couple teams and he met with them. And I think when he spoke with the Mariners, it was just a resounding confidence in him. And he was at the lowest point in his career and to have a team say, we believe in you, and this is what we think will make you the best pitcher. And we want to give you those opportunities. I think we were immediately just like, okay, Mariners, West Coast, so that was exciting to be closer to home and closer to family, but also just to have a team that would be confident in him. And that's not something we experienced with the Mets.
Molly Sewald (12:47): So that was really exciting and intriguing, and a breath of fresh air for him. So I think that was when it really turned around was just like that first day with the Mariners. He's like, it's new coaches, it's a new situation. They believe in me and they believe in the pitcher that I am. They're not trying to change me. So, we were really excited. I mean, it's worked out well.
Josh McAlister (13:15): Yeah. I know. And you're being modest. Molly, I can brag on Paul and on his stats and whatnot, which it'll make you feel uncomfortable and it'll be quick. But I mean, it's one of those things where you go from the up and down world and surviving for the next minute, like you said. I mean, you went from, you said it, not in a good way, but a very real way of saying I didn't like it when you called, because you thought it was going to be going down to AAA again, to being the most important pitcher in the Mariner bullpen in 2021, and now in 2022. Drastic difference on how Paul is, I mean, and like you said, he's valued. It does play into, whether we like it or not, it plays into how you perform, how happy you are, how a father he is. Paul's an incredible human being, but there's just the less stress of having deal with that.
Molly Sewald (14:19): Yeah. And there was, I mean, not to say that there wasn't stress initially when he got called up with the Mariners. So he was on a minor league deal, and he spent a month and a half on the AAA roster. And so, when he got called up, he's like, I'm making every outing. It still counts. It was back to the mindset of being back with the Mets, but then every successful outing he built, that's when he kind of started to relax. And he said, okay, I am a major league pitcher, and I can go out there and perform, and I deserve this spot. And then he started to gain the confidence.
Molly Sewald (14:58): So, it was definitely an uphill battle at first, but I think just also having the coaching staff there was believing in him, or still is believing in him. But even if he had one bad outing, they wouldn't say, your spot is in jeopardy. They would say that's all right. You're still our guy .and they would still instill that confidence in him. So that's a huge difference as well. Yeah.
Josh McAlister (15:21): It's huge. It's huge. It's huge. Yeah. And transitioning to that place where it's comfort, right? And I'm not saying be comfortable and that's not what we're trying to strive for, but there is a level of comfort to being like, hey yeah, it's my job to go out there and execute, or in a fan way of saying it is my job to lose. It could be looked at as like, okay, now everything's good. And then with that success inevitably comes money. It just is the real thing that happens in the baseball world, and until then, it's really like an unknown up and down battle. Again, even with money, which is a way of transitioning into our topic today of just going like, okay, how does a player, how does a family, what even is the feelings, the insecurities, the doubts, what are we looking for with an advisor? And I want to kind of just like start talking about this topic and frame our discussion a little bit, because it can be intimidating. It can be exciting for some, but I'd say money is a stress for everyone. And I haven't met anybody, even in the financial world where it's not a stress.
Josh McAlister (16:44): But what I would also say is money is a tool to be taken care of for what's important to you or to your family. And with that framing around money for our discussion, like, hey, just talk about just like the simple question of what even is the goal of hiring an advisor, right? In Molly's speech where it's just like unfiltered and just candid.
Molly Sewald (17:07): Yes. So, I mean, I would say Paul and I will be the first to admit that we're not the most educated people on finances. Our mindset, which we've discussed with Josh. And he thinks it's hilarious, is just like, try and save as much as we can. Before we hired AWM, we're like, okay, we'll just save as much as we can. We'll spend little bits here and there on necessities. We're not going to overspend. We're not going to live a lavish lifestyle, because baseball could end tomorrow. And we still, I feel like we still kind of live that mindset, but we weren't realizing all of the ins and outs of finances, and investments, and taxes, and just different ways that you can capitalize on your assets. That whole, I feel like world was very foreign to us. Even Paul, who has his accounting degree will admit that he just didn't really, we still have to ask you for, I mean, all of the definitions of things.
Molly Sewald (18:10): But for us hiring an advisor, hiring you guys, was just a way for us to kind of educate ourselves and have people on our team that are helping us save for our future. And now that there's children involved, I mean, that becomes probably the most important thing in our life right now. And there's no way, I mean, we would be able to be where we are now financially without an advisor. I mean, AWM specifically, but any advisor, just the different streams of income. And I mean, with the baseball finances, my head starts spinning. So I can't imagine trying to juggle it all on our own, but that's why we have you guys.
Josh McAlister (18:59): Gosh. Yeah. Thank you. You didn't need to, that was very kind, but I also would like to just... Something you said is like having an advisor on your team. The analogy I like to give families at times when discussing, like what do you do for a living? And even just like, not just families, but just any families, not baseball families, but is I kind of use an analogy of, well, I'm part of a family's front office and that's a corny way of really saying, it really is necessary. And I would say almost to the point where the family needs a competent advisor, they need a competent agent. And an advisor is all encompassing, I would say is like, you need a competent investment manager, you need a competent tax planner, tax prep, what are my risks?
Josh McAlister (19:53): What do I need to cover in case all things happen. You need a competent estate planner, all these things that are on your team, so to speak, and that's excluding what Paul needs for all of his training, and nutrition, and regimen, and like that sort of thing. But it's being part of the family's front office to combat the front office of the major league ball clubs. I know it's a corny way to think about it, but it is. It is true. It's part of that, but that can also come with a lot of just insecurities, doubts, and don't even know where to look for that portion of your so-called team. Like what feelings arise, Molly, when you think about hiring an advisor, thinking about back then, what feelings arose when you were looking to hire an advisor?
Molly Sewald (20:42): Yeah. I mean, initially we were blunt about it, and we said, I remember our discussion was, do we really want to pay somebody to invest our money? And when you're in the minors and you're up and down every little dollar, you're just like, I got to keep this and I got to put it away. And one more person that you're paying, on top of agent fees, and tax fees, and everything, in your mind, you're just like, is this going to be valuable? And so, we got, I think we were referred to you initially through Paul's agent, I believe. Even though you know Paul's brother, but I believe that we were referred through his agent initially. And so, we started looking into AWM and we talked with you guys, and I think like our biggest insecurity was like, truly like, oh, we're going to be just paying one more person.
Molly Sewald (21:41): But you made us realize the value in what your services are is far greater than what we felt like we would be paying out. So I think that's the blunt, down and dirty answer is like, truly people in their twenties are like, why am I going to be paying somebody more money? But once you start thinking about your future and all these different ways that you guys can capitalize on our assets, I mean, we talked, Paul and I talk about it all the time, it's definitely invaluable.
Josh McAlister (22:20): It's interesting, I mean, the scarcity mentality isn't unique, I think, to just it's, what I'm trying to say is like it's a very common theme, and we even see this with families we work with, if you have $200,000, you feel like you should have $400,000. If you have $2 million, you feel like you should have $4 million, and it just goes up, right? I would say the moving goal poster target is real for everyone of hitting the target. And like is difficult to combat, but at the same time, what I've even experienced and gotten to see is even when I talk about my situation with somebody else, somebody can just speak truth that's not in my own head and dealing with what I'm dealing with, and can just provide perspective, and advice, and guidance to the point where I go, like, okay, that makes sense. And then there's a certain piece about it.
Josh McAlister (23:23): But we were talking, even before we started recording on a topic of just like, hey, the athlete life, and the streams of income, and the taxes, and everything. That's difficult to manage. And I tell this, this is like not all plans are the same or created equal or whatever the case you want to speak to that, I think. When I say this is like, what is the biggest benefit of just dealing with your situation as an athlete family?
Molly Sewald (23:58): Yeah. I mean, I would say you guys have definitely simplified it for us. I mean, with the moving and the different, we're living in two different states. Well, I guess we're living in three different states, if you're including spring training. The multiple rentals throughout the year, the different homes, some people have multiple homes they own, then your charitable giving, your off the field income, you are saving for your child's college fund. Just your day-to-day spending. I will say like at the beginning of Paul's career and before we had children, I feel like our portfolio was much more simplified and I could handle just like the bills and all of that stuff, insurance and whatever came up, but it just feels like, I mean, we have so much stuff coming in and out all the time that it's a lot to keep a hold on. And then not only that, but how does that apply to your taxes at the end of the year?
Molly Sewald (25:06): So to have, I mean, you guys are like all one stop for the taxes, and the investments, and just like advice. All of that is also very helpful, because you communicate with the teams, you communicate with us, you keep it all kind of in order, our lives are kind of all over the place at all times. We're moving here, there, our documents are in Nevada, we're living in Washington. That's why we need a Josh to kind of keep our lives in order for us.
Josh McAlister (25:42): Yeah. What I would say is, and I think this is what you're saying on that topic, is like when money comes and big money comes, it pours gasoline on a situation whether you like it or not. It's just kind of true. And being able to manage that gasoline man, like stoke the fire in the right way. Fire's a good thing when it's in the fireplace, when it's cooking food, when it's like for my children, right, helping them make a s'more. As simple as that sounds, but fire is a terrible thing. If it's on Sheetrock in my house. It's a terrible thing if food is burning and smoke alarms are going off. And so, that analogy is like, hey, if it's not in order and in its proper context, and taken care of, it can be detrimental or it can be a huge blessing.
Josh McAlister (26:42): One thing that I really appreciate about you and Paul is the concept of the family, concept of like, hey, you have a beautiful daughter, name is Chloe. And it drives a lot of your decisions. I mean, talk about, like when I ask this question of what about money is important to you? What does that bring up? What words, feelings come to mind?
Molly Sewald (27:06): Yeah. I mean, it's security for our child, I think is number one for Paul and I is just making sure that her future, her education, her health, all of that. I mean, with everything, unfortunately, there is money tied to it. And for us to be able to set her up and her siblings up. Her future siblings, I should say. For the future, it means, I think, everything to us. And so, that is kind of what we keep at the forefront of all of our decisions.
Josh McAlister (27:45): Yeah. It's your priority. It's what drives everything. And I think going back to even starting the framework of money is a tool to be taken care of for what's important to you. Well, your family's important to you. And so, making sure that everything is optimized, because sure you can just like investments should grow, and they should grow the most efficiently, and for a long period of time. But it's also just like understanding money's purpose, I think is a big notion.
Josh McAlister (28:13): As we close, Molly, and thank you just for being on the podcast and sharing and being vulnerable, because money is vulnerable, and it's difficult to talk about. Broadly speaking, what advice would you have for other families that are in your situation?
Molly Sewald (28:32): My advice would be to seek guidance, because I think there are so many different nuances and different situations with baseball. Like I remember a brief example was Paul's income I think got cut in half one year, he spent the entire season in the minors, and you opened our eyes to different tax benefits that we could be getting because he was making half of what he had made the year before. And so, something like that, we would never have benefited on if we had not had a team that was opening our eyes to every little day to day thing. You're saying, okay, we could be doing this or we could be doing that. Or for Chloe's future, we should start here. And our minds just, we are not educated on all of that. So I think, yeah, my advice is just to seek guidance, even if it's just an initial conversation of talking to an advisor on what you could possibly be doing for your future and your children's future.
Josh McAlister (29:39): I love it. I love it. Molly-
Molly Sewald (29:44): Thanks, Josh.
Josh McAlister (29:44): Thank you. I really appreciate your time. And I enjoyed the conversation.
Molly Sewald (29:48): Yup. Thank you for always being our lifeline. We appreciate you.
Josh McAlister (29:52): That's kind. You're too kind.