Shaquille O’Neal is set to begin collecting a $1 million monthly annuity payday next spring, a payout he arranged years ago as a financial backstop. The basketball icon shared the details on the “Dinner Party” podcast, explaining that the income stream will start when he turns 55.
A napkin lesson in wealth preservation
O’Neal recalled asking a wealthy acquaintance — someone he described as a “Four Seasons, Rolls-Royce” type — for advice on staying rich. The man tore a napkin in half twice and offered a simple rule: keep 25% in play and save 75%. O’Neal, who said he once burned through $1 million in a single day at age 20, took the lesson to heart and began saving aggressively.
As his investments grew, he wanted a guaranteed income in case those bets soured. “So I had so much money coming in, I put a lot into annuities,” O’Neal said, calling the move his fail-safe.
What an annuity does
An annuity is an insurance product that turns a lump sum or a series of premiums into regular payments, typically during retirement. O’Neal has previously championed annuities as a reliable way to secure future income. He said that after turning 55, he will have “a lot” coming in “almost for the rest of my life.” When asked how much, he replied that he doesn’t like to brag but expects to receive about $1 million a month.
Family rules and a famous Google bet
O’Neal also discussed his approach to inheritance. He said he tells his children, “We ain’t rich; I’m rich,” and has set requirements for them to receive any of his wealth. According to O’Neal, they must earn a master’s degree and a bachelor’s degree — “If you want to touch the cheese, you got to have two or three degrees.” He famously promised his mother he would finish college after turning pro, and he went on to earn a bachelor’s, a master’s, and a doctorate.
He also revisited a chance encounter in a hotel lobby where a stranger invited him to invest in Google before its initial public offering. O’Neal said he ran the idea by his “money guy” and put in a little bit. He later read in the newspaper how well early Google investors had done, calling the bet a “nice big hit.” He then joked that he lost it all in his 2009 divorce.
Those experiences help explain why O’Neal favors annuities — an unglamorous but dependable way to lock in retirement income. With his 55th birthday approaching next spring, his long-ago planning is about to pay off.