Rob Gronkowski on Saving Money: Make it Automatic

Rob Gronkowski is more than just a legendary tight end for the New England Patriots. He’s also a bit of a money saving genius who’s never spent one dime of his NFL money.

Gronk recently teamed up with Capital One Bank to offer personal finance tips and money saving lessons he calls #GRONKonomics: advice from the all-pro saver. An enticing part of the package is the ability for every customer to create up to 25 nicknamed bank accounts for free. That can be a high octane savings motivation tool that ties directly into Gronk’s other stratospheric savings tips.

Rob Gronkowski Saving MoneyGronk’s saving tips are simple and powerful: Set short term goals, make them automatic, stay motivated and make your bank account work just as hard as you.

“Just like when I’m on the field or in the gym, I find it’s important to challenge myself on my financial fitness,” Gronkowski says in his new book, It’s Good to Be Gronk. “To this day, I still haven’t touched one dime of my signing bonus or NFL contract money. I live off my marketing money and haven’t blown it on any big-money expensive cars, expensive jewelry or tattoos and still wear my favorite pair of jeans from high school. . . I don’t hurt anyone (except Gord with the occasional kick to the groin), I don’t do drugs, I don’t drive drunk, I don’t break the law. . . I’m a 23-year-old guy just looking to have a fun time.”

The full list of Gronkowski’s money saving tips is below.

New England Patriots' tight end Rob Gronkowski offers advice on saving money.

New England Patriots’ tight end Rob Gronkowski offers advice on saving money. One tip from Gronk is to set short term goals.

1. Set Short Term Goals

One  savings tip Gronk lives by is setting short term goals. Of course the big goals are important, but it’s the little goals that make the big ones happen. In his book, It’s Good to Be Gronk, the record-breaking tight end reveals that he learned to pay attention to the small stuff from his father.

“I learned from my dad that everyone works hard but the winners are the ones who are trained to pay attention to the details and perfect all the little things,” he says. “That is the mentality of a professional.”

In the same way, short term goals are key to saving money. People save more successfully when a short-term goal is in sight. According to goal site Goal-Setting-Guide.com, short term goals are simple, boost self-confidence and motivation, create momentum and give quick results.

Look at it this way. Saving enough money to retire seems an insurmountable task. But almost anyone can save $3 bucks a day. And, according to personal money guru Dave Ramsey, saving just that much starting at age 25 can make anyone a millionaire by 65.

The trouble is, who can remember to save $3 every single day? That’s where Gronk’s second money saving tip comes in.

Gronkowski Save Money Advice

Also see: Tom Brady Net Worth

2. Make Saving Automatic

Gronk’s second savings tip is to make it automatic. When savings happens automatically, it takes away the stress of having to decide whether to save or spend. The saving happens, period. Whether we remember it or not.

Gronkowski is no stranger to the power of making something happen automatically.  When Gronk was playing college ball, his father convinced him to take out a $4 million dollar insurance policy in case he took an injury. That meant Gronk was automatically set for life, no matter what else happened.

“My dad wanted me to take out a disability insurance policy for $4 million, which was the maximum we could get,” Gronkowski says. “I knew better than to second-guess my dad when it came to business, so I took his advice.”

Gronk’s success in other words was automatic. When he did sustain a serious back injury, that insurance policy gave him the automatic cushion to take the pressure off and train with confidence. Thankfully, Gronk chose not to cash in on the policy. One year later, Gronk had made the journey back to health that led to gridiron stardom.

New banking tech makes savings happen automatically in a similar way. Many banks now have automatic savings plans that let customers save money in the background, without thinking and no matter what. As an example, CapitalOne360’s Automatic Savings Plan can be set up in less than a minute. It lets savers choose how much and how often they want to save, and it can be cancelled at any time. Then it transfers the money automatically from checking into savings. Making saving automatic makes it easy.

Gronkowski Money Saving Advice

Also see: 107 Ways to Save Money Now

3. Stay Motivated

There’s no questioning Gronk’s motivation.

“Hard work is why I was better,” he says. “There are other people in this world with better physical genetics than I have, but they weren’t lucky enough to have a dad and brothers like I did to help me make the most of my gifts. They didn’t have the training I had. Like I said, it’s all about the training. No one trains harder than I do.”

Gronk knows the importance of staying motivated to save, too. Despite his legendary love of partying, Gronkowski has never spent one dime of his NFL money. It’s true that he’s had endorsement income to fall back on, but how many other players in the NFL can make that claim?

As part of Gronkowski’s partnership with Capital One, another savings motivation tip is to set up multiple accounts and nickname them. Capital One lets customers set up 25 linked bank accounts for free. The accounts can be nicknamed things like Dream House, College Fund or Kitchen Revamp for example. Having the accounts nicknamed can help savers track their progress to their goals.

Seeing the goals and progress laid out like this is a huge tool for motivation. How much easier is it to stay on track when that Dream House account keeps inching up in value every day?

Also see: 7 Best iPhone Budget Apps

4. Make Your Bank Work Hard

Anyone who says Gronk doesn’t work hard doesn’t know Gronk.

“I work superhard, I don’t break the law, and I’m all about working hard, playing hard, and being a good guy to the kids,” says Gronk.

In fact, Patriots coach Bill Belichick once called Gronkowski one of the hardest workers he has ever seen.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Gronkowski also wants his savings account to work hard. Gronk’s savings account of choice is Capital One’s 360 Savings. The bank meets the Gronk-sized requirements of no fees, no minimum balance and high interest rates, like .75% APY. It’s also on our list of the top savings accounts with the highest interest rates. But the real reason Gronk loves his 360 Savings account is that it teams up perfectly with his savings commandments. The account combines the power of automating small amounts of saving with up to 25 free nicknamed accounts per customer. That lets customers set and reach small goals automatically while staying motivated for the bigger picture. That is a pretty unique play in the world of banking.