American tennis player Taylor Townsend partnered with the WTA and Morgan Stanley to promote financial literacy and educate more people about its importance.
With Townsend’s exceptional journey at the 2024 US Open, it isn’t wrong to say that American women’s tennis has found a path of revival.
However, it seems that tennis isn’t the only thing the American is good at, as now she has dived into the world of finances and decided to share her knowledge with her viewers and fans too.
In the fourth episode of What Moves You, a series by the Women’s Tennis Association in collaboration with the investment banking company Morgan Stanley, Townsend broke down how important financial literacy is in the tennis world.
“Our livelihood is based on how we do. The next challenge that comes with that is ‘Okay, you are making great money but what do you do with it.’ I turned pro at 15, I didn’t start really learning and understanding these things till I was 18.”
“I really had to learn and engulf myself in financial literacy like what does that mean, planning to retire with having a child, playing for his future and what does that look like, how are we gonna do that? It’s very multi-faceted,” said Townsend as she deliberated how important it is to know how you plan to spend your finances.
She further elaborated on the importance of ‘future’ in financial planning, as it’s more about ‘later than now’. She discussed how important it is to look towards the future and then decide where to put your money.
“During my time at the WTA tour, one of the things I have learned is knowing about financial literacy makes you look ahead, makes you look at how you want to live as your future self.”
“So you kind of can’t look at yourself as who you and what you have in this moment. You have to look at 10-15-20 years from now. Understanding that it’s not about now, it’s about later in the future is I think the most important thing that I’ve learned,” concluded the American.
In March 2021, Taylor’s tennis career took a backseat as she welcomed her baby boy, Adyn Aubrey. Effectively planning finances became even more crucial with the addition of a child, as the future took on greater significance.
After giving birth and devoting her time to her child for the initial months, the American is now on her way to returning to the sport. This season gave her the momentum to rebuild her path in both singles and doubles.
Though she could do well on only some of the singles occasions, the doubles events gave her quite several opportunities to show the world that she is back. Thus, she lifted her first-ever grand slam title at the 2024 Wimbledon alongside her Czech partner Kateřina Siniaková.
