Copeland lives on 10-15 percent of his NFL salary.
New York Jets’ Brandon Copeland is securing the bag and his future. The 27-year-old linebacker is aware that his football career won’t last–that’s why he’s planning ahead.
Copeland spent two summers interning at the investment bank UBS in college. He also took an off-season job on Wall Street in 2017.
Recently, Copeland’s endeavors have found him back in the classroom. He’s teaching a financial literacy seminar at his alma mater, the University of Pennsylvania.
Adonnica L. Toler on Twitter
NFL player who saves nearly 90% of his income teaches a money class at Penn called ‘Life 101’ https://t.co/ylRNnliWJO
The class, which Copeland has dubbed “Life 101” started this spring semester and cover “the realities of life we all have to deal with,” he says, like how to invest, plan for retirement and build credit. He came up with the idea of the course two years ago when he and a former teammate were talking about money mistakes and what they wish they’d known in their early 20s.
Copeland told ESPN, “I don’t care if you’re an engineering student, a nursing student if you’re going to build rockets when you grow up or if you’re going to sweep floors. You’re going to have to use something in this class.”
Looking forward to seeing familiar and new faces later today for our student loan conversation @uofpenn * College Hall * Room 200 4:30pm – 6:30pm (with the option to stick around til 7:30pm for further discussion) ??? #hustle #different
1,027 Likes, 53 Comments – Brandon Copeland (@bcope51) on Instagram: “Looking forward to seeing familiar and new faces later today for our student loan conversation…”
The Ivy League professor admits he’s no expert. “The first day of the class I’m going to tell the class that I am not an expert in all of this stuff, and no one is an expert in all of this stuff,” Copeland told the Wall Street Journal—he’s just careful with his cash.
The key to Copeland’s financial success is that nearly 60 percent of his post-tax salary goes towards safe long-term investments. Another 30 percent goes towards savings. While he lives off the remaining 10-15 percent.
Copland also has experience flipping houses and opened a real estate company with his wife just last year.
