World Series: Bet smartly, safety, expert says

There's actually new 2026 Northwestern Mutual research finding 11% of Milwaukee area adults are participating in or considering sports betting or prediction markets as a high-risk speculative investment. Also, beyond that, 73% say they feel financially behind and believe taking those risks could help them reach their financial goals more efficiently than traditional methods. We know emotions are very high. People may be feeling vulnerable, impulsive here. But guys, we do not want to do that. We want to keep our wallets safe and make sure that we are doing things responsibly as we cheer on the crew. I actually want to bring in Liam McKinney. He's a private wealth advisor with Prescient Financial Solutions. Liam, thanks so much for joining me today on Fox 6 Now. Awesome. Thanks so much for having me. So let's dive a little bit into this data and the findings. Why is it important, especially now that we're in the World Series, to remind people of the risks of sports betting? Sure. No, it's a good question, especially, you know, these prediction markets becoming quite the hot topic. Everybody's looking at it. Everybody's talking about it. But I think when it really comes back to, you know, where do the risks lie in something like that? It's when it gets out of control or out of a plan, right? because with anything in financial planning, it starts with discipline. And, you know, anytime we're going to look at what is your personal financial life and how is things going to line up within it, it's really important to have the ability to do what I consider fun things. And sometimes fun things can include whether it be going to a game, participating in a prediction market on a game, those things are okay to indulge in and have fun with. The risk is when you start confusing something like that with a way to really get ahead of the game. And if you think that that can take the place of your future financial opportunities and your retirement savings and things like that, that's really where the risk starts to lie. It's always got to be done in moderation and within the context of a full plan. Yeah, you bring up a lot of good points there. Doing it in moderation, kind of setting those boundaries. So where should someone even start to know where that limit is and how can they find it? Good question. I think all the financial conversations really have to start with cash flow. And what I mean by that is really just what's coming in and what's going out. I think the more people start to actually follow where their own personal finances and money is going, the healthier their balance sheet starts to look and the better off they feel in the decisions that they're making. So when you're talking about something like this, earmarking it in the appropriate area, like I said, kind of that fun bucket really comes after you've already earmarked what I would say might be the less fun buckets, but very important, right? So you never want to commit to something here financially that's really just a discretionary expense when you have to be paying attention to what's the non-discretionary expenses. And so if you've got the mortgage, the car payment, insurance, everything that you have to be paying for, that all takes precedence. That comes first. When you understand the flow that comes in, the non-discretionary expenses that go out, that piece at the end there, that's what you get to decide what's important to me, my family, and where can we now allocate these types of dollars because all the important things are taken care of and i now have a clear line of sight into where i can have a little bit more fun with with what's come in and i feel like one of the big things with sports betting and i a lot of my friends do it my dad does it the people love it i mean it's it's very addicting but it can get to a point where you know as you're saying you're really putting your finances in jeopardy how do you ignore the noise because i know a lot of apps, there's ways that they try to get you. How do you identify what they are and how do you just ignore them and kind of come back to yourself and recognize what's important? Sure. No, that's a good question. So when you look at, you know, what, what is considered the noise, it's really just something that's going to take you off of your plan. And so, like I said, it's, it's okay to splurge on something like going to a game or getting into something like, you know, maybe sports betting or prediction markets, those in their own right aren't inherently bad. It's the noise of, I need to do this because all of my friends are doing this, or I need to do this because I'm not going to be able to meet a financial goal otherwise. And once you start to confuse this type of entertainment, the key word being entertainment with a strategy or a plan, that's where any noise that tells you otherwise is really going to take you off the course. And I like what you said about the advice about the fun money and setting a budget. How do you recommend people go about this? Should I get a pen and paper, chart this out? How would you recommend people go about that? Yeah, no, that's a good question. I mean, first and foremost, that is, you know, at Prussian Financial Solutions, the type of conversations that we're having every day. So if it really is an interest, you know, pfs.nm.com, we're happy to help. On your own, I think it's a great exercise, whether it be pen and paper or a spreadsheet, is just start to understand where, you know, if you've got a paycheck coming into your bank account, understand what that dollar is every single month, every two weeks, start to write down, okay, these are the line items of inflows. And whatever your medium of tracking that is, I'm an Excel spreadsheet guy myself, but I think some people like the pen and paper. But I think the point is that having the discipline to do it really supersedes the medium. So once you're doing it, then you'll start to see really healthy results of, okay, I understand this has come in. And now let me go keep track of what all has gone out. When I go through a month, if I haven't done anything fun this month, how much have i already spent to prior commitments and once you've got those line items that's where to your point that that last piece at the end there now you can start to say okay it's very clear to me what what that excess is and truthfully it's important to have some sliver to those those more fun items because otherwise it's like you know if you're working out you have like a cheat meal every time you've got some good fitness discipline it's important to be able to work in fun as a part of a plan. It doesn't have to just be a blind, strict budget. You want to be able to have some level of enjoyment along the way there. Yeah, absolutely. And I think it's one thing to say, hey, I'm going to take care of my finances. I'm not going to go too far. But then it's another to actually put that into action. And I'm a spreadsheet person myself. But again, I know my dad would do the pen and paper method. So I think that's good to have the options. Just writing it down or having it somewhere in some way is super important to actually see that put into action. And Liam, I know you're a private wealth advisor. Is there a point that you feel like people might need to hire somebody like you to get that guidance and advice? What are you being hired for? And when do you recommend somebody takes that step? Yeah, that's a great question. Really with anyone in their financial journey, the second they start to feel like they're getting a little bit over their skis as the complexity starts to ramp up. That's always a great time to reach out for help. I think people might wait a little bit longer than they realize thinking, okay, I can do this myself or you know things have been okay for now. It's really not when everything is sunshines and rainbows that you realize you need the excess help. It's more of when things go wrong. But the benefit is when you get a professional in your corner early on, they're guiding you before things go wrong. So they're the ones that can actually look out into the future, understand what's on the horizon. So I'm a huge advocate that there's really no time too early to start talking with a professional and get even just an outside opinion. There's lots of people, myself included, who are just happy to sit down, have the conversation with people early on, understand you know what's a good fit, will this relationship work? And even if it doesn't there's always great ways to have just good thought tank and dialogue going back and forth to help people better understand their finances yeah some really great advice there and i know everyone's super hyped up to talk for the world series but it is important to talk about these things and have these reminders so Liam thank you so much for joining me today on Fox now anything else you feel like is important for people to know i you know hopefully uh the brewers have been where you've leaned so far. That's my personal conviction. I think that's a great spot to be going forward. But I would say final thoughts here is just stick to the plan, whatever your budget for this is, stay put on it, and you're in a great spot going forward. Thanks so much. Thanks so much, Liam. We appreciate you coming on. Some great advice there.