Michigan Finance Coach Chris Sain Is Changing How People Think About Money

“I’m one of the wealthiest people you’re gonna ever meet, but I’m the cheapest person you’re gonna meet, too,” said investor and financial coach, Chris Sain. “I’m caked up, but you won’t ever see me stunting. But I’m gonna bless the community.” 

With 1.11 million YouTube followers, Sain, 43, has evolved into one of the internet’s most followed and relied on financial coaches. Recently, Sain’s financial prowess has put him on a hot streak as he was named a Top 100 Money Expert by Forbes last winter. This year, it was announced that Sain was going to be the first Black finance creator to host a show from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). Sain calls the opportunity an “incredible honor.”

But, before Sain was the internet’s favorite financial guru, he was a two-sport star athlete at Ottawa Hills High School with dreams of making it to the NFL.

“Sports put me on a fast track to success; but because I had a brother that was doing 25 years in prison, I spent my whole childhood visiting him,” said Sain. “The one thing that it taught me was that I knew where I didn’t want to be.”

Sain attended Michigan State University, but a recurring shoulder injury limited his impact on the football field. Despite the setback, Sain dedicated himself to his classes and earned his bachelor’s degree in cognitive behavior therapy from Saginaw Valley State University in 2007 and his master’s in clinical social work from Wayne State University in 2008.

“I prided myself on being book smart, street smart, and [for having] common sense. And so even though I didn’t like school, I graduated top of the class. I got my degrees, and I did that stuff so that even if I didn’t make it to the [NFL], I still had something to fall back on,” he said.

Sain feels his calling, though, has always been to work with youth.

He’s worked as a counselor for Wyoming Public Schools, a career coach for Grand Rapids Community College, and started Grand C.I.T.Y. Sports, Inc., a nonprofit committed to influencing today’s youth through sports, education, and community outreach. But he wanted to go deeper than athletics and social programs – he wanted financial literacy to be at the forefront. 

“The kids don’t [want to] talk about money and financial literacy. They [want to] talk about money, but not the financial literacy part,” he said. “It’s about being a well-rounded young person whether you go to the league or not: that was the journey for merging sports with the financial literacy piece.”

Sain’s drive to be a financial resource for his community comes from a sincere place. In college, Sain was always intrigued at how so many professional athletes would go bankrupt in just a few years after their playing careers were over.

“It’s often said that 100% of athletes have a financial advisor, but 80% of athletes go broke when their career ends,” said Sain.

With a decision to immerse himself in wealth building, the stock market, and investing, Sain built his own skillset of financial strategies and stock investing. In 2014 he self-published the book, “Dumb Athlete: How My Biggest Fear Became My Biggest Motivator,” and began posting investment advice on Facebook shortly after. 

Sain desired to see Black people doing “better” with their money, noting it as a main reason for penning the book. “I’m going to master financial literacy – the whole game – so that I can teach it to our culture,” he said.

As the years went by, Sain’s tips started to gather a fanbase and a community started to form. By 2020, the followers were in the tens of thousands and he was quickly becoming a mainstay in the attention economy of investing.

One of the most attractive aspects to Sain’s messaging is how uses himself as an example. He paid off his student loans, credit cards, and became debt free in 2018. Shortly after, he officially “retired” while still in his 30s.

“I’m young. I don’t got no silver spoon. I don’t got no handouts. I come from just the same environment you guys do, but I’m debt free,” said Sain.

A part of what makes him effective is by being a communicator who understands the financial needs of his community from the perspective of various age brackets. No matter the age, he wants everyone to take control of their financial freedom and put themselves in the position to become debt free and retire early as he did. 

“The younger age group feels like the education system has failed them. The job market has failed them,” he said. “They want to learn options [like] crypto, because that’s their pathway. They’re [going to] have way more money than us by investing in Bitcoin and crypto and it’s gonna happen faster for them, but they only got to go that route because the system failed them.”

For older millennials and GenX’ers Sain focuses on helping them navigate the challenges of investing after parenthood and hardships have left them with limited resources and little time. 

“They call me like, ‘Coach, I got started late or I was putting my kids through school or I got a divorce and that set me back’,” he said. “They don’t have as much as they want. They still have to work, but they’re ready to be done, but they know they didn’t tuck enough away yet.”

One of Sain’s biggest pieces of advice is to resist the urge to misuse disposable income. He said too many people want to dress and drive rich rather than actually be rich.

“A lot of us got assets on our a**, versus really having assets. I always say this to my community, ‘Don’t have more money in your driveway than you do in your brokerage account’,” he said.

Moving forward, Sain wants to continue to impact the community in as many positive ways as he can. Last year he started his annual “100 Days of Giving” initiative in which he donated $1 million to various Michigan nonprofits. 

“I want to be known as a genuine guy that cares about the people I serve.”