Dwyane Wade Regrets Making This Big Financial Blunder Early In His Career

dwayne wade money mistakes
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In 16 seasons in the NBA, former Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade made roughly $196M.

The 41-year-old has enough in the bank to live the rest of his life comfortably and still makes money on endorsement deals and working on the “NBA on TNT” crew.

Wade, ever the fierce competitor, still looks back at some early mistakes he made with his money and regrets not sticking to his own early promises.

In an interview with Men’s Health, Wade admitted to making a deal with himself that he would “save at least $1 million of his $2.6 million rookie salary.” Wade screwed that up almost immediately.

“I spent all of it,” Wade told Men’s Health. His most regrettable purchase? An electric blue Cadillac Escalade with 26-inch spinning rims. Wade called the car “the worst money he has ever spent.”

“I was just sending my credit card to people like, ‘hey can I get that Bentley?’ That is not smart, people. Have someone smarter than you who can help you with your money.”

Talking with the magazine, Wade also divulged his biggest financial regret from his early days in the NBA that don’t involve cars and spinning rims.

dwayne wade money regrets
lev radin / Shutterstock.com

“I regret not having someone early in my career to teach me about all this money,” Wade told Men’s Health.

These days, the father of four meets with a financial planner every quarter and even sticks to a budget.

“We had to sit down and come up with a plan. That plan allows me to understand, ‘Okay, I’ve got a budget. I can’t spend over this [amount], or if I go over I have to make some money somewhere else, I’ve gotta hustle.’”

Fortunately, Wade doesn’t have too many financial blunders on his resume and even named more than a few smart money moves he’s made over the years.

He explained that the “best money he ever spent” was buying new homes for his parents and giving his children a high-quality education.

“I put them in some of the best schools,” Wade said. “I’ve given them the key to a different kind of knowledge that when I was growing up, we just didn’t have.”

How did Dwyane Wade end up? Well, not bad. At time of print, Wade’s estimated net worth is roughly $170m. You can do a lot with that kind of money. We assume. 

Author
Chris Illuminati

Chris Illuminati is the author of five books and has written about personal finance, wealth, debt management, and entrepreneurship for numerous outlets including Wise Bread, Grow or Die, and Bankrate.