--- description: Breaking news and analysis from time.com. Politics, world news, photos, video, tech reviews, health, science, and entertainment news. title: Planning For Her Family’s Future, One Shot (And Savings Account) At A Time image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt44240ed93133f6cf/6a340dde51be4c127970b762/screenshot-2024-08-23-at-7-32-28-am_(1).png?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- # Planning For Her Family’s Future, One Shot (And Savings Account) At A Time Professional basketball player Breanna Stewart, affectionately known as “Stewie,” used her first big paycheck to bring her family to watch her compete in a tournament where she represented her country. It was a moment long in the making. Stewart began playing basketball around age 7 or 8 because her parents wanted her to have a hobby. As she grew older, it became something legitimate. “As I grew into my body, which was a long lanky younger version of myself, I started to play basketball more. I was probably in junior high when I started getting attention from colleges and thought, ‘I could be good at this if I want,’” she says. That led Stewart to play in college, where she became a four-time national champion. At the professional level, she has won two championships and two MVPs. There has been an ongoing financial discussion in women’s sports about the pay discrepancy, which Stewart has witnessed and experienced firsthand. “I've seen the earning potential from women in sports evolve over the years because when I first came out of college, it was like, ‘Okay, you play in the United States, then you go overseas’ and really that was it. You're just on this hamster wheel of a thing,” she says. But as the popularity of women’s sports, and specifically basketball, continues to gain steam, especially with advocates like Ally investing in the game, Stewart sees change afoot. Despite this progress, when she graduated from college, she started her financial journey at zero because NIL (Name, Image, Likeness), which allows college athletes to make money off their personal brand, didn’t yet exist. She began on a rookie salary, which was five figures, and had to work on building her finances until she felt confident in managing her money.  Growing up, Stewart received solid financial advice from her parents. They told her to save and to make sure any expensive purchase was worth it. They also emphasized the importance of giving herself time to decide. “Make sure that you give yourself some time to really realize, ‘Do I want this phone or do I want this car or laptop or whatever,’ and not just have it be a spur-of-the-moment thing,” she explains. Even though Stewart has been wise with her money, she admits she occasionally wants to splurge. She says that her favorite guilty purchase is going shopping, but that she has to be in a good mood. If she’s in a bad mood, she knows herself well enough to just leave. The tension between splurging and saving is one of her personal financial challenges. “I think that I work hard enough where it's like if I want to buy something, I should be able to reward myself. But also knowing that sometimes money is better when you invest it and get it back later. So finding this happy medium is tough,” she says. Stewart now has two young children and is learning how to navigate financial stability as a parent. She and her wife want to ensure their children are taken care of, with money set aside for college, of course. Stewart is also aware of the potential pitfalls of being a professional athlete and wants to be prepared. “Being a professional athlete, it's really important to manage my money wisely because things can happen like injuries or being cut from a team. When things are unstable, I want to make sure I’m stable off the court,” she says. To achieve this, Stewart has educated herself about finances in various ways. Her financial advisors have been key in helping her understand spending, saving, and investing. They guide her on whether it makes sense to make significant purchases like a car or a house.  There are things she’s glad she has now, even though she wishes she had recognized their importance earlier. One of those is a SEP IRA, a retirement account available regardless of business size. “\[There are\] things that I wish I could have started sooner but still would have to look into if there's a minimum age to have a SEP IRA or a fund where it doesn't have to be a certain amount, but if you find that you have some leftover money, you can just put it in there and know that it's going to be there for you later,” she says. Maxing out her SEP IRA is important to Stewart, as it helps her work on her children’s college fund. The best piece of financial advice she’s ever received is to max out her 401K, which is one of her consistent yearly goals. And she’s managed to do that as much as she can. For Stewart, “it's just a way to earn free money and everyone should do it.” Ally Bank’s Savings Account has a similar booster where it automatically rounds up your spending and deposits into your savings—another great free money hack. Stewart is focused on leaving a legacy both as a professional basketball player and as a mother. As her children get older, she knows the type of financial advice she’ll give them. “Stay on top of your money and your finances and understand where things are going. I feel like now we have so many subscriptions that you sign up for that you don't even know what you're paying for. And getting a credit card to build credit, but make sure you pay it off as quickly as possible,” she advises. #### Boosters are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account  The bank that’s your ally. Our Spending and Savings Accounts offer tools that work with each other to help you meet your goals faster. Ally Bank, Member FDIC. [Find Out More](https://www.ally.com/go/bank/checking-and-savings-accounts/) Planning For Her Family’s Future, One Shot (And Savings Account) At A Time ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/branded-content/ally-financial/home-court-advantage-breanna-stewart-on-financial-wisdom-and-building-a-family/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/branded-content/ally-financial/home-court-advantage-breanna-stewart-on-financial-wisdom-and-building-a-family/"},"headline":"Planning For Her Family’s Future, One Shot (And Savings Account) At A Time","datePublished":"2026-07-20T09:47:16.243Z","dateModified":"2026-07-20T09:47:13.035Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/branded-content/ally-financial/home-court-advantage-breanna-stewart-on-financial-wisdom-and-building-a-family/","keywords":[],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/branded-content/ally-financial/home-court-advantage-breanna-stewart-on-financial-wisdom-and-building-a-family/","name":"Planning For Her Family’s Future, One Shot (And Savings Account) At A Time"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Red Border by TIME x Ally Breanna Stewart Final 16x9","description":"Red Border by TIME x Ally Breanna Stewart Final 16x9","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/B73fbrlV/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2024-09-10T14:11:50.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/B73fbrlV.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/branded-content/ally-financial/home-court-advantage-breanna-stewart-on-financial-wisdom-and-building-a-family/","duration":"PT1M","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/branded-content/ally-financial/home-court-advantage-breanna-stewart-on-financial-wisdom-and-building-a-family/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```